After a record-breaking year, Westminster College's Deion Hughes grabbed spots on the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-America First Team and the D3Baseball.com All-America Third Team.
Hughes, a senior pitcher and outfielder from Jefferson City, Mo., is now a two-time ABCA All-American after earning the same honors after the 2014 season, and he is the first in program history to earn the D3Baseball.com All-American title. He was just named the ABCA Central Region Position Player of the Year and a First Team member of the ABCA All-Region and the D3Baseball.com All-Region. At the end of the regular season, he was selected as the 2016 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Player of the Year and a First Team All-Conference recipient.
Hughes currently leads the nation with 12 wins on the mound. He ranks second in the nation and leads the conference in complete games with nine and sits in 17th in the nation in strikeouts. He broke three season records during the 2016 campaign, including hits, wins and complete games. He also rewrote five career records during the year and put his name in the top three of eight other career records.
On the mound, Hughes maintained a 2.42 earned run average with a 12-2 record and three shutouts. He allowed just 24 earned runs in 89.1 innings on the mound while striking out 90. At the plate, he led the team with a .392 batting average. He produced 60 hits including 10 doubles, two triples and two home runs. He recorded 31 RBI, 44 runs and four sacrifice flies. In the field, he posted a .979 fielding percentage with 27 putouts and 19 assists.
The Westminster baseball team closed the 2016 campaign with a 28-15 record after making the program's third appearance in the NCAA Tournament. They won the SLIAC Tournament title after taking second in the SLIAC West Division.
More than 800 players were nominated for the tenth annual D3baseball.com All-America team. To view the full D3Baseball.com 2016 All-America team, click here.
The American Baseball Coaches Association released the 2016 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. III All-America teams and ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove team on Thursday evening. The honorees were announced at the opening ceremonies of the NCAA Division III College World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin. To view the full ABCA 2016 All-America teams, click here.
