DALLAS – The 2024 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s 24th All-America first, second and third teams announced Wednesday feature a plethora of the finest NCAA Division I standouts at the plate, afield and on the mound.
All five finalists for the 2024 Dick Howser Trophy presented by The Game Headwear highlight the first team choices in national voting by NCBWA members. They are junior second baseman Travis Bazzana of Oregon State, junior pitcher Chase Burns of Wake Forest, junior first baseman/pitcher Jac Caglianone of Florida, redshirt sophomore third baseman/first baseman/outfielder Charlie Condon of Georgia, and junior starting pitcher Hagen Smith of Arkansas.
There are 19 different conferences and 16 conference championship squads represented among the ’24 stars. The three All-America squads are also made up of 14 conference players or co-players of the year, nine conference pitchers of the year, two conference relief pitchers of the year, and one circuit defensive player of the year.
All 75 student-athletes propelled most if their teams to postseason NCAA activity, and there are 16 All-America choices competing in the 77th NCAA Division I World Series starting Friday and running through June 22 or 23 at Charles Schwab Park in Omaha, Neb. Several others led their squads to NCAA Regional and Super Regional appearances this month.
Some of the first team members and their exemplary accomplishments in ’24 have been Georgia’s Condon with a nation-high 37 home runs, 78 RBI, 100 hits, and a 1.022 slugging percentage to lead the Bulldogs to within one victory of their first NCAA World Series qualification since 2008 and Florida State pitcher Jamie Arnold with a DI-best 15-0 record and 1.92 ERA to stake the Seminoles to their 24th appearance in the NCAA World Series since 1957.
Others with nationally prominent statistics are Oregon State’s Bazzana with 28 homers and 66 RBI to compliment a .400-plus batting average throughout ’24, CWS-bound Texas A&M OF Jace LaViolette with a .387 average, 18 homers and 71 RBI and teammate relief ace Evan Ashenbeck (one of the finalists for the 2024 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award) with a Southeastern Conference-best ERA of 1.92 and 12 saves along with Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore – the first Volunteers star to smash 30-plus home runs (32 prec-CWS) in school history. Howser Trophy finalist Burns of Wake Forest led the country with 191 strikeouts in 100 innings pitcher (17.2 whiffs per nine innings).
Previous NCBWA All-America teams from 1996-2023 have featured the likes of P Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State, OF J.D. Drew of Florida State, P-DH Jason Jennings of Baylor, 1B Mark Teixeira of Georgia Tech, RHP Mark Prior of Southern California, SS Khalil Greene of Clemson, SS-2B Rickie Weeks of Southern, 3B Alex Gordon of Nebraska, P David Price of Vanderbilt, P-DH Brad Lincoln of Houston, C Buster Posey of Florida State, catcher Mike Zunino of Florida, 3B Kris Bryant of San Diego, P-1B A.J. Reed from Kentucky; OF Andrew Benintendi from Arkansas, OF Seth Beer of Clemson, UTIL Brendan McKay from Louisville, Florida P Brady Singer, Oregon State C Adley Rutschman, Arkansas RP Kevin Kopps, LSU pitcher Paul Skenes, and Texas 1B Ivan Melendez, among others.
2024 NCBWA Division I All-America Team
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. For more information about the NCBWA, visit the association's official Web site, www.ncbwa.com.
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