Zeferjahn named Baseball America Preseason All-American
LAWRENCE, Kan. –Baseball America announced Monday morning that Kansas junior starting pitcher Ryan Zeferjahn was named to its Preseason All-America Team.
Forty-two players from across the country represent 35 different schools on the three teams, with Zeferjahn earning a third-team nod.
“It is a great honor for Zeferjahn to see his name right there among some of the top prospects in college baseball,” head coach Ritch Price said. “He has a chance to be one of the most dominant pitchers in college baseball and a chance to be a first or second round draft pick. He has been a great role model for our younger pitchers and am hopeful that when the season is over, he will be one of the highest draft picks in Kansas history.”
Zeferjahn garnered All-Big 12 Second Team honors and finished the 2018 season with a record of 8-5 and a 4.48 ERA. He became the first Jayhawk since 2016 (Ben Krauth) to strike out 100 batters in a season, finishing the year with an even 100 that rank tied for sixth in the Kansas single-season record books.
“It’s something I expect of myself, but when you actually hear it, it’s humbling,” Zeferjahn said. “It’s an honor that the best players in college baseball earn, and it is going to motivate me to keep working hard toward a successful year.”
Baseball America annually polls major league organizations’ scouting departments to vote on the team and asks that they make their selections based on performance, talent and professional potential. In the past, the Preseason All-America team has been a predictor both of the first round of the draft and of team success.
No other Kansas player has ever earned a Preseason All-America Team recognition from Baseball America, with the last combined preseason nod coming in 2010 when Tony Thompson was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason All-America Second Team.
Zeferjahn and the Jayhawks open the 2019 season at South Carolina Upstate, Feb. 15-18, before returning home to Hoglund Ballpark for their home opener Wednesday, Feb. 20, against Omaha.
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