Six Vols named Preseason All-Americans by NCBWA
Every other day it appears members of the Tennessee baseball team are behind highlights with preseason All-American honors prior to first pitch for 2023. On Thursday, six more received reignition from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
The star-studded weekend rotation of Chase Dollander, Chase Burns and Drew Beam were all recognized as first-team preseason All-American by the publication. Dollander and Burns have now earned unanimous preseason first-team All-America status after also being named first-teamers by D1Baseball, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball News and Perfect Game.
The Vols had two second-team honorees in short stop Maui Ahuna and reliever Kirby Connell while fifth-year senior hurler Camden Sewell earned third-team recognition.
In all, there are 44 different schools and 18 DI conferences represented on the 2023 dream team, which has 20-plus schools ranked in various preseason polls.
Previous NCBWA postseason All-America teams from 1996-2021 also have featured the likes of 3B Kris Bryant of San Diego, P Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State, 1B Mark Teixeira of Georgia Tech, RHP Mark Prior of USC, SS-2B Rickie Weeks of Southern U., 3B Alex Gordon of Nebraska, P David Price of Vanderbilt, C Buster Posey of Florida State, catcher Mike Zunino of Florida, OF Andrew Benintendi of Arkansas, and 1B-P Brendan McKay (2017 Dick Howser Trophy) of Louisville, RP Kevin Kopps of Arkansas, 1B Ivan Melendez of Texas (2022 winner), among others.
Back of the baseball card
Dollander, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound hurler, exploded out of the gates for Tennessee last spring. He finished the campaign with a spotless 10-0 record and 2.39 ERA. The then-sophomore was named to six All-American teams and was honored as the SEC Pitcher of the Year by season’s end. Dollander was tabbed to the SEC All-Tournament Team after striking out nine LSU batters and allowing just four hits and one earned run over 6.2 innings.
Named the Friday night starter as a true freshman in 2022, Burns impressed with an 8-2 record and 2.92 ERA in his first season on Rocky Top. The Beech standout was named the D1 Baseball Freshman of the Year and tossed a season-best seven innings versus Ole Miss on March 25. Burns tapped out with 103 strikeouts on the year, including 10 against Texas and 11 against the Rebels. The freshman also struck out nine batters on two other occasions.
Beam was typically the No. 3 starter as a true freshman in 2022 but had Friday night stuff the whole way through. The Blackmon graduate finished his first season in Knoxville with an 8-1 record, sporting a 2.72 ERA. Outdueling teammate Burns, Beam was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, notching a season-high 10 strikeouts against Alabama on April 17.
Ahuna, one of MLB Pipeline’s top draft prospects for the 2023 cycle, is prepped for his first season in Knoxville by way of Kansas through the transfer portal. The short stop, who started every game as a freshman and sophomore, posted a .396 average with eight home runs, 48 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 2022. He led the ballclub in average, on-base percentage (.479), slugging percentage (.634), hits (80), triples (4), walks (28) and stolen bags.
The infielder finished the campaign riding a 20-game hit-streak and tallied 23 multi-hit days, including 10 three-hit performances. Defensively, Ahuna made SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays twice for his work on the dirt. The new Volunteer spent his sophomore summer with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
Connell, who is used in a verity of rolls in the Tennessee bullpen, retired his last 20 hitters he faced in 2022, entering the SEC Tournament. On the season, the lefty went 4-0 with a 1.66 ERA across 38 innings pitched. The junior struck out 36 batters and walked just six.
The swingman for the Tennessee pitching staff, Sewell started and picked up the win the SEC Tournament championship game over Florida, throwing five shutout innings. Overall, the senior earned a 7-1 record in 2022 with a 2.52 ERA in 50 innings on the bump. Sewell struck out 42 batters, walked eight and held opponents to a .221 batting average. The fifth-year senior is using his free year of COVID eligibility for the 2023 campaign.
Tennessee is set to begin the 2023 season in Arizona at the MLB Desert Invitational on the weekend of February 16-18. The Vols will open with Arizona on that Friday night and then play Grand Canyon and UC San Diego on Saturday and Sunday before returning to East Tennessee for the home-opener on February 21 against Alabama A&M.
Tennessee Baseball Preseason Honors
RHP Drew Beam | Preseason All-American First Team – NCBWA |Preseason All-American Second Team – Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game | Preseason All-American Third Team – D1 Baseball
RHP Chase Burns | Preseason All-American First Team – Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game, Baseball America, D1 Baseball, NCBWA
RHP Chase Dollander | Preseason All-American First Team – Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game, Baseball America, D1 Baseball, NCBWA | Perfect Game Preseason Pitcher of the Year
RHP Camden Sewell | Preseason All-American Second Team – Collegiate Baseball | Preseason All-American Third Team – NCBWA
LHP Kirby Connell | Preseason All-American Second Team – NCBWA
INF Maui Ahuna | Preseason All-American Second Team – NCBWA | Preseason All-American Third Team – Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game, D1 Baseball | No. 4 on D1 Baseball Top-100 Impact Transfer List
OF Jared Dickey | Preseason All-American Third Team – Baseball America
OF Griffin Merritt | No. 14 on D1 Baseball Top-100 Impact Transfer List
INF Zane Denton | No. 47 on D1 Baseball Top-100 Impact Transfer List
Tennessee Baseball Preseason Rankings
D1 Baseball – No. 2
USA Today – No. 2
NCBWA – No. 2
Perfect Game – No. 2
Baseball American – No. 2
Collegiate Baseball – No. 5
