When Elon University junior Casey Jones homered in the first game of the year, it must have been a sign of good things to come.

Jones was never seen as much of a power hitter, and had never hit a home run in an Elon uniform.

This season, Jones has hit .422 with 81 hits, 20 doubles and 52 RBis. Monday, he was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year

In SoCon play, Jones hit a blistering .470 with a slugging percentage of .770. After not recording a hit in Elon's first four SoCon games, Jones hit safely in the last 23. In fact, he's hit safely in 37 of the last 38 games.

As a whole, Jones has started all 52 games this year, playing first base, third base and left field. He recorded an Elon Division I record 26-game hitting streak. Jones was also named to the All-SoCon First Team, the only Elon player to make the first or second teams.

This is the second straight year an Elon player has earned SoCon Player of the Year honors, following Ryan Kinsella last year.

Jones was outright Player of the Year in the media voting, but was Co-Player of the Year with Davidson College's Forrest Brandt in the voting done by the coaches. Georgia Southern University junior Josh Wirsu was named Pitcher of the Year by both groups, Samford University outfielder Heath Quinn earned Freshman of the Year accolades, and Davidson's Dick Cooke was named Coach of the Year.

Elon pitcher Matt Harris and third baseman Nick Zammarelli were each voted to the All-Freshman Team.

The Phoenix (27-25 overall, 12-15 SoCon) will open SoCon Tournament play against The Citadel at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

 

2014 Coaches All-SoCon Team
Co-Player of the Year – Casey Jones, Jr., OF, Elon
Co-Player of the Year – Forrest Brandt, Sr., OF, Davidson
Pitcher of the Year – Josh Wirsu, Jr., RH, Georgia Southern
Freshman of the Year – Heath Quinn, OF, Samford
Coach of the Year – Dick Cooke, Davidson

First Team
SP – Josh Wirsu, Georgia Southern
SP – Jordan Smith, Western Carolina
RP – Andres Gracia, Samford
C – Adam Martin, Western Carolina
1B – Jacob Hoyle, Western Carolina
2B – Hunter King, UNCG
SS – Dillon Dobson, Appalachian State
SS – Hunter Burton, Furman
3B – Sean Guite, UNCG
OF – Forrest Brandt, Davidson
OF – Casey Jones, Elon
OF – Lee Miller, Davidson
DH – Ryan Lowe, Davidson

Second Team
SP – Danny Mooney, Davidson
SP – Jeremy Null, Western Carolina
RP – Jason Richman, Georgia Southern
C – Drew McWhorter, Samford
1B – Greg Harrison, Furman
2B – Michael Pierson, Appalachian State
SS – Jordan McDonald, UNCG
3B – Chris Ohmstede, Furman
OF – Drew DeKerlegand, The Citadel
OF – Nathan Becker, Davidson
OF – Eric Kalbfleisch, UNCG
OF – Heath Quinn, Samford
DH – Bo Thompson, The Citadel

All-Freshman Team
Matt Brill, Appalachian State
Dallas DeVrieze, Appalachian State
Tyler Stroup, Appalachian State
Garrett Chapman, Georgia Southern
Ryan Cleveland, Georgia Southern
Matt Harris, Elon Nick Zammarelli, Elon
Carter Grote, Furman
Adam Swim, UNCG
Jared Brasher, Samford
T.J. Dixon, Samford
Heath Quinn, Samford
Bryan Sammons, Western Carolina

2014 Media All-SoCon Team
Player of the Year – Casey Jones, Jr., OF, Elon
Pitcher of the Year – Josh Wirsu, Jr., RH, Georgia Southern
Freshman of the Year – Heath Quinn, OF, Samford
Coach of the Year – Dick Cooke, Davidson

First Team
SP – Josh Wirsu, Georgia Southern
SP – Jordan Smith, Western Carolina
RP – Andres Gracia, Samford
C – Adam Martin, Western Carolina
1B – Jacob Hoyle, Western Carolina
2B – Michael Pierson, Appalachian State
SS – Tyler Filliben, Samford
3B – David Daniels, Davidson
OF – Drew DeKerlegand, The Citadel
OF – Forrest Brandt, Davidson
OF – Casey Jones, Elon
DH – Ryan Lowe, Davidson

Second Team
SP – Danny Mooney, Davidson
SP – Jeremy Null, Western Carolina
RP – Tyler Powell, Western Carolina
C – Drew McWhorter, Samford
1B – Greg Harrison, Furman
2B – Hunter King, UNCG
SS – Jordan McDonald, UNCG
3B – Chris Ohmstede, Furman
OF – Lee Miller, Davidson
OF – Stryker Brown, Georgia Southern
OF – Aaron Mizell, Georgia Southern
OF – Heath Quinn, Samford
DH – Bo Thompson, The Citadel