DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association announced its 26th Annual District Players of the Year for all nine districts for the 2024 season. This season’s honorees include:
District 1 (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania)
Tyler MacGregor, Northeastern, Grad., 1B, Peabody, Massachusetts
.402 BA, 55GP, 55GS, 234AB, 72R, 94H, 29 2B, 2 3B, 19 HR, 80 RBI, 33BB, 40K, 15/17 SB/SBA
District 2 (Connecticut, West Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington D.C.)
Josh Kuroda-Grauer, Rutgers, Jr., SS, Somerset, N.J.
.428 BA, 53GP, 53GS, 222AB, 54R, 95H, 19 2B, 1 3B, 5HR, 45RBI, 23BB, 18K, 24/27 SB/SBA
District 3 (Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida)
Christian Moore, Tennessee, Jr., 2B, Brooklyn, New York
.378 BA, 63GP, 63GS, 259AB, 70R, 98H, 17 2B, 0 3B, 29HR, 67RBI, 30BB, 44K, 3/7 SB/SBA
Jac Caglianone, Florida, Jr., 1B/SP, Tampa, Florida
.410 BA, 60GP, 60GS, 229AB, 75R, 94H, 7 2B, 0 3B, 31 HR, 63 RBI, 48 BB, 23K, 3/3 SB/SBA
5-2,4.57 ERA, 14 GP, 14 GS, 0 CG, 0/1 SHO, 67.0IP, 56H, 39R, 34ER, 46BB, 76K, .225 Opp. BA
District 4 (Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland)
Charlie Condon, Georgia, r-So., 3B/1B/OF, Marietta, Georgia
.445 BA, 57GP, 57GS, 220AB, 82R, 98H, 20 2B, 1 3B, 36HR, 77RBI, 55BB, 39K, 3/4 SB/SBA
Chase Burns, Wake Forest, Jr., SP, Hendersonville, Tennessee
10-1, 2.70 ERA, 16 GP, 16 GS, 0 CG, 0/0 SHO, 100.0IP, 62H, 32R, 30ER, 30BB, 191K, .175 Opp. BA
District 5 (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin)
Kendal Ewell, UIC, Grad., OF, Calumet City, Illinois
.390 BA, 55GP, 55GS, 210AB, 56R, 82H, 20 2B, 1 3B, 21 HR, 69 RBI, 35 BB, 54K, 8/11 SB/SBA,
District 6 (Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota)
Brett Sears, Nebraska, Jr., SP, Westphalia, Iowa
9-1, 2.16 ERA, 17 GP, 16 GS, 1 CG, 1/1 SHO, 104.0IP, 72H, 29R, 25ER, 19BB, 101K, .191 Opp. BA
District 7 (Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana)
Hagen Smith, Arkansas, SP, Jr., Bullard, Texas
9-2, 2.04 ERA, 16 GP, 16 GS, 0 CG, 0/2 SHO, 84.0IP, 41H, 22R, 19ER, 34BB, 161K, .144 Opp. BA
District 8 (Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Montana)
Jay Thomason, Air Force, Sr., INF, Auburn, Alabama
.358 BA, 55GP, 55GS, 215AB, 71R, 77H, 14 2B, 5 3B, 21 HR, 55 RBI, 30 BB, 69K, 14/15 SB/SBA
Daniel Dickinson, Utah Valley, So., 2B, Richland, Washington
.367 BA, 58GP, 58GS, 245AB, 73R, 90H, 14 2B, 2 3B, 18 HR, 53 RBI, 34 BB, 28K, 32/37 SB/SBA
District 9 (California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Arizona, Alaska)
Travis Bazzana, Oregon State, Jr., 2B, Sydney, Australia
419 BA, 57GP, 57GS, 203AB, 84R, 85H, 16 2B, 4 3B, 28 HR, 65 RBI, 73BB, 33K, 16/21 SB/SBA
These standouts already possess a plethora of 2024 All-America and conference honors as well as being five of the finalists for the prestigious 37th Dick Howser Trophy presented by The Game Headwear – Bazzana, Burns, Caglianone, Condon and Smith. All nine are under consideration for the NCBWA All-America teams, which will be revealed on Wednesday, June 12.
Bazzana, Condon and Smith also are finalists for the 2024 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award.
In District 1, MacGregor, the Coastal Athletic Association Player of the Year, paced Northeastern to its second-most victories in school history at 38-17 overall and third place in the CAA and was part of the record-setting 44-16 squad in 2023. Behind his solid production, the Huskies ended with the nation’s No. 40 Ratings Percentage Index and just missed a second straight NCAA berth this year.
District 2 standout Kuroda-Grauer of Rutgers paced the Scarlet Knights and is second nationally in batting average to Georgia’s Condon with a .428 average. The slick-fielding shortstop was a leader defensively and at the plate as an All-Big Ten Conference infielder who kept RU in the fight throughout a rugged Big Ten schedule.
