LAKE CHARLES – McNeese freshman relief pitcher, Will Dion, has been named a second team Freshman All-American along with of 31 other standout freshmen college baseball players featured on the 2019 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Freshman All-American Teams, the organization announced on Monday.
 
The 2019 NCBWA Freshman All-American Team features players from 30 different schools and 16 different conferences.
 
Dion, a Sulphur High graduate, came to McNeese as a walk-on and became one of the best pitchers on the team from early on in the 2019 season.
 
With his team leading 29 appearances this season, he finished with a 1.98 ERA, a perfect 5-0 record, earned six saves, allowed only 13 runs with 11 being earned, struck out 62 batters, and held opposing batters to a mere .155 batting average.
 
Dion was one of only two Southland Conference representatives on the team with the other being Incarnate Word's SLC Freshman of the Year Taylor Smith, both Dion and Smith were named to the NCBWA Second Team.
 
Arizona and UC Santa Barbara were the only two schools with multiple honorees, as both put two players on the first team. The ACC led all conferences with six players selected to the two teams combined, placing two players each on the first team and four on the second team. The Big Ten (one 1st team, two 2nd team) and Pac-12 (two 1st team, one 2nd team) put three players each on the team.
 
The Freshman All-American team is voted upon by the membership of the NCBWA.
 
 
NCBWA 2019 Freshman All-America Team
First Team
Pos.     Name School                                                    
C          Austin Wells, Arizona
1B        Aaron Sabato, North Carolina
2B        Dayton Dooney, Arizona
3B        Alex Binelas, Louisville
SSJ       osh Hood, Penn
OF        Ethan Wilson, South Alabama
OF        Hunter Goodman, Memphis
OF        Hudson Haskin, Tulane
DH       John Dyer, Tennessee Tech
UT       Isaac Coffey, Oral Roberts                                                                                           
 
Pos. Name School
SP        JT Ginn, Mississippi State
SP        Rodney Boone, UC Santa Barbara
SP        Tyler Thornton, Saint Mary's (Calif.)
RP        Colby Gomes, Nebraska
RP        Brett Kerry, South Carolina
RP        Michael McGreevy, UC Santa Barbara
 
Second Team
Pos.     Name, School                                
C          Taylor Smith, Incarnate Word
1B        Sonny DiChiara, Samford
2B        Tyler Black, Wright State
3B        John Dempsey, Wofford
SS        Ethan Murray, Duke
OF        Adrian Del Castillo, Miami (Fla.)
OF        Andy Garriola, Old Dominion
OF        Robby Martin, Florida State
DH       Ryan Hampe, UIC
UT       Davis Sharpe, Clemson
 
Pos.     Name School
SP        Seth Lonsway, Ohio State
SP        Ryan Chasse, Campbell
SP        Alex Williams, Stanford
RP        Danny Garcia, Stetson
RP        Will Dion, McNeese
RP        Willie Weiss, Michigan