ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Chase Harris’ great week continues.
Only five days after being named the District VIII Player of the Year, and only four days after being selected in the 14th round of the MLB Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, Harris was named a second team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Wednesday.
“He deserved it,” UNM head coach Ray Birmingham said. “He’s a great kid, and he played his butt off every game. He worked hard to get where he is. I’m proud of him.”
Harris led the Lobos in virtually every major offensive category this season: average (.377), at bats (247), hits (93), triples (5), home runs (8), RBIs (63), slugging (.539) and on-base percentage (.432). The only categories he didn’t lead in — runs (46), doubles (11) and stolen bases (13) — he finished second in. He also started every game in right field and batted third in all 58 contests.
He ranks eighth in the nation in hits and RBIs per game (1.09) and played excellent defense for UNM, finishing with four outfield assists, to also earn All-Mountain West first team honors. He finished his career with 117 straight starts, the sixth longest streak in program history.
This is the 39th time a Lobo has earned All-America honors, including 10 Freshman All-Americans, dating back to Sam Suplizio in 1953. Over a third of those (14) have come during Birmingham’s seven-year tenure as head coach.
“It’s a pretty big deal,” he said. “Chase Harris is a kid that was never drafted before this season, and now he’s considered one of the elite players in the nation. If you think about it, that’s amazing. There were almost 300 Division I teams this year with 35-man rosters. That’s over 10,000 kids. So to be considered one of the best is amazing.”
Among the All-Americans Birmingham has coached include the only three-time All-American in program history, DJ Peterson, who was also the highest draft pick in UNM history, going 12th overall to the Seattle Mariners in 2013.
Others include Justin Howard, who led the nation in batting in 2010 with a .456 average, Mitch Garver, a two-time Johnny Bench Award finalist, and a trio of Freshman All-Americans who played on this year’s squad: Ryan Padilla (2012), Sam Haggerty (2013) and Danny Collier (2014).
Below is a complete list of UNM’s All-Americans.
– bold indicates Birmingham All-American
– italics indicates Freshman All-American
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1953 | Sam Suplizio |
| 1957 | Jim Economides |
| 1977 | Aaron Cain |
| 1980 | Duffy Ryan |
| 1980 | Keith Hagman |
| 1985 | Jim Fregosi |
| 1985 | Dean Duane |
| 1993 | Luke Oglesby |
| 1993 | Mark Gulseth |
| 1993 | Antonio Fernandez |
| 1994 | Travis Young (Fr.) |
| 1995 | Mark Wulfert |
| 1996 | Travis Young |
| 1996 | Lon Yamaguchi (Fr.) |
| 1999 | Aaron Sisk |
| 2000 | Aaron Sisk |
| 2002 | Matt Young |
| 2003 | Chris Alexander |
| 2003 | Dusty Young |
| 2004 | Daniel Stovall (Fr.) |
| 2005 | Chris Carlson |
| 2005 | Jordan Pacheco (Fr.) |
| 2006 | Chris Carlson |
| 2006 | Danny Ray Herrera |
| 2007 | Jordan Pacheco |
| 2008 | Rafael Neda (Fr.) |
| 2009 | Brian Cavazos-Galvez |
| 2009 | Mike Brownstein |
| 2010 | Justin Howard |
| 2010 | Rafael Neda |
| 2011 | DJ Peterson (Fr.) |
| 2012 | DJ Peterson |
| 2012 | Mitch Garver |
| 2012 | Ryan Padilla (Fr.) |
| 2013 | DJ Peterson |
| 2013 | Mitch Garver |
| 2013 | Sam Haggerty (Fr.) |
| 2014 | Chase Harris |
| 2014 | Danny Collier (Fr.) |