The Methodist College baseball team closed its 2006 regular-season schedule with 11 straight victories and claimed the USA South Athletic Conference baseball championship.

The Monarchs, who are currently playing in the USA South Conference Tournament at Burlington, have received strong contributions from outfielder Jonathan Spivey, a junior outfielder from South Columbus High School, and Dustin Proctor, a freshman catcher from East Columbus High School.

Both delivered key hits in last Sunday’s title-clinching doubleheader victories over Shenandoah.

Spivey has been the Monarchs starting leftfielder and lead-off hitter for the second straight season. He earned all-conference honors and is in line do so again this season as he again leads the team in several offensive categories. He completed regular-season play with a whopping .405 batting average and was the only Monarch player to start every game. During the regular-season, he led the team in at-bats (131), runs scored (35), hits (53), doubles (8), walks (21) and tied for the lead in triples (2) and stolen bases (21).

Proctor has split time at the catching position but has emerged in a big way for Coach Tom Austin’s Monarchs. Twice this season Proctor has been named the USA South’s Rookie of the Week. He has played in 20 games with 13 starts. He is carrying a .273 batting average and has hit two doubles and a triple. He has committed only one error.

The Monarchs rebounded from an 8-10 mid-season mark to finish their regular-season schedule with a 22-11 record (14 wins in their last 15 games). Methodist won its last eight conference games to claim the championship.

Both Spivey and Proctor earned all-conference and all-county honors in both baseball and football at their respective high schools. Both were quarterbacks for their football teams.