Tennessee’s Moore, in District 3, slugged 29 home runs for the Volunteers who have been ranked No. 1 nationally for the last five weeks and lead the nation with a 53-11 overall mark. A candidate for Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, he was a key cog in UT’s victory in the SEC Championship tourney and a three-game sweep through the NCAA Knoxville Regional last week.
His co-recipient in District 3, Caglianone, the 2023 SEC Player of the Year, is just two home runs away from tying his UF season record for home runs of 33 from 2023. He enters the NCAA Clemson Super Regional with sterling stats as a hitter and left-handed starting pitcher – a .410 batting average, 60 starts in 60 team games, 1.373 OPS, 94 hits, 31 homers, 63 RBI, an .847 slugging percentage, 48 walks and just 23 strikeouts in 229 official at-bats. The repeat Howser Trophy finalist enjoyed another stellar season on the mound with a 5-2 overall record in 14 starts as a regular rotation hurler, 76 strikeouts in 67 innings pitched, 46 walks, a 4.57 ERA, and a .225 batting average by opponents after he had a 7-3 mound mark in ’23.
Condon’s showing in District 4 produced some of the top offensive numbers in SEC annals for one season. The SEC Player of the Year and consensus All-America selection starred at two infield positions as well as the outfield for the Bulldogs and leads NCAA Division I with 36 home runs, a .445 batting average and is on pace to break six Georgia season records on offense. His 61 home runs over two seasons also represent the Bulldogs career record in just 115 games over two campaigns. He has paced the Bulldogs to within two victories of their first NCAA World Series since the 2008 season.
Co-District 4 honoree Burns made a major move from the Tennessee program in 2022 and ’23 to Wake Forest where he topped the nation with 191 strikeouts and 17.2 whiffs per nine innings to second nationally, Arkansas’ Smith. The All-ACC choice and ACC Pitcher of the Year aided the Demon Deacons to a No. 1 ranking nationally for most of the early portion of ’24 and has posted a 23-6 career mark at UT and Wake Forest over three seasons.
District 5 mainstay Ewell helped the UIC Flames close the season at 34-20 and 16-11 in the rugged Missouri Valley Conference, which at one time had as many as five teams in contention for NCAA berths. His 21-home run performance was second in the MVC, and his .789 slugging percentage paced the conference. Ewell finished in the top five in seven different statistical categories en route to consensus All-MVC laurels.
Nebraska’s Sears in District 6 racked up one of the top winning percentages in Huskers history for at least 10 decisions at 9-1 (.900) with a 2.16 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 104 innings of work. The Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Year also helped NU roll to a 40-22 overall mark, a 5-1 record as Big Ten Conference tourney winner and an automatic berth in the NCAA Stillwater (Oklahoma) Regional.
District 7’s pacesetting Smith earned 2023 National Pitcher of the Year kudos from the College Baseball Foundation and followed that with a 9-2 pitching mark, 2.04 ERA (second in the SEC), 161 strikeouts in 84 innings pitched, and a NCAA-leading 17.3 whiffs per nine innings. He gave up just 41 hits and only 19 earned runs while turning in a record-setting performance of 17 strikeouts hitters out of 18 hitters faced in a perfect, six-inning stint against then-No. 7 nationally Oregon State in an early-season tournament.
From District 8, Thomason led the Falcons with 21 homers, 55 RBI and a .358 batting average while pacing Air Force to a win at nationally-ranked Mississippi State, a sweep of Navy, the regular-season title of the Mountain West Conference with an 18-12 worksheet, and a key victory over NCAA-bound Fresno State. The personable Thomason comes from a rich background in athletics as the grandson of legendary late Auburn publicist Buddy Davidson.
Dickinson led Utah Valley in batting average (.367), runs (73), hits (90), stolen bases (32) and tied for the lead in home runs (18) and RBI (53). The All-Western Athletic Conference First Team honoree led the league in hits and stolen bases, second in home runs and total bases (162), tied for third in walks (34) and fifth in RBI. Dickinson is No. 17 nationally in stolen bases, No. 23 in runs and No. 26 in hits. He helped lead the Wolverines to an 18-12 record in the WAC, tying for second place in the regular season.
The District 9 recipient is the hard-hitting Bazzana who paced Oregon State to the Corvallis Region title and a berth in the Corvallis Super Regional against Southeastern Conference champion Kentucky. The slugger from Sydney, Australia (the first Dick Howser Trophy finalist from a foreign nation), catapulted the Beavers to their ninth NCAA Super Regional in school history with a .415 batting average (seventh nationally), 1.512 OPS, a Pac-12 Conference-best 28 home runs, 66 RBI, .937 slugging percentage to lead the circuit, and 16 stolen bases in 21 attempts.
NCBWA voting membership for the District Players of the Year includes writers, broadcasters and publicists. Designed to promote and publicize college baseball, it is the sport's only college media-related organization, founded in 1962.
All honorees will have a physical or long-distance connection to the presentation of the Dick Howser Trophy presented by The Game Headwear at Charles Schwab Park in Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday, June 14, at 10 a.m. (CDT) to the NCAA Division I Baseball Player of the Year.