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GCU duo earns Preseason All-America status
12/19/2022 2:30:00 PM | Baseball
Wilson, Avitia land on Collegiate Baseball's 2nd team
Grand Canyon junior shortstop Jacob Wilson and sophomore pitcher Daniel Avitia earned the label of Preseason All-Americans on Monday, landing on Collegiate Baseball's second team.
Wilson, a reigning Golden Spikes semifinalist, and Avitia, the reigning WAC Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, become the fifth and sixth GCU players to earn Preseason All-American honors in the last five seasons.
"Congratulations to Jacob and Danny for being named All-Americans," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "They've earned this honor, and it is exciting to see their accomplishments recognized by one of the notable publications in college baseball."
While GCU had three individuals earn Preseason All-America honors previously from Collegiate Baseball, Wilson and Avitia are the first Lopes to land on the second team. In 2020, first baseman Cuba Bess and pitcher Kade Mechals earned third-team honors. Infielder Juan Colato earned a third-team nod one year later. Outfielder Quin Cotton was named a Preseason All-American by Perfect Game in 2019.
Wilson and Avitia were the only WAC representatives.
Wilson has earned first-team All-WAC honors in his first two seasons at GCU with his stock continually rising. Last spring, Wilson hit .358 for a Lopes team that spent the last three weeks of the regular season in the D1Baseball.com Top 25. Wilson was the nation's toughest batter to strike out, doing so just seven times in 246 at bats. He was one of 31 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation's top college player.
Wilson made more noise this summer. He had a short but successful stint with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod League before joining USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team training camp. Amid a pool of 23 position players in a five-game intrasquad training camp, Wilson led all batters in batting average (.467), runs (5), hits (7), home runs (2), RBIs (5), slugging percentage (1.000) and on-base percentage (.556). That led to an invite to the team's final 26-man roster and a trip to the Netherlands, where he went 4 for 11 without an error on the Honkbalweek Haarlem bronze-medal team.
The continued success led to Wilson being named D1Baseball.com's Top Summer Breakout Prospect, the No. 4 college prospect for the 2023 MLB Draft and MLB Pipeline's No. 9 prospect.
Switching to the mound, Avitia had one of the most successful seasons by a GCU freshman. Last spring, he was the first freshman in conference history to be named WAC Pitcher of the Year. He also was voted WAC Freshman of the Year.
Avitia started the season in relief, but his success quickly moved him to the starting rotation by the time WAC play began. He finished 8-5 with a 4.06 ERA in his freshman campaign. He struck out 111 batters in 84 1/3 innings of work and held opponents to a .227 batting average. Avitia broke GCU's all-time program record for strikeouts by a freshman, far surpassing the 1954 mark of 89 by Al Knox. He logged double-digit strikeout performances on five occasions, including a season-best 14 against Sacramento State on May 7.
Avitia was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball, becoming the fifth Lope to earn that accolade.
GCU's season is set to get underway on Feb. 17.
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Wilson, a reigning Golden Spikes semifinalist, and Avitia, the reigning WAC Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, become the fifth and sixth GCU players to earn Preseason All-American honors in the last five seasons.
"Congratulations to Jacob and Danny for being named All-Americans," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "They've earned this honor, and it is exciting to see their accomplishments recognized by one of the notable publications in college baseball."
While GCU had three individuals earn Preseason All-America honors previously from Collegiate Baseball, Wilson and Avitia are the first Lopes to land on the second team. In 2020, first baseman Cuba Bess and pitcher Kade Mechals earned third-team honors. Infielder Juan Colato earned a third-team nod one year later. Outfielder Quin Cotton was named a Preseason All-American by Perfect Game in 2019.
Wilson and Avitia were the only WAC representatives.
Wilson has earned first-team All-WAC honors in his first two seasons at GCU with his stock continually rising. Last spring, Wilson hit .358 for a Lopes team that spent the last three weeks of the regular season in the D1Baseball.com Top 25. Wilson was the nation's toughest batter to strike out, doing so just seven times in 246 at bats. He was one of 31 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation's top college player.
Wilson made more noise this summer. He had a short but successful stint with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod League before joining USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team training camp. Amid a pool of 23 position players in a five-game intrasquad training camp, Wilson led all batters in batting average (.467), runs (5), hits (7), home runs (2), RBIs (5), slugging percentage (1.000) and on-base percentage (.556). That led to an invite to the team's final 26-man roster and a trip to the Netherlands, where he went 4 for 11 without an error on the Honkbalweek Haarlem bronze-medal team.
The continued success led to Wilson being named D1Baseball.com's Top Summer Breakout Prospect, the No. 4 college prospect for the 2023 MLB Draft and MLB Pipeline's No. 9 prospect.
Switching to the mound, Avitia had one of the most successful seasons by a GCU freshman. Last spring, he was the first freshman in conference history to be named WAC Pitcher of the Year. He also was voted WAC Freshman of the Year.
Avitia started the season in relief, but his success quickly moved him to the starting rotation by the time WAC play began. He finished 8-5 with a 4.06 ERA in his freshman campaign. He struck out 111 batters in 84 1/3 innings of work and held opponents to a .227 batting average. Avitia broke GCU's all-time program record for strikeouts by a freshman, far surpassing the 1954 mark of 89 by Al Knox. He logged double-digit strikeout performances on five occasions, including a season-best 14 against Sacramento State on May 7.
Avitia was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball, becoming the fifth Lope to earn that accolade.
GCU's season is set to get underway on Feb. 17.
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