Five Virginia Tech Baseball Players Earn All-American Honors

After a historic season for Virginia Tech Baseball, five of the Hokies' standouts received All-American honors from Perfect Game, the NCBWA, and Collegiate Baseball including one First Team honor for the first time at Virginia Tech since Matt Dalton in 2003 per VT records.

The Perfect Game All-American and Freshman All-American honors are embedded below. You can click on the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball to see their full teams.

Center fielder Gavin Cross may have only earned one of those All-American honors but the future first round pick has made more Virginia Tech history becoming the 1st All-American First Teamer for Virginia Tech since Matt Dalton in 2003 with this honor coming from Perfect Game/Rawlings.

This comes after Cross had another standout season for the Hokies batting .328 with 17 home runs, 50 RBIs, and 8 triples which is 1 off the VT single season record with only 41 strikeouts in 57 games plus a .411 on-base percentage plus a .660 slugging percentage. His stellar play went beyond the plate as he was perfect 12-12 on stolen base attempts while he also had only 1 error, a .992 fielding percentage, and 3 outfield assists.

After Cross comes left fielder Jack Hurley who earned All-American Second Team honors from the NCBWA while also earning Third Team honors from Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game.

This comes after a breakout season for Hurley as he led the Hokies in batting average (.375), on-base percentage (.452), and doubles (23) while also adding 14 home runs and 55 RBIs. He also was 10-12 on the basepaths plus 7 outfield assists, only 1 error, and a .989 fielding percentage.

Safe to say, expect Jack Hurley to be on many Preseason All-American First Teams entering next season.

Like Hurley, Tanner Schobel took a big jump from his freshman to sophomore seasons on his way to earning the same honors as Hurley: Second Team All-American from the NCBWA plus Thid Team honors from Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game.

Schobel was Tech's biggest run producer leading the Hokies in home runs (19), RBIs (74), sacrifice flies (6), and slugging percentage (.689) to go with a .362 batting average, .445 on-base percentage, and a team-low 40 strikeouts among regular starters this past season. He also had 7 stolen bases plus a .954 fielding percentage with only 11 errors.

Because Schobel has already turned 21, he's eligible for this year's MLB Draft and will likely go in the first 3 rounds and then sign a professional contract entering his unusually short but impressive collegiate career.

Drue Hackenberg's strong freshman season also has him earning national honors as he was named a Third Team All-American by the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball while earning Freshman All-American First Team honors from the NCBWA, Perfect Game, and Collegiate Baseball (though they have only one Freshman All-American honor).

Though Hackenberg just ran out of gas at the end of the season, he was tremendous overall for anyone let alone a freshman going 10-2 in 17 appearances including 16 starts with a 3.30 ERA that was well below 3 prior to the postseason plus 87 strikeouts and only 19 walks in 92.2 innings while opposing hitters only hit .259 against him.

Like Hurley, it wouldn't be surprising to see Hackenberg all over Preseason All-American teams entering next season with a sophomore arm that should be able to go longer and deeper after a trial by fire pushing nearly 100 innings this year.

Carson DeMartini also earned Freshman All-American honors from the NCBWA and Perfect Game plus the sweeping Freshman All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball.

The 757 native was an instant star for the Hokies being a dynamic hitter who became an advantage for the Hokies in the 9 spot being able to flip the order regularly helping propel Tech's offense. DeMartini finished the season with a .341 batting average, 15 home runs, 50 RBIs, a .452 on-base percentage that tied Jack Hurley for best on the team, and a .659 slugging percentage. He also had 5 stolen bases plus a .951 fielding percentage with only 8 errors.

Though DeMartini was a weapon for Tech at the bottom of the order this season, get ready to see him, Jack Hurley, and Carson Jones form a dangerous trio at the heart of Tech's order in 2023.