DURHAM, N.C. – NC State baseball’s Will Wilson has been named a First Team All-American by Baseball America, as announced by the publication on Monday morning.
A junior shortstop from Kings Mountain, N.C., Wilson garnered his second All-America honor of the 2019 season, as he was recently named to Collegiate Baseball’s second team.
The award marks his sixth total All-America nod, as he was tabbed a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball and DI Baseball in 2017, and named to Collegiate Baseball and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s (NCBWA) lists in 2018.
Last week, Wilson was drafted as the No. 15 overall pick to the Los Angeles Angels, becoming the first Wolfpack player to go in the first round since the duo of Carlos Rodon and Trea Turner in 2014.
In addition to his national success, Wilson was recently was named one of five finalists for the Brooks Wallace Award (given to the nation’s best shortstop) and collected ACC Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-ACC honors last month.This season he led the team with a .335 batting average, 20 doubles, 16 home runs and a .661 slugging percentage, and those numbers rank top 15 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He helped the Wolfpack to a 42-19 record and its ninth NCAA Regional appearance in the last 10 seasons.
The NC State Baseball team is now 7-0 through two weeks of play, going 4-0 last week, defeating Coastal Carolina 16-4 on the road in a midweek game, and sweeping Belmont at home this past weekend (11-4, 7-0, 7-1).
The Wolfpack remain ranked 21st in the D1Baseball Top-25.
The Wolfpack moved up 11 spots to #19 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll, up 2 spots to #20 in the Coaches Poll, and up 1 spot to #24 in the Baseball America poll.
NC State will host Longwood today at 3pm in their next matchup.
But while I was over on Twitter, I saw a ton of comments on it, all of them NC State fans, and almost all of them critical of the new look.
Look, I don’t know what’s going on here. Maybe it’ll look a lot better once it’s done, or maybe the grass will match up a lot better when it greens up. But right now, it’s a little jarring. Here is how it used to look…
Again, I’m going to wait until it’s really done before I cast judgement, but I think the official tweet from the school marketing it and drawing attention to it, has people thinking it’s in it’s final form. And maybe it is. But I hope it’s not.
I remember this being shared a while back…
This shows grass in foul territory and dirt in the 1st/3rd baselines. So I’m not sure when this turf thing came along. And while we’re on the subject, aren’t we a turf management school? Shouldn’t we be turning up our noses at artificial turf?
Apparently, this is a thing now, where foul territories are artificial turf and fair territory is grass. Here is Mississippi State’s baseball field doing the same thing.
Can’t say I like it there either, honestly. It just seems like one of those fads. Remember when everyone was going crazy with field/court colors?
School with a grey field and school with a glow in the dark basketball court meet on blue turf. Winning coach gets dumped with French fries. College athletics at its absolute best. https://t.co/crEKoeLKbXpic.twitter.com/Bpeod50Sy4
Did anyone ever really like those? Do people like them now? Have they ever gotten a recruit to come to the school? Have they ever scared a recruit away?
I don’t know. You tell me. I’ll hold final judgment, but things NC State fans don’t seem like they’re going to follow along.