Reed Claims NAIA All-American Recognition
2016 NAIA Baseball All-Americans | TU Honors Page
KANSAS CITY – Taylor University's senior catcher and Crossroads League Player of the Year, Lincoln Reed, added another prestigious award recently by earning NAIA Honorable Mention All-America honors.
Reed closed his senior season with a .328 batting average, a .427 on-base percentage and a .561 slugging mark, while playing in all 59 of TU's games and starting 57 times behind the plate. In addition to the impressive slash line, Reed smacked a team-leading 27 extra-base hits in 180 at bats, roping 19 doubles to go with a triple and seven home runs. Reed also drove in 47 runs and provided steady defense with a .992 fielding percentage.
Those numbers improved dramatically over 26 league games for the switch-hitting backstop, with Reed hitting .351 and posting a 1.073 OPS (on-base plus slugging) over 77 at bats. Reed also batted .376 with a 1.154 OPS in Taylor's 40 victories and hit .410 with a 1.205 OPS in 26 games on the Winterholter Field turf.
The lofty statistics resulted in Reed ranking among the top-10 players in the Crossroads League in batting average and on-base percentage, while ranking fourth in home runs, third in doubles and second in total bases, runs batted in and slugging percentage against league pitching.
The All-American honor is the latest in a string of accomplishments for Reed since he joined the TU program prior to the 2015 season. In his two years with the Trojans, Reed was also a two-time All-Crossroads League standout, a two-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete, a two-time Academic All-Crossroads League performer, a Crossroads League Gold Glove Award recipient and the CL Player of the Year.
Reed is Taylor's first NAIA All-American since Rhett Goodmiller and Ryne Otis were each named Honorable Mention All-Americans following the 2012 campaign.
Taylor ended the 2016 season with an overall record of 40-18-1, while setting the program record for wins in a season, claiming a sixth Crossroads League Championship in eight years and making its fifth appearance in eight seasons at the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round.