Career: Played in 166 career games and started 163, including all 52 at shortstop as a senior … Finished career with 148 hits, seven homers (career-high four as a senior), 57 RBIs, 89 runs scored, 26 stolen bases and 334 assists … Nominated for an all-region Golden Glove award as a senior.
2021: Started all 52 games at shortstop … Overall, hit .272 with four homers, 20 RBIs, 10 doubles and a team-high 34 runs scored … In Sun Belt play, ranked No. 2 in the league in batting average (.368, after entering the final weekend at a league-leading .414), No. 1 in on-base percentage (.476) and No. 9 in slugging percentage (.544, after entering the final weekend No. 3 at .621) … Produced a D1Baseball.com Defensive Play of the Week with a quick-reflex play on a ricochet to initiate a 6-3 double play at Lipscomb … Also made a barehanded catch and throw to first following a high chopper to short from South Alabama’s Ethan Wilson to create a highlight-reel out that was D1Baseball.com’s No. 4 play of that week … Fielding percentage of .989 in league play ranked No. 1 in the league among Sun Belt shortstops and led Sun Belt players with 61 assists in league play … Nominated for an all-region Golden Glove award as a senior … In App State’s first-ever Sun Belt tournament win, a 1-0 victory against Texas State, went 2-for-4 with a double to set up the sixth-inning run … Homered four times after totaling three in his first three seasons …Went deep three times in a stretch of four games, homering against Troy, NC State and ULM in late April … Also homered against Georgia State … Had three three-hit games.
2020 (no eligibility used due to COVID-19): Played and started in all 17 games (14 at third base and three at shortstop) … Led the team with six stolen bases (tied for seventh in the Sun Belt) … Ranked third on the team in hits (16), total bases (22), at-bats (69) and tied for third in runs scored (10) … Reached base in seven straight games from Feb. 29 at UNCG to March 10 at home against Siena … Batted .375 (9-for-24) with two doubles, a home run, four RBIs and four runs scored during a season-long five-game hitting streak … Went 2-for-5 with a home run, four RBIs (career high), two runs scored and a stolen base in a 9-1 win at Charleston Southern on March 7 … Went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and a stolen base in an 8-4 win at Charleston Southern on March 6 … Recorded a stolen base in five of six games from Feb. 29 at UNCG to March 8 at Charleston Southern … Notched five multi-hit games … Scored a run in App State’s 11-9 win at No. 24 Wake Forest … Finished the season with a .232 batting average, seven RBIs and three doubles … Sported a .979 fielding percentage to help the Mountaineers finish with a .981 fielding percentage, which ranked third amongst Sun Belt Conference opponents at the season’s conclusion … Season was cut short due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
2019: Played in 47 games and made 44 starts at three infield positions: third base (26), shortstop (15) and second base (three) … Batted .237 with 42 hits (third on the team), 23 runs scored, five doubles, 15 RBIs and one homer (against Wake Forest) … Hit .256 in league play … Had a team-high eight at-bats with the bases loaded and batted .375 in those situations … Posted three-hit games against Furman and Arkansas State (in back-to-back games against the Red Wolves) … Scored three runs apiece in wins against Michigan State and UTA, completing that three-game sweep with five hits … Slid head-first into the bag to produce a go-ahead fielder’s choice in the ninth inning of a series-opening win at Louisiana.
2018: Made 50 starts, primarily at second base, and finished the year with 44 hits, 22 runs, 10 doubles, one homer, one triple, 15 RBIs, 22 walks (tied for team lead), eight stolen bases and six sacrifice bunts … Hit .316 (first on the team, 24-for-76) with runners on base and .300 (second on the team, 12-for-40) with runners in scoring position … Hit in the No. 2 spot in 32 games … Started at second base in 46 games and at shortstop in four games, sliding over when Joel McDaniel was sidelined or filling in for another injury elsewhere … First career homer, a two-run shot, erased a 2-0 deficit in the sixth inning of a 4-2 win against Western Carolina and put the first blemish on a no-hit outing … Over his last 35 games of the season, batted .273 (36-for-132) with 15 runs, 12 RBIs and seven doubles … In the three-game series against No. 16 Coastal Carolina, was 6-for-11 at the plate with three walks and five runs scored … Had a .971 fielding percentage over his last 19 games with 37 assists, 31 putouts and only two errors … Finished with seven multi-hit games, including three-hit games against Georgia Southern, North Carolina Central and Coastal Carolina ... In the summer of 2018, playing for the High Point-Thomasville HiToms of the Coastal Plain League, batted .290 with 40 hits, 31 runs, 10 doubles, 12 RBIs and seven steals.
High School: Hit .424 with six HRs, 35 RBIs, 41 runs, 12 doubles and seven triples as a senior ... Four-year letterwinner in baseball and a two-year letterwinner in football ... All-state as a junior ... All-conference as a freshman, sophomore and junior ... Named all-county as a sophomore and junior ... Earned team MVP award as a junior ... As a junior, batted .400 with 39 hits, one home run, 12 stolen bases and two triples ... In football, named all-conference as a sophomore and junior ... Named all-county as a junior after finishing with 1,600 passing yards, 600 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.
Personal: Full name is Bailey Whitman Welch ... Son of Lisa and Clayton Welch ... Born June 8, 1999 ... has two siblings: Easton and Chesney.
