2015 NAIA Baseball All-Americans Announced
By Alan Grosbach, Manager of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the 2015 Baseball All-America Teams, selected by the NAIA-Baseball Coaches Association All-America Committee. National Player of the Year Ty Abbott of Georgia Gwinnett headlines the group of 34 individuals named to the first and second team. An additional 34 student-athletes received honorable mention recognition.
Abbott, a native of Milton, Ga., was awarded the Association of Independent Institutions Player of the Year after leading the Grizzlies to a 50-14 record – their second-consecutive season with 50-or-more wins – and an appearance in the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round for the second-straight year.
The senior first baseman concluded the year ranked among the top 50 nationally in 16 statistical categories, including leading the NAIA in at-bats (248), RBI (93) and hits (106). Abbott ended the season on a 12-game hitting streak and recorded multi-hit performances in 33-of-63 games. He is the first individual from Georgia Gwinnett to receive the honor.
World Series qualifier Oklahoma Baptist led all institutions with four All-Americans – Yariel Gonzalez (2B; first team), Kelvin Rivas (SP; first team), Landon Coon (3B; second team) and Joey Szczepanski (OF; second team). This is the second-straight year that the program has boasted the most honorees.
Orlando Olivera of Missouri Baptist and Mitch Peschon of Northwestern (Iowa) are the only repeat selections. Olivera – a first team outfielder – ended the season with a team-best .395 batting average and ranked No. 2 in the NAIA in home runs with 20. Peschon, who is on the second team as an outfielder, registered 119 total bases and a .360 batting average for the Red Raiders. He also stole a team-high 16 bases and had 10 assists.
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2015 NAIA Baseball All-America Teams| First Team | |||||
| Position | First | Last | Year | School | Hometown |
| C | Jesse | Baker | Sr. | Edward Waters (Fla.) | Sebring, Fla. |
| C | Osvaldo | Gonzalez | Sr. | Bellevue (Neb.) | Miami, Fla. |
| 1B | Ty | Abbott | Sr. | Georgia Gwinnett | Milton, Ga. |
| 2B | Yariel | Gonzalez | Jr. | Oklahoma Baptist | San Sebastian, P.R. |
| SS | Clayton | Brandt | Sr. | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | Stewardson, Ill. |
| 3B | Ridge | Hoopi-Haslam | Sr. | Tennessee Wesleyan | Hilo, Hawaii |
| INF | Randy | Santiesteban | Sr. | Peru State (Neb.) | Hialeah, Fla. |
| DH | Keivan | Berges | So. | Northwood (Fla.) | Wellington, Fla. |
| OF | Jordan | Tescher | Sr. | Dickinson State (N.D.) | Beach, N.D. |
| OF | Orlando | Olivera+ | Sr. | Missouri Baptist | Miami, Fla. |
| OF | Chris | Madera | Sr. | Faulkner (Ala.) | Santo Domingo, D.R. |
| OF | Alex | Bautista | Sr. | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | Brooklyn, N.Y. |
| SP | Adam | Panayotovich | Sr. | St. Francis (Ill.) | Palos Park, Ill. |
| SP | Corey | Hale | Sr. | Mobile (Ala.) | Luverne, Ala. |
| SP | Adam | Hines | Jr. | LSU Alexandria (La.) | Bunkie, La. |
| SP | Kelvin | Rivas | Sr. | Oklahoma Baptist | Guaynabo, P.R. |
| RP | Tyler | Mark | Jr. | Concordia (Calif.) | Los Angeles, Calif. |
| Second Team | |||||
| Position | First | Last | Year | School | Hometown |
| C | Daniel | Comstock | Jr. | Menlo (Calif.) | Petaluma, Calif. |
| C | Scott | Morton | Jr. | Briar Cliff (Iowa) | Ventura, Calif. |
| 1B | Seth | Brown | Jr. | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | Medford, Ore. |
| 2B | Jake | Morgan | Jr. | Sterling (Kan.) | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| SS | Aaron | Stubblefield | Jr. | Sterling (Kan.) | Kansas City, Mo. |
| 3B | Landon | Coon | Jr. | Oklahoma Baptist | Dale, Okla. |
| INF | Wesley | Hoskins | Sr. | Menlo (Calif.) | Johannesburg, South Africa |
| DH | Daniel | Bolanos | Sr. | Kansas Wesleyan | Miami, Fla. |
| OF | Joey | Szczepanski | Sr. | Oklahoma Baptist | Bloomington, Calif. |
| OF | Romer | Portes | Sr. | Indiana Tech | Orlando, Fla. |
| OF | Preston | King | Jr. | Bryan (Tenn.) | Kingston, Tenn. |
| OF | Mitch | Peschon% | Sr. | Northwestern (Iowa) | Spirit Lake, Iowa |
| SP | Andrew | Bergmann | Sr. | Judson (Ill.) | Hanover Park, Ill. |
| SP | Kenny | Kudsen | Sr. | Bryan (Tenn.) | Suger Hill, Ga. |
| SP | Steve | Sarcone | Sr. | Bellevue (Neb.) | Utica, N.Y. |
| SP | Griffin | Glaude | Sr. | Lyon (Ark.) | Beebe, Ark. |
| RP | Zac | Grotz | Sr. | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | San Bruno, Calif. |
+ - 2014 First Team All-American
% - 2014 Second Team All-American
| Honorable Mention | ||
| First | Last | School |
| Zach | Close | AIB (Iowa) |
| Sean | Baumes | Bacone (Okla.) |
| Stephen | Meyer | Bellevue (Neb.) |
| Curtis | Taylor | British Columbia |
| Andrew | Redman | Clarke (Iowa) |
| Brendan | Bender | Davenport (Mich.) |
| Jonathan | Cheshire | Davenport (Mich.) |
| Liam | Bedford | Doane (Neb.) |
| Liam | Goodall | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
| Robert | Llera | Faulkner (Ala.) |
| Victor | Arche | Faulkner (Ala.) |
| Houston | Looser | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) |
| Jacob | Lanning | Holy Cross (Ind.) |
| Evan | Bickett | IU Southeast (Ind.) |
| Logan | Coughlin | IU Southeast (Ind.) |
| Luke | Rojas | Judson (Ill.) |
| Max | Whitt | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
| Cabe | Reiten | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
| Christian | Cavaness | Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) |
| Jami | Rachal | LSU Alexandria (La.) |
| Braxton | Hamil | Mobile (Ala.) |
| Jinny | Parra | Oklahoma Baptist |
| Keach | Ballard | Oklahoma Baptist |
| Willi | Martin | Southeastern (Fla.) |
| Jordan | Espino | Sterling (Kan.) |
| Dustin | Hurlbutt | Tabor (Kan.) |
| Wardy | Polanco | Tennessee Wesleyan |
| Ashly | Morris | USC Beaufort (S.C.) |
| Jose | Rojas | Vanguard (Calif.) |
| AJ | Arroyo | Webber International (Fla.) |
| Alex | Bush | Westmont (Calif.) |
| Russell | Hamening | Westmont (Calif.) |
| Will | Barring | Westmont (Calif.) |
| Blake | Matthias | Westmont (Calif.) |
