Collegiate Baseball has released its preseason All-America list of some of the best college players in the country. Six former Valley Leaguers, all the way from 2017 to 2019, have made the third team list. Let’s take a look!

  • Chance Hroch (Strasburg 2018), from New Mexico State, is named as a righthanded starter. For NM State, Hroch went 10-1, 2.74, with a 1.31 WHIP, 3.2 BB/9, and 7.3 K/9 in 85 innings pitched in 2019. He was the 7th best starter in the VBL in 2018.
  • Jared Wetherbee (Charlottesville 2018), from Elon, is named at lefthanded starter. Wetherbee went 7-4, 3.00 for Elon in 2019, with a 1.07 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9, and 10.5 K/9 in 84 innings pitched. He won pitcher of the year in 2018 with the Tom Sox, along with winning the best starter award from ATVL.
  • Jacksonville State’s Alex Webb (Waynesboro 2018) is named at catcher. Webb hit .304/.367/.513 in 240 at-bats in college in 2019, along with 21 doubles, a triple, and nine home runs. He hit .269/.306/.365 in 104 at-bats for the Generals in the summer of ’18.
  • Sonny DiChiara (Strasburg 2019), from Samford, was named at first base. The most recent VBLer on this list, DiChiara hit .293/.407/.646 in 198 at-bats for Samford in his freshman season, along with 21 home runs and 55 RBIs. He was the 13th best hitter in the 2019 VBL season.
  • Trevin Esquerra (Purcellville 2017) was also named at first base. In his junior season for Loyola Marymount in 2019, Esquerra hit .322/.378/.622 in 233 at-bats, with 20 doubles, 16 home runs, and 60 RBIs. He was ATVL’s fourth best hitter in the 2017 summer season.
  • Raymond Gil (Winchester 2018), from Miami, is named at third base. Gil hit .323/.414/.561 in 164 at-bats for the Hurricanes in 2019, along with 12 doubles and nine home runs. He went 11-46 for Winchester in the summer of 2018.

Tale of the Tape

  • Strasburg has two, while Charlottesville, Waynesboro, Purcellville, and Winchester all have one.
  • Esquerra, Webb, and Hroch are seniors. Gil and Wetherbee are juniors, and DiChiara is a sophomore.
  • Four of these players were in the Valley in 2018, one from 2017, and one from 2019.
DiChiara
Hroch
Gil
Esquerra
Wetherbee
Webb