Six League Alums Named Division 1 Preseason All-Americans

ROCKLAND, Mass. 一 Before the first pitch of Division 1 college baseball is thrown on Friday, six Futures League alumni earned Preseason All-America status from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason All-Americans and three landed on USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List.

Virginia shortstop Eric Becker (Vermont '23), Northeastern outfielder Harrison Feinberg (New Britain '21) and Yale pitcher Jack Ohman (Norwich '24-'25) were recognized with both honors.

Becker led Virginia and ranked eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a .368 average to go along with 21 doubles, 52 RBI and 54 runs scored last spring. He also enters the season as MLB Pipeline's No. 21 overall prospect for the 2026 MLB Draft in July. Becker prepped for his college career in the Futures League back in 2023, hitting .286 with 13 RBI in 24 games with the Vermont Lake Monsters.

Feinberg was Northeastern's top bat on the way to the 2025 Coastal Athletic Association championship, posting a .367 average with 18 home runs, 67 RBI and 37 stolen bases, which set a new program record for the Huskies. The Greenwich, Conn., native was named CAA Co-Player of the Year. Like Becker, Feinberg's Futures League stint came as a rising freshman, as he hit .353 with seven extra-base hits in 10 games for the New Britain Bees in 2021. 

Before helping the Norwich Sea Unicorns to their third consecutive Futures League title in 2025, Ohman emerged as one of the country's best pitchers and won Ivy League Pitcher of the Year as a Yale freshman. He went 8-1 with a nation-leading 1.34 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 73.2 innings for the Bulldogs. A two-way player with Norwich, he made five pitching appearances (15 strikeouts in 13 innings) in 2024 and nine as a batter last summer.

Arkansas second baseman Camden Kozeal (Nashua '23), UConn outfielder Tyler Minick (Norwich '23) and Austin Peay third baseman Ray Velazquez (Nashua '22) are the three other Preseason All-Americans with Futures League experience.

A first-team All-America selection by the NCBWA, Kozeal hit .333 with 15 homers and 62 RBI during his first season at Arkansas. He was named to the Fayetteville Regional All-Tournament Team and made a College World Series appearance in his hometown of Omaha, Neb., with the Razorbacks, who are ranked as the No. 5 team in the NCBWA Preseason Poll. 

Minick put up a .355 average with 22 homers, 74 RBI and 15 stolen bases as another one of New England's top hitters at UConn in 2025. Velazquez, who hails from Lowell, Mass., looks to back up being named the Atlantic Sun Preseason Player of the Year after hitting .364 with 18 homers and 57 RBI for Austin Peay.

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Defending national champion LSU carries a Futures League product on its pitching staff in 6-foot-9 freshman right-hander Mavrick Rizy (Worcester '24), a Fiskdale, Mass., native who had a 4.74 ERA and struck out 29 batters in 24.2 innings last season. Rizy's Tigers are also the NCBWA's preseason No. 1 team.

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Including those mentioned above, the following Futures League alumni were named Preseason Players, Pitchers and Freshmen of the Year in their respective conferences by D1Baseball.com and/or Perfect Game:

• America East - Bryant 2B Zac Zyons (Norwich '22-'23)

• American - Charlotte 1B Dawson Bryce (Vermont '24)

• Atlantic Sun - Austin Peay 3B Ray Velazquez (Nashua '22) 

• Big East - UConn OF Tyler Minick (Norwich '23)

• Coastal - Northeastern OF Harrison Feinberg (New Britain '21)

• Ivy - Yale RHP Jack Ohman (Norwich '24-'25)

• MAAC - Fairfield OF Matthew Bucciero (Norwich '23)

• Patriot - Holy Cross OF CJ Egrie (Norwich '23 & Worcester '24) & Holy Cross RHP Jaden Wywoda (New Britain '22)

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D1Baseball chose Fairfield pitcher Harrison Engle (New Britain '25) as its MAAC Preseason Freshman of the Year and Stonehill designated hitter Nate Kearney (Nashua '24) earned that same honor from Perfect Game. The 6-foot-7 Engle recorded 22 strikeouts in 17 innings during New Britain's longest-ever postseason run last summer, while Kearney hit .302 with 16 RBI as a 2024 Futures League All-Star.

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