2017 All-America Teams

Oregon State and North Carolina entered the NCAA Tournament as the top two ranked teams in the country, and they combined to produce five first-team All-Americans.

Joining North Carolina with three honorees across all three All-America teams are Kentucky and Louisville. Seven schools—Florida, Louisiana State, Missouri State, Oregon State, Southern Mississippi, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest—had two players honored. In all, 35 schools are represented on the All-America teams.

Five players from the Preseason-All America first team also made the postseason first team: second baseman Nick Madrigal, third baseman Jake Burger, DH Keston Hiura, lefthander/first baseman Brendan McKay and righthander J.B. Bukauskas. Outfielders Adam Haseley and Stuart Fairchild were on the second team. In all, 13 players who made the Preseason All-America teams are again honored on the postseason teams.

McKay is now a three-time first-team All-American. Burger and Haseley are the only other players to repeat as All-Americans this season. Both were honored on the third-team last year.

The All-America team selected by Baseball America staff. Capsules by Teddy Cahill and Michael Lannana. Statistics compiled by Justin Perline

Editor’s Note: After a report surfaced in The Oregonian on Thursday morning that Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich pleaded guilty to sexually molesting a 6-year-old female family member when he was 15, Baseball America has decided to remove Heimlich from our All-America team.


C David Banuelos
Long Beach State

Banuelos is known mostly for his ability behind the plate, and he was named Big West Conference defensive player of the year. He shut down opponents’ running games, throwing out 18 of 29 (62 percent) basestealers. The junior took a step forward offensively this spring, hitting .297/.376/.484 with seven home runs to lead Beach to super regionals.


brent rooker1B Brent Rooker
Mississippi State

An all-Southeastern Conference honoree a year ago, Rooker raised his game in his redshirt-junior season. He was the SEC player of the year and hit .395/.498/.827 with 23 home runs and 18 stolen bases, leading the country in slugging percentage and ranking second in hits. Rooker led Mississippi State to super regionals for the second year in a row.


2B Nick Madrigal
Oregon State

The sophomore has been the sparkplug for the best team in the country this spring. The Pacific-12 Conference player of the year, Madrigal makes the most of his 5-foot-8 frame, putting together disciplined at-bats and showcasing a dynamic offensive tool set. He hit .380/.443/.537, walked more than he struck out and made just four errors.


3B Jake Burger
Missouri State

Burger tapped into his prodigious power to hit more than 20 home runs for the second straight year, thus becoming the second Bear to have back-to-back 20-homer seasons. The Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, the junior helped Missouri State reach super regionals for the second time in three years by hitting .335/.451/.665 with 22 home runs.


SS Logan Warmoth
North Carolina

The Tar Heels shortstop carried a strong 2016 second half and summer in the Cape Cod League into this spring, where he showed improved power at the plate. Hitting a career-high 10 home runs and batting .336/.404/.554, Warmoth also fields the position well enough that most evaluators believe he’ll stick there at the next level.


OF Greg Deichmann
Louisiana State

Like Brent Rooker, Deichmann opted to return to school after being drafted last year. The junior hit .322/.430/.614 with a Louisiana State-high 19 home runs and showed greater selectivity at the plate. He also made a smooth transition from first base to right field, where he collected six assists and showed improved mobility.


OF Adam Haseley
Virginia

A two-way player throughout his career at Virginia, Haseley took a step forward offensively this season while holding down a spot in the Cavaliers’ rotation. The junior won the Atlantic Coast Conference batting title, hitting .390/.491/.659 with 10 stolen bases. He also hit a team-high 14 home runs, doubling his total from his first two college seasons.


OF Stuart Fairchild
Wake Forest

Fairchild led a high-powered Wake Forest offense, helping the Demon Deacons reach super regionals for the first time since 1999. He hit .359/.438/.645 with 17 home runs and 20 stolen bases, capped by a virtuoso regional performance. The junior also earns rave reviews in center field, where he did not make an error this season.


Keston Hiura 2017 MLB DraftDH Keston Hiura
UC Irvine

An elbow injury has limited Hiura to DH duties since last April, but it hasn’t limited him any at the plate. He hit .442/.567/.693 with eight home runs, nine stolen bases and 50 walks. The Big West Conference player of the year was leading the country in batting and on-base percentage after winning the “slash-stat” triple crown in his conference.


UT Brendan McKay
Louisville

For the third year in a row, McKay earns first-team All-America honors as a utility player. The Cardinals ace and cleanup hitter excelled in both roles. The junior was named Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year after going 9-3, 2.31 with 131 strikeouts in 97.1 innings on the mound and hitting .356/.476/.683 with 17 home runs at the plate.


