Editor’s note: The following Article originally published on d1baseball.com. Right now you can get it 30% off any order at D1 code: D126.
D1 Baseball Player of the Year Roch Cholowski headlines the 2026 D1 Baseball Preseason All-American Teams. Cholowski, a junior shortstop, is one of three No. 1 All-Americans from UCLA, covering three-quarters of the team’s field. Cornerbacks Muliwai Levu and Roman Martin earned third-team honors.
Five other teams tied UCLA with three preseason All-American teams: Coastal Carolina, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina and Texas. The Chanticleers, who made a run to the College World Series last spring, are the only team with two starters in the starting lineup, ace Cameron Flukey and reliever Dominic Carbon. CCU bullpen star Ryan Lynch made the second team.
Two-man All-America programs include LSU, Miami, Oregon State, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Wake Forest. All 13 teams with multiple preseason All-Americans enter the spring ranked in the top 25 in D1Baseball.
The ACC leads all conferences with five first-team players and leads the SEC (four). But the SEC leads the three teams with a combined 18 preseason All-Americans, leading the ACC (17). Other conferences with multiple All-Americans include the Big 12 (four), Big Ten and Sun Belt (three each). Independent Oregon has two preseason All-Americans. The ASUN, CAA, American, Ivy League and Big West each have one.
Cholowski, the 2025 D1 Baseball Player of the Year, is one of four players to earn first-team All-America honors after the 2025 season and returns to earn preseason first-team All-America honors in 2026. He was joined by Miami third baseman Danielfield Cuvetreau and Florida’s D. star Evan Dempsey. Arizona closer Tony Pluta moved from the second team late last spring to the first team through 2026. Kansas forward Brady Ballinger, Oregon State’s Dax Whitney and Coastal’s Fluke jumped from the third team to the first team in the 2026 preseason in June.
Other returning All-Americans include Louisville’s Lucas Moore and Mississippi State’s Ace Reese, who both earned second-team honors in the 2025 postseason and 2026 preseason. Texas lefty Dylan Volantis earned first-team honors as a reliever last spring, but coming in as a starter on the second team this preseason is a new role for him. LSU’s Kasan Evans is also making the transition from reliever (a third-team selection last spring) to starter (joining Volantis on the second team). And Yale’s Jack Ohman is back on the third team.
D1Baseball’s editors and national writers select preseason All-American teams with one basic principle in mind. Identifying the best and most valuable players in college baseball for the 2026 season. Past performance and future potential factors into the discussion, but the goal is not to identify the league’s best players in the future or reward players who put up the most impressive numbers last season (especially since the level of competition varies greatly from one conference to another). The goal is to select the players who will provide the most value to a team that wants to win the College World Series in 2026 — the players best equipped to compete in the elite college competition this spring.
