Georgia Tech’s Ramsey wins ACC coach of the year, team garners more honors

To the victors go the spoils.

Georgia Tech baseball won the regular-season ACC title, and that dominance was reflected in the postseason conference awards announced Monday.

Leading the way was James Ramsey as coach of the year, along with Vahn Lackey, who was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year and was named first-team all-conference.

Drew Burress, Jarren Advincula, Carson Kerce and Ryan Zuckerman also were selected to the first team, and Tate McKee was a second-team honoree. The five Yellow Jackets on the first team tied for the most in program history with the 2000 squad.

McKee’s second-team honor is the first for a Tech starting pitcher since Brant Hurter in 2001.

Georgia Tech (45-9 overall, 25-5 ACC) matched the 2015 Louisville squad for the record for most wins in a 30-game conference season.

Ramsey’s selection makes him the first ACC coach to win coach of the year in his first year. This honor follows Danny Hall’s honor last season, Tech has the first different head coaches to win back-to-back coach of the year awards.

Lackey hit .402 this season with a 1.265 OPS, 15 home runs and 69 RBI.

Burress earned his third first-team selection with a .363 batting average, .473 on-base percentage and .650 slugging percentage. He led the ACC with 75 runs scored.

Advincula is second in the nation with a .441 batting average, and he led the country with 100 hits, including a string of at least one hit in 37 of his last 38 games. He has a team-high 16 steals this season and has reached base in every game.

Kerce, who moved into the role as leadoff hitter, set a school record with 28 doubles, along with a .380 batting average.

Zuckerman was the conference’s top third baseman and hit 20 home runs, along with 21 multi-RBI games. He hit .335 and scored 60 runs with a .720 slugging percentage.