Two Scot baseball players named NAIA pre-season All-Americans

January 16, 2006

Sam Cooke	Andy Bettis

By WIL SHANE
Lyon College News Bureau

Lyon College baseball recently hit a couple of home runs when the NAIA’s newly released list of pre-season All-Americans came out.

Two of the 15 names on the First Team All-American list, junior Andy Bettis and senior Sam Cooke, play for the Scots.

Lyon head coach Kirk Kelley said Cooke, who has already been accepted to pharmacy school is “the best of both worlds”.

A 6’2” outfielder who usually plays left field, Cooke is a Batesville native with a remarkable .433 batting average, with six home runs and 65 RBIs. Last year he was named an Honorable Mention on the NAIA All-American list.

“Sam Cooke is everything a coach can ever ask for,” Kelley said. “He is a true student-athlete. He is an All-American on the field and has been accepted to pharmacy school. He is the best of both worlds. He is also as fine of a young man as I have ever been around. He is a blessing.”

Bettis, a 6’1” designated hitter and first baseman from Jonesboro has a.327 batting average, with 16 homers and 73 RBIs. Last year, he was tapped as Second Team All-American.

“Andy Bettis loves to play the game,” Coach Kelley said. “He works hard and plays hard everyday. He is relentless. He is going to keep getting better every year. It was quite an accomplishment for him to be named as an All-American last year as a sophomore.”

Coach Kelley said his team, which made it to the regional tournament last year, has a good shot at doing even better this year.

“I am very excited about the group of players we have returning from a team that went 48-18 last year and made its second trip to Regionals in four years,” he said. “Sam and Andy, along with their teammates, have worked extremely hard in the fall to improve on last year.”

The Scots open the season at home Feb. 3 against Hillsdale Baptist.ams have amassed 388 wins since the program started in 1993.