SP J.B. Bukauskas
North Carolina

The North Carolina Friday starter has been a hot commodity since high school, boasting a fastball that can touch the upper 90s and the highest-graded slider in college. Bukauskas used those two pitches to carve through the Atlantic Coast Conference as its pitcher of the year, going 9-1, 2.53 with 116 strikeouts to 37 walks in 92.2 innings.


SP Steven Gingery
Texas Tech

Building off a solid freshman season in an Omaha club’s weekend rotation, Gingery seized Texas Tech’s ace role, going 10-1, 1.58 for the Big 12 Conference regular-season champs. The lefty struck out 107 to 29 walks in 91.1 innings, and with other members of his pitching staff battling injuries, Gingery proved to be a workhorse, thriving even in a hitter’s park.


SP Cory Abbott
Loyola Marymount

Few pitchers in college baseball made a leap like Abbott, who added a slider after watching video of Noah Syndergaard’s grip of the pitch and became one of the nation’s top starters for the Lions. He ranked in the top 15 in the country in wins, ERA, strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings (11.9), and threw in March the first prefect game in program history.


SP Jake Thompson
Oregon State

On almost any other staff, Thompson would be the ace. But at Oregon State, he’s one of several. Healthy for an entire season, Thompson went 13-0, 1.30 for the Beavers, striking out 106 n 110.2 innings. The redshirt junior has always had stuff, with a fastball that touches the mid-90s and a hard, biting slider. In 2017, he put that arsenal to good use.


RP Josh Hiatt
North Carolina

A year after not pitching for the Tar Heels—he redshirted after failing to make the roster—a determined Hiatt seized the closer’s role and allowed only one run in 30.2 Atlantic Coast Conference innings. He appeared in 17 of those 30 games. Hiatt posted 13 saves overall, with a 1.90 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 52 innings. His changeup is a legitimate plus pitch.


RP Wyatt Marks
Louisiana-Lafayette

Though the Ragin’ Cajuns didn’t advance to regional play this year, Marks is by no means to blame. The junior was as dominant as it gets in the back of the bullpen, leading the country with nine-inning ratios of 15.17 strikeouts and 4.4 hits. He struck out a whopping 100 batters in 59.1 innings, posting seven saves and a 2.28 ERA.


Baseball America has selected a College All-America team for more than 30 years. This year’s selections were made by BA staff after the regionals, weighing the performance of players throughout the spring. While our Preseason All-America teams, which are voted on by major league scouting directors, are forward looking, with an emphasis on talent and potential, these teams are meant to look at the results of the 2017 season. We take into account evaluations from countless coaches and scouts, as well as statistical performance to create the teams.

