FOREST, Va. – Isaiah Hairston (High Point, N.C.) was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Player of the Year, and was an All-ODAC First Team selection for the Guilford College baseball team, as Skyler Dark (Pleasant Garden, N.C.) joined him on the second team, and Chase Wade (Archdale, N.C.) on the third team as announced by the conference offices on Thursday afternoon.

It was a superb season for Hairston, who found a way to one-up his All-American-worthy 2023 campaign, finishing tied for the league lead with 7 home runs in conference play, nearly lapping the field with a .791 slugging percentage, nearly 100 points better than any other ODAC hitter with at minimum 50 at bats, and third in runs batted in with 30 to contribute to his program-record 58 that he accumulated on the season. As a result, he nets the Guilford College baseball team's first ODAC Player of the Year Award in over a decade, the last being Kyle Wooden '11 back in 2011, and just their third overall on record.

As a team, the Quakers' trio of selections ranked sixth in the conference, tied with Washington and Lee University, however they showed balance as one of just three schools to put one-or-more players on each of the first, second, and third teams, along with Shenandoah University and Randolph-Macon College.

Hairston had a season for the ages for the Quakers to net the ODAC Player of the Year Award. He finished the regular season with a .426/.528/.748 triple-slash with his on-base and slugging marks pacing the ODAC and his batting average ranking third. He also raised the bar in conference play, slashing .429/.531/.791 across 22 ODAC games. Additionally, he led the league in hits with 66, extra-base hits with 26, total bases with 116, and runs batted in with 57. At the conclusion of the regular season, he ranked within the top-50 in all of Division-III in all of the aforementioned statistics except batting average in which he ranked 53^rd. Among those, he sat fifth in RBIs, seventh in total bases, and tenth in hits while also slotting in fourth in the ODAC and 24^th in the nation in walks with 34. Additionally, he was incredibly durable, starting every regular season game for GC and playing 346 of the 349 innings the team played this spring, all of them at first base. The graduate student was held hitless in just six of 40 regular season contests this season, and a mere three of the 22 conference contests. Of those, he registered at minimum two knocks in over half of those games, with 13 multi-hit showings in league play, and reached base multiple times in 19 of the 22 games.

This marks the third-straight All-OCAC selection in Hairston's distinguished career, and second in a row on the first team. As a result, he becomes just the program's second three-time All-ODAC recipient, joining John Macon Smith '14. He is also one of just four players in Quakers' baseball history with multiple All-ODAC First Team selections, joining Kevin Moore '00 and Wooden as two-time selections with Macon Smith being the lone three-time first teamer.

Opening the season starting in just three of Guilford's first eight games, Dark finally cracked the everyday nine for a doubleheader against Brevard on March 3^rd, responded by going 4-of-7 with three extra-base hits in that twin bill, and virtually never left the rest of the way playing in 34 regular season contests, eventually getting promoted to the leadoff role by the start of league play, a spot in which he has thrived in hitting at a .366/.420/.566 rate. Incredibly consistent, Dark posted near-identical numbers in league play with his batting average dropping just a touch, his slugging rising a smidge, and his on-base staying the same with a .360/.420/.570 slash-line. Possessing rare power for a leadoff hitter by ranking 15^th in the conference in slugging percentage, Dark mashed 16 extra-base hits, the second-most on the team and tied for the 18^th-most in the ODAC, among them were six doubles and triples each, and four home runs with his three-baggers total not only being tied for the conference lead, but is the 14^th-most in Division-III baseball. He finished the regular season scoring on 39 occasions, the third-most on the team, and crossed the plate 27 times in league play to rank second on the roster and fifth in the conference. In addition, he finished tied for fourth on the team with 25 runs driven in during the regular season, and was tied for second on the team with seven stolen bases, doing so without getting caught. Defensively, he was flawless while appearing at all three outfield positions, he did not record an error across 75 total chances, among them 73 putouts, the second-most on the team among outfielders, and two outfield assists.

Dark becomes just the fifth Quaker freshman to earn All-ODAC recognition with Guilford putting a first-year player on each of the past two All-ODAC squads.

In his fourth season in Greensboro, Wade has continued to be an invaluable two-way player for Guilford earning his second-straight All-ODAC selection as a utility player, falling to the third team this year despite arguably having a better season this spring. Appearing in all 40 regular season games with 34 starts, he finished the regular season hitting .313/.373/.435 with ten doubles to rank second on the team and tied for 18^th in the league. He collected a career-high 41 hits, scoring 24 times and driving in 30, the third most on the roster. Wade connected on two home runs and accumulated a team-best five total sacrifice hits. Counter to his 2023 All-ODAC utility performance, his pitching probably outshined his hitting this season. As the team's closer, he made 14 regular season appearances, all of them in relief, and the second-most on the team, accumulating 25.1 innings, the second-most among those with at least ten appearances out of the bullpen for GC. Among Quaker pitchers with at least 10.0 innings pitched, he posted the team's lowest ERA at 2.13 while also owning the second-best WHIP at 1.07. He finished off ten Guilford victories, locking down all four of his save opportunities to finish tied for second-most in ODAC.

With his this being the second All-ODAC selection of his career, Wade joins a reasonably exclusive club as one of just 16 players in program history to make multiple All-ODAC teams.

As a whole, the Quakers enjoyed a successful season, eclipsing the 20-win mark for the second-straight year and finishing 20-22. More importantly, they enjoyed their best season in a while in league play, finishing 12-10 and sixth in the conference standings. It was their top finish in the standings since entering the ODAC Tournament as the fifth-seed in 2012. It is also their first finish above .500 in league play since 2006, and in terms of winning percentage (.545) since they went 13-6 (.684) in 2005. Unfortunately, their tremendous season saw an unceremonious end, getting swept out of the ODAC Tournament by Shenandoah on the championship's opening weekend.

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