FRISCO, Texas – Following a remarkable redshirt sophomore season moving to a starting role, Sulphur native Will Dion has been named the 2021 Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year, the league office announced on Monday in connection with the releasing of its all-conference teams. He's the fifth Cowboy to garner the prestigious honor, joining Danny Davis (2006), Chris Howay (2000), Jon Saylor (1995) and Terry Burrows (1990).
 
In addition, Dion was named to the All-Conference 1^st Team All-Conference squad as a starting pitcher and also the only pitcher to be named to the All-Defensive Team.
 
Joining Dion with postseason accolades, second baseman Nate Fisbeck and right fielder Clayton Rasbeary were named to the All-SLC 1^st Team unit with Fisbeck garnering All-Defensive honors at second base. Tré Obregon III picked up All-SLC 2^nd team honors as a designated hitter and center fielder Payton Harden was voted onto the All-SLC 3^rd team. Left fielder Julian Gonzales earned All-Defensive Team honors at his position as well as McNeese had three players selected to the nine-person all-defensive unit.
 
Dion posted an 8-4 record this season with a 3.05 ERA, ranking second and seventh respectively in the league. He led the conference with 99 strike outs thrown in 82.2 innings, the third-most in the league. He's thrown two shutouts and five complete games, has held his opponents to a .225 batting average, and will head into the conference tournament having won his last five decisions while allowing just one earned run in his last 20 innings pitched. Earlier in the year, he tied a school record with 19 strike outs against Prairie View which garnered him national and conference Pitcher of the Week honors. Defensively, Dion recorded a 1.000 fielding percentage with 12 assists, 2 putouts and no errors.
 
Rasbeary led the Southland Conference with 80 base hits and 18 doubles on the year and tied for the league lead with 5 triples. The now two-time all-conference selection ranked sixth in the conference and led the team with a .351 batting average. In addition, the Rockwall, Texas native ranked fifth in the conference with a .592 slugging percentage and stole eight bases on the year. He recorded 23 multi-hit games on the year and 10 games with three or more hits. He twice had four hits in a game and posted his longest hitting streak of 11 games. Rasbeary is the fourth Cowboy in school history to lead the conference in hits and fifth in doubles, and is the first-ever McNeese player to lead both categories in the same season.
 
Fisbeck, who like Rasbeary is collecting his second all-SLC award in his career, led the Southland Conference with 55 runs batted in, tied for third with 17 doubles, and eighth with eight home runs. The Woodlands native finished the season tied for eighth in the league with 64 hits and was fourth with 13 hit-by-pitches. He recorded 17 multiple hit games on the season with four of those consisting of three or more base knocks, and was the team-leader with 12 multi-RBI games. Defensively, he compiled a .974 fielding percentage at second base with 229 chances and just six errors. He becomes just the eighth player in school history to lead the league in RBIs.
 
Obrégon hit .333 on the season with two home runs and 31 RBI. The Sallisaw, Oklahoma native flirted with the .400 mark through the first half of the season but missed some action late due to a recurring injury. He recorded 13 multiple hit games with three of those going for three hits or more. Had a 4-hit game vs. Louisiana Tech back in March.
 
Harden ranked second in the conference and led the team with 50 runs scored and joined Rasbeary to complete a 1-2 punch in the hit department with 74 sticks to rank second in the league behind Rasbeary. His .323 average ranked second on the team while his three triples ranked tied for sixth in the SLC. A native of Atascocita, Texas, Harden stole 14 bases on the year and finished second on the team with 22 multiple hit games. He posted three hits or more in seven games and had a 4-hit contest against A&M-Corpus Christi on March 13.
 
Gonzales garnered all-defensive team honors after becoming one of just 10 fielders to not be charged with an error this season. The Sulphur native tallied 94 chances on the year with 91 putouts and three assists.
 
Sam Houston's Colton Cowser was named the league's player of the year while Colton Eager of Abilene Christian was selected the hitter of the year. Central Arkansas' Tyler Cleveland garnered relief pitcher of the year honors; Brennan Stuprich of SLU the freshman of the year; ACU's Grayson Tatrow newcomer of the year; and Rick McCarty of ACU the coach of the year.
 
2021 All-Southland Conference
First Team
1B – Chase Kemp, Lamar
2B – Nate Fisbeck, McNeese
3B – Itchy Burts, AMCC
SS – Bash Randle, ACU
C – Mitchell Dickson, ACU
DH – Lee Thomas, UIW
OF – Colton Cowser, Sam Houston
OF – Colton Eager, ACU
OF – Clayton Rasbeary, McNeese
SP – Will Dion, McNeese
SP – Brennan Stuprich, SLU
SP – Will Warren, SLU
RP – Tyler Cleveland, UCA
U – Anthony Quirion, Lamar
 
Second Team
1B – Preston Faulkner, SLU
2B – Daunte Stuart, Northwestern State
3B – Kasten Furr, New Orleans
SS – Evan Keller, SLU
C – Skylar Black, SFA
DH – Tré Obregon III, McNeese
OF – Jack Rogers, Sam Houston
OF – Pearce Howard, New Orleans
OF – Grayson Tatrow, ACU
SP – Chris Turpin, New Orleans
SP – John Gaddis, AMCC
SP – Tevin Michael, Lamar
RP – Caleb Seroski, New Orleans
U – Jacob Burke, SLU
 
Third Team
1B – Luke Marbach, AMCC
2B – Salo Iza, New Orleans
3B – Austin Cain, Nicholls
SS – Darren Willis, New Orleans
C – Ryan Snell, Lamar
DH – Tommy Cruz, ACU
OF – Tyler Finke, SLU
OF – Payton Harden, McNeese
OF – Mike Williams, AMCC
SP – Cal Carver, Northwestern State
SP – Levi David, Northwestern State
SP – Dominic Robinson, Northwestern State
RP – Jack Dallas, Lamar
U – Brent Hammit, ACU
 
All-Defensive Team
1B – Luck Marbach, AMCC
2B – Nate Fisbeck, McNeese
3B – Anthony Quinn, Lamar
SS – Darren Willis, New Orleans
C – Gaby Cruz, SLU
LF – Julian Gonzales, McNeese
CF – Colton Cowser, Sam Houston
RF – Avery George, Lamar
P – Will Dion, McNeese