PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Coming off tremendous 2018 seasons, UConn left handed pitcher Mason Feole and ECU outfielder Bryant Packard each collected more hardware to start off their 2019 campaigns, as both players were selected as Perfect Game/Rawlings, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball and NCBWA Preseason All-America honorees. Packard was additionally named to Baseball America's preseason second team.
Feole earns preseason All-America status after a stellar sophomore season that ended with him being selected to pitch for the 2018 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. Feole was named All-America by ABCA/Rawlings, Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America and Perfect Game at the end of the 2018 season. The southpaw finished the year with a 2.50 ERA, nine wins and 120 strikeouts through 16 starts and 100.2 innings pitched. His wins and strikeouts each ended the year tied for first in The American.
Packard, The American’s 2018 Player of the Year, had an outstanding 2018 season, guiding the Pirates to their second American title before becoming the third conference program to be chosen as an NCAA regional host. He became the first player in ECU history to earn seven All-America nods in a single season. Packard had at least one hit in a record 32-consecutive games on the way to setting the league’s single-season batting average record at .406, which ended the year ranked sixth nationally. He also stood first in the American Athletic Conference in hits (89), slugging percentage (.671) and total bases (147) and was a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy. Packard capped his 2018 season earning a roster spot on the Collegiate National Team.
The 2019 baseball season begins on Friday, February 15, as all nine American Athletic Conference teams will be in action.
2019 Preseason All-Americans
Perfect Game/Rawlings
First Team
Bryant Packard OF ECU
Mason Feole LHP UConn
Baseball America All-America Team
Second Team
Bryant Packard OF ECU
Collegiate Baseball All-America Team
First Team
Mason Feole LHP UConn
Bryant Packard OF ECU
D1Baseball.com
First Team
Bryant Packard OF ECU
Third Team
Mason Feole LHP UConn
NCBWA
First Team
Bryant Packard OF ECU
Second Team
Mason Feole LHP UConn