NATCHITOCHES – New faces and veterans alike helped put the Northwestern State baseball team in position to win a Southland Conference baseball championship.
 
Four of them were named All-Southland Conference on Monday by a combined vote of league coaches and sports information directors.
 
Freshman third baseman Michael Dattalo was the Demons' lone first-team selection after a standout debut season that saw him flirt with the .400 mark deep into the season.
 
A Keller, Texas, product, Dattalo leads the Southland Conference in hits (81) and in hits per game (1.56) and ranks second in batting average (.389) and in on-base percentage (.461). He added top-five marks in doubles (18, fourth), slugging percentage (.591, fifth) and OPS (1.052, fifth) in all games.
 
In conference play, Dattalo led the league in hits (40) and ranked third in doubles (9), fourth in batting average (.385) and in slugging percentage (.644), tied for fifth in runs (25) and was sixth in home runs (6) and OPS (1.071).
 
Dattalo's 81 hits are the sixth-most in program single-season history and the most in a single season since Oscar Garcia (87) and Eric DeBlanc (83) in 2010. He enters Wednesday's Southland Conference Tournament opener against No. 2 seed UIW ranked 47^th nationally in batting average.
 
The three other NSU all-conference selections were named to the second team as the conference moved from three teams to two all-conference squads this season.
 
Shortstop Jake Haze earned his first all-conference nod after leading the conference in batting average (.418) and on-base percentage (.505) in league games. A junior from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Haze finished second in the league in hits (38), third in RBIs (26), fourth in OPS (1.131), tied for fourth in triples (2), fifth in slugging (.626) and tied for fifth in runs scored (25) in league play.
 
Overall, Haze's .330 batting average ranked him ninth in league play while his .434 on-base percentage placed him eighth. His 14 doubles tied for 10^th most in the league in all games.
 
Senior outfielder Jeffrey Elkins, an All-Defensive selection a season ago and an honorable mention all-conference pick in 2019, earned one of the three second-team outfield selections. Elkins tied for third in the league with 12 home runs, extending his NSU career record to 36, and was fourth in the league in runs scored (54) and hit by pitch (15). He added 10^th-place finishes in both slugging percentage (.541) and OPS (.955).
 
In conference games, Elkins shared the league lead in runs scored (28) and paced the conference in hit by pitches (11). His seven home runs in conference play tied the Lafayette native for third in league play.
 
In his first season as a starting pitcher, Makarewich struck out 85 batters, second most in the conference and tied with N-Club Hall of Famer OJ King for eighth in NSU single-season history. Makarewich's 39 strikeouts in league play ranked him sixth in the league.
 
A Keller, Texas, product, Makarewich's .196 batting average against ranked second in all games while his .205 opponents' batting average in conference play ranked third – second among starting pitchers – in league games.  A 6-foot, 185-pound junior, Makarewich led the Southland in strikeouts looking (33) in all games and tied for the league lead in that category with 15 in conference play.
 
The No. 5 seed Demons open conference tournament play against second-seeded UIW at 11 a.m. Wednesday at McNeese's Joe Miller Ballpark.
 
2023 All-Southland Conference Baseball Teams
Player of the Year: Ryan Snell, Lamar
Hitter of the Year: Tristan Moore, New Orleans
Pitcher of the Year: Grant Rogers, McNeese
Relief Pitcher of the Year: Steve Hayward, UIW
Freshman of the Year: Jacob Mayers, Nicholls
Newcomer of the Year: Rey Mendoza, UIW
Clay Gould Coach of the Year: Mike Silva, Nicholls
 
2023 All-Southland Conference First Team

Pos.	Name	School	Cl.	Hometown
1B	Edgar Alvarez	Nicholls	Jr.	Orlando, Fla.
2B	Tyler Bischke	New Orleans	Jr.	Pittsburgh, Pa.
3B	Michael Dattalo	Northwestern State	Fr.	Keller, Texas
SS	Parker Coddou	Nicholls	Jr.	Thibodaux, La.
C	Ryan Snell	Lamar	Sr.	Hardin, Texas
DH	Rey Mendoza	UIW	Gr.	Eagle Pass, Texas
OF	Xane Washington	Nicholls	R-Sr.	Houma, La.
OF	Tristan Moore	New Orleans	Jr.	St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
OF	Brendan Ryan	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Leawood, Kan.
SP	Grant Rogers	McNeese	Jr.	Groves, Texas
SP	Jacob Mayers	Nicholls	Fr.	Gonzales, La.
SP	Brandon Mitchell	New Orleans	Sr.	Houston, Texas
RP	Steve Hayward	UIW	R-Sr.	Flower Mound, Texas
U	Alec Carr	UIW	Sr.	Sugar Land, Texas

 
2023 All-Southland Conference Second Team
 

Pos.	Name	School	Cl.	Hometown
1B	Anthony Herron, Jr.	New Orleans	Sr.	Chicago, Ill.
2B	Brad Burckel	McNeese	Sr.	Lindale, Texas
3B	Reed Chumley	HCU	Jr.	Cypress, Texas
SS	Jake Haze	Northwestern State	Jr.	Highlands Ranch, Colo.
C	Hernan Yanez	UIW	Sr.	San Luis, Ariz.
DH	Tre Jones	A&M-Corpus Christi	Jr.	Houston, Texas
OF	Mitchell Sanford	New Orleans	R-So.	Berwick, La.
OF	Jeffrey Elkins	Northwestern State	Sr.	Lafayette, La.
OF	Samuel Benjamin	HCU	Jr.	Katy, Texas
SP	Brooks Caple	Lamar	Jr.	Gunter, Texas
SP	Hunter Hesseltine	Lamar	So.	Topeka, Kan.
SP	Alex Makarewich	Northwestern State	Jr.	Keller, Texas
RP	Gavin Galy	Nicholls	R-So.	Orlando, Fla.
U	Max Puls	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Palm Desert, Calif.

2023 Southland Conference All-Defensive Team

Pos.	Name	School	Cl.	Hometown
1B	Edgar Alvarez	Nicholls	Jr.	Orlando, Fla.
2B	Jimmy DeLeon	UIW	Sr.	El Paso, Texas
3B	Alec Carr	UIW	Sr.	Sugar Land, Texas
SS	Parker Coddou	Nicholls	Jr.	Thibodaux, La.
C	Ryan Snell	Lamar	Sr.	Hardin, Texas
LF	Cooper Hext	McNeese	Jr.	DeQuincy, La.
CF	Tyler Finke	Southeastern	Gr.	Columbus, Ind.
RF	Xane Washington	Nicholls	R-Sr.	Houma, La.
P	Grant Rogers	McNeese	Jr.	Groves, Texas