The first team
| Position | Name | School | Class | AVG/OBP/SLG | OPS | PA | 2B | Human resources | RBI | BB-K | S.B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Ryder Helfrick | Arkansas | JR | .305/.420/.616 | 1.036 | 236 | 10 | 15 | 38 | 32-53 | 3 |
| 1B | Miles Bailey | State of Florida | SO | .327/.441/.663 | 1.104 | 245 | 11 | 19 | 56 | 32-76 | 4 |
| 2B | Christopher Rembert | Bourne | SO | .344/.467/.555 | 1.022 | 260 | 14 | 10 | 46 | 37-36 | 6 |
| 3B | Daniel Cuvet | Miami | JR | .372/.450/.708 | 1.158 | 269 | 20 | 18 | 84 | 30-51 | 6 |
| SS | Roch Cholowski | UCLA | JR | .353/.480/.710 | 1.190 | 324 | 19 | 23 | 74 | 45-30 | 7 |
| OF | Drew Burress | Georgia Tech | JR | .333/.469/.693 | 1.162 | 290 | 23 | 19 | 62 | 53-42 | 9 |
| OF | Derek Curiel | LSU | SO | .345/.470/.519 | .990 | 323 | 20 | 7 | 55 | 53-56 | 3 |
| OF | AJ Gracia | Virginia | JR | .293/.449/.558 | 1.007 | 285 | 10 | 15 | 54 | 57-36 | 8 |
| DH | Brady Ballinger | Kansas | JR | .353/.495/.670 | 1.164 | 289 | 21 | 16 | 56 | 56-44 | 0 |
| UTIL | Evan Dempsey | FGCU | JR | .309/.393/.435 | .828 | 267 | 18 | 3 | 29 | 16-23 | 13 |
| Position | Name | School | Class | Throw | WL | ERA | St | APP | G.S | IP | K-BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP | Cameron Flukey | Coastal Carolina | JR | RHP | 7-2 | 3.28 | 0 | 18 | 17 | 101.2 | 117-24 |
| SP | Hunter Elliott | The ole lady | RS JR | LHP | 10-3 | 2.94 | 0 | 17 | 16 | 85.2 | 102-40 |
| SP | Aidan Knaack | Clemson | JR | RHP | 9-1 | 4.18 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 90.1 | 110-29 |
| SP | Ethan Norby | East Carolina | JR | LHP | 8-5 | 3.80 | 0 | 18 | 14 | 90 | 119-22 |
| SP | Dax Whitney | State of Oregon | SO | RHP | 6-3 | 3.40 | 0 | 17 | 17 | 76.2 | 120-37 |
| RP | Dominique Carbone | Coastal Carolina | JR | LHP | 6-0 | 2.36 | 5 | 28 | 0 | 42 | 52-9 |
| RP | Tony Pluta | Arizona | SR | RHP | 3-0 | 1.46 | 14 | 30 | 0 | 37 | 34-7 |
| UT | Evan Dempsey | FGCU | JR | RHP | 5-1 | 1.97 | 0 | 15 | 10 | 68.2 | 75-20 |
The second team
| Position | Name | School | Class | AVG/OBP/SLG | OPS | PA | 2B | Human resources | RBI | BB-K | S.B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Van Lackey | Georgia Tech | JR | .347/.421/.500 | .921 | 266 | 14 | 6 | 42 | 25-38 | 18 |
| 1B | Cade Lewis | Awakening the forest | JR | .376/.482/.602 | 1.084 | 282 | 18 | 11 | 59 | 45-45 | 4 |
| 2B | Jarren Advincula | Georgia Tech | JR | .342/.410/.506 | .916 | 267 | 17 | 6 | 33 | 22-29 | 13 |
| 3B | Ace Reese | Mississippi State | JR | .352/.422/.718 | 1.140 | 263 | 18 | 21 | 66 | 26-52 | 1 |
| SS | Justin LeBron | Alabama | JR | .316/.421/.636 | 1.058 | 281 | 18 | 18 | 72 | 35-68 | 17 |
| OF | Harrison Feinberg | Northeast | RS SR | .367/.455/.715 | 1.170 | 257 | 14 | 18 | 67 | 35-42 | 37 |
| OF | Lucas Moore | Louisville | JR | .341/.430/.456 | .886 | 319 | 10 | 5 | 49 | 34-29 | 53 |
| OF | Sawyer Strosnyder | TCU | SO | .350/.420/.650 | 1.070 | 251 | 13 | 11 | 51 | 20-47 | 10 |
