PORTALES, N.M. — Sophomore designated hitter Paden Vendrely (Deming, N.M./Deming HS) from the Eastern New Mexico University baseball team has been selection to the 2008 Daktronics South Central All-Region Second Team for his performance in the 2008 season. The Greyhounds closed the season by winning five of their last six games and set numerous offensive records.

Vendrely started 21 games at designated hitter and 17 games at catcher, posting a team-best .400 batting average with 11 doubles, one triple, three home runs and 35 runs batted in. He posted the tenth highest batting average in the Lone Star Conference and was in the top five for ENMU in batting, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, doubles, sacrifice bunts, and sacrifice flies. Over two seasons, he has registered the sixth best career batting average (.385) in the 17-year history of the program.

Midway through the season, Vendrely recorded a 13-game hitting streak that included contests against Lone Star Conference powerhouses Angelo State, Abilene Christian, Texas A&M-Kingsville, and Eastern’s first win at New Mexico Highlands in six years. He posted 18 multiple-hit games including a three-for-three outing against eventual LSC champion TAMU-Kingsville. He also turned in 10 games with at least two RBIs, topped by his four runs driven in against West Texas A&M in the season finale.

His .400 batting average ties for seventh on the ENMU single-season list and he is just the eighth player in the program’s history to bat .400 or better. His six sacrifice flies tied for the ENMU team single-season record. Vendrely also played a major role in the Hounds prolific offense, as the team shattered offensive records in 12 categories during the 2008 season.