First Team
Pos. Name, School Yr AVG OBP SLG AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB
C David Banuelos, Long Beach State Jr. .297 .376 .484 192 31 57 7 29 17 42 5
1B Brent Rooker, Mississippi State R-Jr. .395 .498 .827 243 57 96 23 82 45 54 18
2B Nick Madrigal, Oregon State So. .380 .443 .537 216 49 82 4 34 21 13 15
3B Jake Burger, Missouri State Jr. .333 .448 .662 240 69 80 22 65 42 36 3
SS Logan Warmoth, North Carolina Jr. .336 .404 .554 271 60 91 10 49 28 47 18
OF Greg Deichmann, Louisiana State Jr. .322 .430 .614 233 49 75 19 69 47 51 5
OF Stuart Fairchild, Wake Forest Jr. .359 .438 .645 248 64 89 17 67 29 49 20
OF Adam Haseley, Virginia Jr. .390 .491 .659 223 68 87 14 56 44 21 10
DH Keston Hiura, UC Irvine Jr. .442 .567 .693 199 48 88 8 42 50 38 9
UT Brendan McKay, Louisville Jr. .356 .476 .683 202 54 72 17 56 45 35 2
Pos. Name, School Yr W L ERA G CG SV IP H BB SO AVG
SP J.B. Bukauskas, North Carolina Jr. 9 1 2.53 15 0 0 93 62 37 116 .188
SP Steven Gingery, Texas Tech So. 10 1 1.58 15 0 0 91 60 29 107 .186
SP Cory Abbott, Loyola Marymount Jr. 11 2 1.74 15 2 0 98 61 28 130 .173
SP Jake Thompson, Oregon State R-Jr. 13 0 1.30 17 1 0 111 69 34 106 .180
RP Josh Hiatt, North Carolina R-Fr. 4 2 1.90 32 0 13 52 31 20 64 .168
RP Wyatt Marks, Louisiana-Lafayette Jr. 2 1 2.28 30 0 7 59 29 25 100 .144
UT Brendan McKay, Louisville Jr. 9 3 2.31 15 0 0 97 61 33 131 .178
Second Team
Pos. Name, School Yr AVG OBP SLG AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB
C Joey Morgan, Washington Jr. .324 .427 .500 182 28 59 5 45 30 35 1
1B Evan White, Kentucky Jr. .368 .450 .627 204 47 75 9 40 24 31 5
2B Braden Shewmake, Texas A&M Fr. .333 .377 .545 255 42 85 11 67 14 28 11
3B Drew Ellis, Louisville R-So. .362 .453 .695 213 52 77 17 55 37 37 6
SS Kevin Merrell, South Florida Jr. .384 .464 .569 216 48 83 7 38 29 31 19
OF Garrett McCain, Oklahoma State Jr. .388 .491 .549 224 53 87 4 43 29 33 19
OF Will Robertson, Davidson Sr. .336 .404 .648 244 58 82 18 44 19 29 4
OF Matt Wallner, Southern Mississippi Fr. .336 .463 .655 235 56 79 19 63 45 50 4
DH J.J. Matijevic, Arizona Jr. .383 .436 .633 240 57 92 10 65 23 38 9
UT Taylor Braley, Southern Mississippi Jr. .313 .461 .587 230 62 72 17 61 63 50 6
Pos. Name, School Yr W L ERA G CG SV IP H BB SO AVG
SP Tyler Holton, Florida State So. 10 2 2.22 16 2 0 105 63 25 132 .166
SP Alex Faedo, Florida Jr. 7 2 2.80 15 0 0 96 81 32 113 .225
SP Alex Lange, Louisiana State Jr. 9 5 2.87 16 4 0 103 94 34 124 .240
SP Kyle Wright, Vanderbilt Jr. 5 5 2.98 15 1 0 97 74 28 113 .210
RP Lincoln Henzman, Louisville Jr. 3 0 1.30 24 0 16 35 17 8 35 .147
RP Colton Hock, Stanford Jr. 6 1 2.08 27 0 16 48 36 11 35 .211
UT Taylor Brayley, Southern Mississippi Jr. 7 2 3.40 14 0 0 82 81 22 78 .263
Third Team
Pos. Name, School Yr AVG OBP SLG AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB
C Daulton Varsho, Wisconsin-Milwaukee Jr. .362 .490 .643 199 47 72 11 39 46 39 10
1B Gavin Sheets, Wake Forest Jr. .322 .429 .634 227 55 73 20 81 44 33 1
2B Riley Mahan, Kentucky Jr. .339 .396 .626 254 56 86 15 67 22 52 9
3B Jake Scheiner, Houston Jr. .346 .432 .667 243 50 84 18 64 27 41 8
SS Jeremy Eierman, Missouri State So. .312 .430 .671 237 66 74 22 67 39 57 15
OF D.J. Artis, Liberty So. .359 .532 .552 181 58 65 6 45 62 30 23
OF Jeren Kendall, Vanderbilt Jr. .312 .379 .569 253 58 79 15 52 24 71 19
OF Tristan Pompey, Kentucky So. .368 .471 .554 258 70 95 10 44 45 54 9
DH Jake Adams, Iowa Jr. .335 .417 .747 245 55 82 29 72 29 57 5
UT Jake Meyers, Nebraska Jr. .297 .439 .349 195 52 58 1 16 39 31 20
Pos. Name, School Yr W L ERA G CG SV IP H BB SO AVG
SP Griffin Canning, UCLA Jr. 7 4 2.34 17 4 0 119 93 32 140 .213
SP David Peterson, Oregon Jr. 11 4 2.51 15 1 0 100 88 15 140 .237
SP J.P. Sears, The Citadel Jr. 7 3 2.64 14 2 0 95 69 27 142 .204
SP Casey Mize, Auburn So. 8 2 2.04 13 2 0 84 66 9 109 .210
RP Michael Byrne, Florida So. 2 4 1.69 31 0 16 59 46 10 66 .215
RP Nate Harris, Louisiana Tech Sr. 9 1 2.31 22 3 8 94 79 11 94 .226
UT Jake Meyers, Nebraska Jr. 8 2 3.42 14 1 0 84 86 9 57 .265

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