The American Athletic Conference announced its top baseball honors on Monday, ahead of the conference tournament.
Colby Wallace was selected to the first team All-AAC. Braden Burress and Austin Irby were selected to the All-Freshman Team while Burress and Ethan Norby made the second team All-AAC.
Below is more information from ECU Sports Information.
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Photo credit: Colby Wallace (ECU Sports Information photo)
CLEARWATER, Fla. – A quartet of East Carolina baseball players have garnered All-American Athletic Conference postseason laurels according to an announcement by the league Monday afternoon.
Colby Wallace (utility) was named to the First Team while Braden Burress (outfield) and Ethan Norby (starting pitcher) were tabbed to the Second Team. Burress and Austin Irby were also selected to the All-Freshman Team. Norby picked up all-conference honors for the second consecutive season, having been named to the All-Freshman Team last year.
Wallace hit .270 overall with nine doubles, 10 home runs and 37 RBI while also twirling an impressive .987 fielding percentage as the Pirates’ every day third baseman. He upped his batting average to .294 in league play, rapping out 32 hits in 27 games with 20 runs scored. He also made 13 appearances on the mound, tying for the club lead in saves (three) and holding opposing hitters to a .240 average.
Burress made quite the impact in his first season of collegiate baseball as he currently paces the ECU lineup and is first in the American Conference in batting average (.385) while slotting second on the circuit in on base percentage (.491), fifth in hits (67) and tied for sixth in runs scored (47). He has also produced a team-best 21 multiple-hit efforts and has reached base safely in 12-straight contests entering the AAC Baseball Championship.
Norby has served as the Pirates’ Friday night starter for most of the campaign and has not failed to impress. He currently ranks third in the league in strikeouts (95) as well as fifth in opposing batting average (.217) and sixth in earned run average (3.65). Norby has posted six wins over 14 appearances with 12 starts, including a complete-game shutout of William & Mary. He was tabbed the National Pitcher of the Week for his gem of a performance March 17 against then No. 24 Coastal Carolina, striking out a remarkable 19 batters in the 7-0 win – just one punchout shy of the single-game program record.
Irby started all but one of East Carolina’s 54 games, settling in as the Pirates’ mainstay at first base. He hit .275 with 29 runs scored, seven doubles, eight home runs and 38 RBI while drawing 30 walks and committing just four errors all season for a .989 fielding percentage. Irby tied for the team lead in multiple-RBI performances (10) while slotting second in multiple-hit efforts (14) and owns a current eight-game on base streak.
ECU begins its run at the AAC Baseball Championship tournament Tuesday night as the No. 6 seed, taking on the No. 3 seed South Florida in the fourth and final first round game which is slated to begin 47 minutes after No. 2 seed Charlotte and No. 7 seed Wichita State battle at 4 p.m.
2025 All-American Athletic Conference Baseball Postseason Honors
Player of the Year
Mason Lytle, Sr., OF, UTSA*
Pitcher of the Year
Blake Gillespie, Jr., P, Charlotte
Newcomer Position Player of the Year
Todd Clay, Jr., 3B, UAB
Drew Detlefsen, Jr., OF, UTSA
Newcomer Pitcher of the Year
Blake Gillespie, Jr., P, Charlotte
Defensive Player of the Year
Mason Lytle, Sr., OF, UTSA
Coach of the Year
Pat Hallmark, UTSA*
All-Conference First Team
P – Blake Gillespie, Jr., Charlotte*
P – Trey Beard, So., Florida Atlantic
P – Corey Braun, R-Jr., South Florida
RP – Michael Lombardi, Tulane
RP – Robert Orloski, So., UTSA*
C – Andrew Stucky, Sr., UTSA
1B – Cody Gunderson, Jr., Charlotte
2B – Connor Rasmussen, Jr., Tulane
SS – Ty Hodge, R-Jr., UTSA
3B – Dawson Bryce, So., Charlotte
OF – Marshall Lipsey, Jr., Florida Atlantic
OF – Mason Lytle, Sr., UTSA*
OF – James Taussig, Sr., UTSA
DH – Blaine Brown, Fr., Rice
UTL – Colby Wallace, So., East Carolina
All-Conference Second Team
P – Colin Daniel, Jr., UAB
P – Ethan Norby, So., East Carolina
P – Davion Hickson, Jr., Rice
RP – RJ Bollinger, So., Florida Atlantic
RP – Jack Nedrow, Sr., South Florida
C – Logan Poteet, R-So., Charlotte
1B – Sebastian Greico, Sr., South Florida
2B – Jordan Ballin, Fr., UTSA
SS – Brando Leroux, Sr., Florida Atlantic
3B – Todd Clay, Jr., UAB
OF – Logan Braunschweig, Sr., UAB
OF – Braden Burress, Fr., East Carolina
OF – Drew Detlefsen, Jr., UTSA
DH – Gavin Schulz, Sr., Tulane
UTL – Seth Cox, Sr., Memphis
All-Freshman Team
Brendan Connor, P, UAB
Braden Burress, INF, East Carolina*
Austin Irby, INF, East Carolina
James Litman, P, Florida Atlantic
Hiram Bocachica Jr., INF, Rice
Blaine Brown, P/OF, Rice*
Michael Zito, INF, Rice
Jordan Ballin, 2B, UTSA
Nathan Hodge, UTL, UTSA
Caden Miller, UTL, UTSA
Tanner Chun, OF, Tulane
Jason Wachs, OF, Tulane*
* denotes unanimous selection