The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced its 2022-23 baseball All-America teams as selected by the NAIA Baseball Coaches’ All-America Selection Committee, which includes Player and Pitcher of the Year on June 6th.
Rust College standout junior catcher, Jalin Thomas, has been named an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American. In 159 at bats, Thomas scored 25 runs with 57 hits, 18 doubles, 5 triples, 8 home runs and 44 runs batted in. In 48 games, Thomas recorded a .358 batting average and a .480 on base percentage.
Thomas led the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) with 26 hits, 10 doubles, 4 triples, tied for third in home runs with 2 and tied for the lead in runs batted in with 22. In fielding, Thomas recorded 246 putouts in 266 total chances for a .985 fielding percentage.
Thomas is the first Rust College baseball player to be recognized with this honor.
His explosive offensive production aided the team to a 25-25 overall record and 14-4 in the GCAC while guiding the Bearcats to the conference championship game, a nationally No. 9 ranking in Black College Nines “small school” Top 10 HBCU Baseball Poll and a return trip to the 2023 Black College World Series for the third consecutive year.
Thomas was also a First Team Black College Nines’ Small School Elite team selection for the 2023 season.
The first and second teams are recognized as ABCA/Rawlings All-Americans by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings Sporting Goods. The ABCA began recognizing All-Americans in 1949 and named the first ABCA NAIA All-America team in 1969.
| FIRST TEAM | |||
| Name | School | Year | Position |
| Max Harper | Cumberlands (Ky.) | Sr. | 1B |
| Jhors Gomez | Southwestern Christian (Okla.) | So. | 2B |
| Will McCall | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | Gr. | 3B |
| Isaac Nunez | Southeastern (Fla.) | Jr. | SS |
| Lucas Goodin | Indiana Wesleyan | Sr. | INF |
| Ajay Sczepkowski | Georgia Gwinnett | Jr. | OF |
| Jon Ponder | Georgia Gwinnett | Jr. | OF |
| Ryan Major | LSU Shreveport (La.) | Sr. | OF |
| Greyson Barrett | Texas Wesleyan | Sr. | OF |
| Charlie Muniz | Cumberlands (Ky.) | So. | C |
| Antonio Fernandez | McPherson (Kan.) | Sr. | C |
| Eli Davis | Oklahoma City | Sr. | P |
| Darien Smith | Southeastern (Fla.) | Jr. | P |
| Michael Watson | Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) | Jr. | P |
| Tyler Bryant | Ottawa (Kan.) | Sr. | P |
| Reece Wissinger | Southeastern (Fla.) | So. | RP |
| Cole Turney | Cumberland (Tenn.) | Sr. | DH |
| SECOND TEAM | |||
| Name | School | Year | Position |
| Drew Fleming | Concordia (Mich.) | Jr. | 1B |
| Langston Ginder | Huntington (Ind.) | Gr. | 2B |
| Bryson Lofton | Bryan (Tenn.) | So. | 3B |
| Jarrett Gable | Kansas Wesleyan | Sr. | SS |
| Jaidan Quinn | Concordia (Neb.) | Jr. | INF |
| Eric Maffie | St. Francis (Ill.) | Gr. | OF |
| Joey Grabanski | Concordia (Neb.) | Jr. | OF |
| RJ Stinson | William Carey (Miss.) | Jr. | OF |
| Anthony Sharkas | Madonna (Mich.) | Jr. | OF |
| Angel Mendoza | Union (Ky.) | Sr. | C |
| Jayson Willers | Morningside (Iowa) | So. | C |
| Anthony Green | Missouri Baptist | Jr. | P |
| Alan West | Central Methodist (Mo.) | Sr. | P |
| Bobby Vath | LSU Shreveport (La.) | So. | P |
| Tyson Kleinfelter | Concordia (Mich.) | Gr. | P |
| Jack Ross | Taylor (Ind.) | Jr. | RP |
| Cayden Nicoletto | Columbia (Mo.) | So. | DH |
| HONORABLE MENTION | |||
| Name | School | Year | Position |
| Blane Besse | Missouri Baptist | Sr. | OF |
| Uly Duran | Westcliff (Calif.) | Gr. | 1B |
| Jonah Hultberg | College of Idaho | Jr. | 2B |
| Max Jung-Goldberg | Hope International (Calif.) | Sr. | 1B |
| Jalin Thomas | Rust (Miss.) | Jr. | C |
| Robbie Merced | Central Methodist (Mo.) | Sr. | SS |
| Kanta Kobayashi | Bellevue (Neb.) | Sr. | OF |
| Jared Campbell | Point Park (Pa.) | So. | OF |
| Cameron Repetti | Georgia Gwinnett | So. | P |
| Andrew Herbert | Reinhardt (Ga.) | So. | P |
| Mikito Barkman | Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) | Jr. | P |
| Sean Heppner | Brirish Columbia (B.C.) | So. | P |
| Jake Ostrowski | Trinity Christian (Ill.) | Sr. | P |
| Graham Kollen | Huntington (Ind.) | So. | P |
| Aaron Forrest | Doane (Neb.) | Jr. | P |
| Hector Garcia | Hope International (Calif.) | Jr. | P |
| Dustin Schorie | Bellevue (Neb.) | Jr. | P |
| Mychal Grogan | Thomas More (Ky.) | Jr. | P |
| Sam Tyrpa | Dakota State (N.D.) | So. | P |
| Lucas Letsinger | IU Kokomo (Ind.) | So. | P |
| Andrew Shirah | William Carey (Miss.) | Jr. | P |
| Bryan Peck | Westmont (Calif.) | So. | P |
| Johnny Blake | Clarke (Iowa) | Jr. | P |
| Garrett Hill | IU Southeast (Ind.) | Jr. | RP |
| Gage Bihm | LSU Shreveport (La.) | So. | RP |
| Cesar Avila | Cumberlands (Ky.) | Jr. | RP |
| JD Kirchner | Dakota State (N.D.) | Jr. | RP |
| Tyner Hughes | Cumberland (Tenn.) | Jr. | INF |
| Trevor Campbell | IU Southeast (Ind.) | Gr. | SS |
| Tucker Musgrove | Mobile (Ala.) | Jr. | INF |
| Peyton McDowall | Science and Arts (Okla.) | Sr. | 1B |
| Arturo Disla | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | So. | INF |
| Landon Rogers | Tennessee Southern | So. | OF |
| Jake Lycette | William Carey (Miss.) | Jr. | 1B |