IRVING, Texas – The American Athletic Conference has announced the baseball honors for the 2024 season. East Carolina’s trio of senior first baseman Carter Cunningham, junior pitcher Trey Yesavage and junior outfielder Ryley Johnson were named the conference’s Player, Pitcher and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. UTSA junior outfielder Mason Lytle was named the Newcomer Position Player of the Year, while Wichita State Tommy Lapour was tabbed the Newcomer Pitcher of the Year. East Carolina head coach Cliff Godwin was named Coach of the Year.
Six of The American’s teams had at least one selection on the All-Conference First Team, led by the Pirates’ six honorees.
Player of the Year
Carter Cunningham, Sr., 1B, East Carolina
Cunningham leads The American in hitting (.404), slugging (.709), on-base percentage (.498) and runs scored (68), while also being second in RBI (58) and tied for second with 14 home runs. He was a first-team all-conference selection last year and is a 2024 semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy. He is the third Pirate to be named Player of the Year, joining Connor Norby in 2021 and Bryant Packard in 2018.
Pitcher of the Year
Trey Yesavage, Jr., East Carolina
Yesavage, a 2024 Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List member and semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, leads The American in ERA (2.09), wins (11) and strikeouts (139), while he ranks fifth, third and fourth nationally in those categories, respectively. He is the fourth Pirate pitcher to earn the honor in the last five years.
Newcomer Position Player of the Year
Mason Lytle, Jr., OF, UTSA
Lytle ranks third in hitting in the conference with a .355 batting average and leads the league with 86 hits and 19 doubles. His hits rank 15
th in the nation. Lytle has 28 multi-hit games and during the season had a stretch of 14 consecutive multi-hit contests.
Newcomer Pitcher of the Year
Tommy LaPour, Fr., Wichita State
LaPour is 5-3 in his first collegiate season with a 4.10 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 68.0 innings. He has seven starts this season with at least five strikeouts and four of his five wins came in league play. He is the second Shocker to earn Newcomer Pitcher of the Year in a row, following Grant Adler in 2023.
Defensive Player of the Year
Ryley Johnson, Jr., OF, East Carolina
Johnson has played 53 games this season with 115 putouts in the outfield without an error. For his four-year career, he has a total of 244 chances without a blemish. He is the first Pirate to earn the Defensive Player of the Year honor.
Coach of the Year
Cliff Godwin, East Carolina
Godwin led the Pirates to their fifth consecutive American Athletic Conference regular season title with a 19-8 record in conference play and a 40-13 overall record. This is the fifth Coach of the Year honor for Godwin (2015, 2019, 2021, 2022).
2024 American Athletic Conference Baseball Honors
Player of the Year
Carter Cunningham, Sr., 1B, East Carolina
Pitcher of the Year
Trey Yesavage, Jr., East Carolina*
Newcomer Position Player of the Year
Mason Lytle, Jr., OF, UTSA
Newcomer Pitcher of the Year
Tommy LaPour, Fr., Wichita State
Defensive Player of the Year
Ryley Johnson, Jr., OF, East Carolina
Coach of the Year
Cliff Godwin, East Carolina
All-Conference First Team
P - Blayze Berry, Sr., UAB*
P - Trey Yesavage, Jr., East Carolina*
P – Ulises Quiroga, Sr., UTSA
P – Caden Favors, Sr., Wichita State
RP – Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman, Jr., East Carolina
C – Justin Wilcoxen, Sr., East Carolina
1B – Carter Cunningham, Sr., East Carolina*
2B – Bobby Boser, Jr., South Florida
SS – Matt King, Jr., UTSA
3B – Gavin Schulz, Jr., Tulane
OF – Jacob Jenkins-Cowart, Jr., East Carolina
OF – Ryley Johnson, Jr., East Carolina
OF – Mason Lytle, Jr., UTSA
DH – Alexander Olivo, Sr., UTSA
UTL – Ben Rozenblum, R-Sr., South Florida
All-Conference Second Team
P – Colin Daniel, So., UAB
P – Danny Beal, Sr., East Carolina
P – C.J. Williams, Sr., Florida Atlantic
P – Tommy LaPour, Fr., Wichita State
RP – Ruger Riojas, So., UTSA
C – Colin Tuft, Jr., Tulane
1B – Brady Marget, Jr., Tulane
2B – Connor Rasmussen, So., Tulane
SS – Gavin Lewis Jr, Jr., UAB
3B – Camden Johnson, Fr., Wichita State
OF – Caleb Hill, Sr., UTSA
OF – Derek Williams, Jr., Wichita State
OF – Logan Braunschweig, Jr., UAB
DH – Ryan McCrystal, Jr., East Carolina
UTL – Michael Lombardi, So., Tulane
All-Freshman Team
Bristol Carter, OF, East Carolina
Ethan Norby, P, East Carolina*
Trey Beard, P, Florida Atlantic
Emilio Gonzalez, INF, Florida Atlantic
Diego Diaz, 2B, UTSA
Robert Orloski, P, UTSA
Tyler Dobbs, P, Wichita State
Lane Haworth, OF, Wichita State
Camden Johnson, INF, Wichita State
Tommy LaPour, P, Wichita State*
* denotes unanimous selection