Just days after seeing his dream of being drafted come true, Cameron Foster received yet another big honor.

The former McNeese State Cowboy was named Pitcher of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association on Tuesday.

Foster, the McNeese closer the past two years, was drafted by the New York Mets in the 14th round of Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft. He was also named to the state’s first team.

Cowboys outfielder Payton Harden, the Southland Conference’s Player of the Year, was named to the second team. Second baseman Brad Burckel was an honorable mention after his first season as a Cowboy.

Foster, a third-team all-American was also named the SLC Relief Pitcher of the Year. He compiled a 4-2 record with a 1.86 ERA, 12 saves and a 0.87 WHIP. His saves total matched a single-season school record. He struck out 84 batters in 63 innings while making a team-high 29 appearances.

“It is where you want to be, to have the game in your hands,” Foster said during the season.

“He did whatever we asked of him,” said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. “He would throw as many innings as we needed depending on the situation.”

Foster led the conference in six categories including saves (12), ERA (1.86), strikeouts (84), batting average against (.164), hits allowed (35), and runs allowed (17). He ranked second in the conference in walks allowed with 20.

Harden became the fifth Cowboy to earn the conference player of the year award. He led the Southland with a .378 batting average as well as in total hits (85), triples (4) and stolen bases (26). His 85 hits are tied for second most in school history. He’ll enter his final season with 252 career hits, two shy of the school’s all-time record.

Harden says he has considered a pro career but has yet to sign a free-agent contract.

Burckel is likely to return after finishing second to his teammate in SLC hitting with a .373 average and with 81 total hits in his first year since moving over from the University of Houston. Burckel ranked third in slugging (.618), OPS (1.077), runs scored (62) and triples (3). He also tied for the team lead with 10 home runs and 44 runs batted in.

He earned second team all-SLC honors and was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings South All-Region second team.

Along with Foster, Dylan Crews of LSU was named the state’s Hitter of the Year, Louisiana Tech’s Ryan Harland was the Freshman of the Year, LSU’s Jacob Berry was Newcomer of the Year and Brad Neffendorf of LSU-Shreveport was Coach of the Year.