| DH | Chris Hakopian | Texas A&M | JR | .375/.502/.656 | 1.158 | 249 | 12 | 14 | 61 | 40-19 | 1 |
| UTIL | Kenny Ishikawa | Georgia | SO | .318/.420/.562 | .982 | 238 | 23 | 8 | 32 | 30-28 | 0 |
| Position | Name | School | Class | Throw | WL | ERA | St | APP | G.S | IP | K-BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP | Jason DeCaro | North Carolina | JR | RHP | 9-3 | 3.78 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 83.1 | 70-26 |
| SP | Cassan Evans | LSU | SO | RHP | 5-1 | 2.05 | 7 | 19 | 3 | 52.2 | 71-19 |
| SP | Aidan King | Florida | SO | RHP | 7-2 | 2.58 | 0 | 17 | 12 | 73.1 | 79-23 |
| SP | Tommy Lapour | TCU | JR | RHP | 8-3 | 3.09 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 90.1 | 88-27 |
| SP | Dylan Volantis | Texas | SO | LHP | 4-1 | 1.94 | 12 | 23 | 1 | 51 | 74-12 |
| RP | Ryan Lynch | Coastal Carolina | SR | RHP | 2-1 | 0.56 | 9 | 28 | 0 | 32 | 36-10 |
| RP | Walker McDuffie | North Carolina | SO | RHP | 3-3 | 3.74 | 7 | 28 | 1 | 55.1 | 72-25 |
| UT | Kenny Ishikawa | Georgia | SO | LHP | 5-6 | 4.21 | 1 | 19 | 9 | 66.1 | 73-22 |
The third team
| Position | Name | School | Class | AVG/OBP/SLG | OPS | PA | 2B | Human resources | RBI | BB-K | S.B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Carson Tinney | Texas | JR | .348/.498/.753 | 1.251 | 205 | 13 | 17 | 53 | 34-40 | 1 |
| 1B | Muliwai Levu | UCLA | JR | .320/.389/.522 | .911 | 314 | 15 | 12 | 85 | 24-48 | 4 |
| 2B | Gavin Gallagher | North Carolina | JR | .326/.409/.606 | 1.015 | 281 | 13 | 17 | 68 | 33-45 | 5 |
| 3B | Roman Martin | UCLA | JR | .316/.450/.502 | .952 | 300 | 15 | 9 | 61 | 39-53 | 6 |
| SS | Tyler Bell | Kentucky | SO | .296/.385/.522 | .907 | 265 | 17 | 10 | 46 | 24-59 | 11 |
| OF | Aiden Robbins | Texas | JR | .422/.537/.652 | 1.189 | 255 | 19 | 6 | 38 | 44-32 | 20 |
| OF | Caden Sorrell | Texas A&M | JR | .337/.430/.789 | 1.219 | 114 | 5 | 12 | 32 | 16-25 | 0 |
| OF | Rose of Zion | Louisville | JR | .310/.396/.552 | .948 | 304 | 16 | 13 | 67 | 31-36 | 31 |
| DH | Henry Ford | Tennessee | JR | .362/.420/.575 | .995 | 231 | 9 | 11 | 46 | 21-30 | 4 |
| UTIL | Tag Davis | Louisville | SO | .283/.390/.571 | .961 | 264 | 9 | 18 | 52 | 35-61 | 2 |
| Position | Name | School | Class | Throw | WL | ERA | St | APP | G.S | IP | K-BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP | Connor Fennell | Vanderbilt | JR | RHP | 6-0 | 2.53 | 2 | 17 | 7 | 53.1 | 84-11 |
| SP | Ethan Kleinschmidt | State of Oregon | JR | LHP | 8-5 | 3.56 | 0 | 17 | 17 | 91 | 113-36 |
| SP | Blake Morningstar | Awakening the forest | JR | RHP | 6-2 | 3.87 | 0 | 16 | 14 | 79 | 93-32 |
| SP | Jack Ohman | Yale | SO | RHP | 8-1 | 1.10 | 0 | 12 | 11 | 73.2 | 87-20 |
| SP | Ricky Ojeda | UC Irvine | JR | RHP | 13-1 | 3.55 | 2 | 29 | 2 | 66 | 83-29 |
| RP | Ryan Bilka | Miami | SR | RHP | 6-2 | 2.18 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 62 | 57-13 |
| RP | Brady Frederick | Tennessee | JR | RHP | 8-2 | 2.67 | 4 | 24 | 0 | 77.2 | 76-19 |
| UT | Tag Davis | Louisville | SO | LHP | 0-0 | 12.00 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2-7 |
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