Anthony Meo – 43rd Best Player

Congratulations to Coastal Carolina’s Ace Anthony Meo. The junior RHP was selected by the College Baseball Daily as the number 43 player in the top 100 countdown of the top college baseball players in the nation.

In his freshman year, Meo started 13 games and went 9-2 with a 2.93 ERA. He broke the Coastal Carolina record for most wins by a freshman and was named a Freshman All American.

His sophomore year was better.

While he had a great Freshman year, he improved on his numbers even more, going 13-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 16 starts, striking out 94 batters in 96.2 innings while improving his WHIP from 1.29 to 1.20.  He held batters to a .230 batting average in 2010.

He was the Big South Pitcher of the Year. He was also a NCBWA First Team All American.

Meo should have an even better junior year. He played his summer ball with the Cape Cod Baseball League and went 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP.

I would not be surprised if he is named the Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

Meo is the fourth Chanticleer named in the top 100 countdown. He joins Scott Woodward, Daniel Bowman and Tommy La Stella. Not bad company, but I would obviously like to see more Coastal players on the list.

Last year Coastal Carolina had the best overall 1 through 9 in the country. Of those nine players, only two made the top 100 preseason countdown. That was a disappointment, especially the omission of Rico Noel. If you are reading this, then you probably know that Noel was named the Big South Preseason Player of the Year.  He went on to have a great season and is now playing professional baseball.

I will keep reading the list. Maybe we will see another Chanticleer there; maybe not. I can think of one who absolutely deserves to be on the list. I also know that he would rather go to Omaha than receive any individual honors.