Cullowhee, N.C. – As the official 2022 preseason team practice commences for Western Carolina baseball on Friday afternoon, the Catamounts had three players listed on the Perfect Game Preseason All-Southern Conference team announced this week. Infielders in senior Will Prater and sophomore Pascanel Ferreras and junior RHP Zebby Matthews each collected the preseason honor from the publication.
 
The official Southern Conference preseason poll and all-conference teams are slated to be unveiled on February 10, just ahead of the start of the 2022 regular season.

Prater played in 46 games a season ago split between second and third in the infield, two in right field and 18 as the designated hitter where he earned first-team All-SoCon plaudits. The Dallas, Ga., native batted .395 on the year with a career-best 32 RBI. Prater moved above the .400 threshold with a four-hit outing in the first game of April and maintained the impressive average until the final game of the conference tournament at the end of last May. A combined 58 of his 66 base knocks were singles for the fifth-year senior, adding five doubles and three triples in 2021.
 
On the strength of a tremendous freshman season that included second-team All-SoCon, all-freshman team, and all-tournament team selection, Ferreras returns for an encore in 2022. The Stone Mountain, Ga., native started all 49 games at shortstop as a frosh, batting .329 with 70 hits including 11 doubles, two triples, and a team-leading 16 home runs, pacing the league with 133 total bases in collecting Freshman All-America honors from both Collegiate Baseball and D1Baseball.
 
Ferreras was listed as the Perfect Game Preseason Freshman of the Year last season, collecting preseason all-conference accolades this spring.
 
Selected as a team captain for a second-consecutive year during the off-season, Matthews returns after earning a second-team All-Southern Conference selection a season ago despite being sidelined with injury after 10 starts in 2021. The Cullowhee, N.C., product posted a 6-2 overall record with a 3.52 ERA, the sixth best in the SoCon. He struck out a team-best 60 over 61.1 innings of work, twice fanning double-digits in a game including a career-high 12 against St. John's in mid-March.
 
Matthews was a three-time SoCon Pitcher of the Week last spring and was dubbed the league's Pitcher of the Month last February.
 
UNCG outfielder Pres Cavenaugh was tabbed as the SoCon's Preseason Player of the Year, while ETSU left-hander Colby Stuart was pegged as the Pitcher of the Year. Freshman right-hander Carter Bailey of Wofford was picked as the Preseason SoCon Freshman of the Year by the publication.
 
The Catamounts open their 56-game schedule on Friday, Feb. 18 with doubleheader action against Niagara at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium in Cullowhee. Season tickets for WCU's home schedule are on sale now through the Catamount Athletics ticket office, located on the first floor of the Ramsey Center, by phone at (828) 227-2401, or online at CatamountSports.com. Packages include general admission tickets for the upper grandstand bleacher areas, or reserved chairback seating options along the field level or directly behind home plate in the upper, covered seating areas.
 
Single-game ticket sales for individual home games at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium begin on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022.
 
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