Five Cavaliers Receive Preseason All-American Nods From NCBWA

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Five members of the Virginia baseball team were named Preseason All-Americans by National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) on Friday (Feb. 7).

The selections include Jacob Ference and Henry Godbout on the first team, Evan Blanco and Henry Ford on the second team with Harrison Didawick on the third team to round out the Cavalier quintet.

In his first season at Virginia, Ference batted .350 (70-for-200) with 17 home runs, 13 doubles, and 43 RBIs while making 53 starts. The second-team All-ACC selection ended the 2024 campaign ranked seventh in the ACC in slugging percentage (.710) and eighth in on-base percentage (.465).

In 2024, Godbout led the Cavaliers with a .372 (64-for-172) batting average on the year which was the sixth-highest in the ACC. He was recognized as a Third Team All-ACC selection at the end of the regular season and was listed on the Charlottesville Regional All-Tournament Team. Godbout established career-highs in nearly every offensive category, including 18 doubles, nine home runs and 47 RBI. He made only four errors in 224 chances in the field.

Blanco paced the Cavalier pitching staff in 2024, posting an 8-3 record with a 3.62 ERA. The left-handed pitcher totaled 99 strikeouts in 99.1 innings pitched in 18 starts. He ranked top-10 in the ACC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.67 – 6th), strikeouts (4th) and wins (4th) along with nabbing a third team All-ACC selection.

During his 2024 campaign, Ford broke the UVA freshman records for home runs (17), RBI (69) and total bases (151). His team-high 69 RBI were tied for the fifth-most ever by a Cavalier in a single-season and were second amongst all NCAA D-I freshmen in 2024. He became only the third UVA freshman since 1984 to lead the team outright in RBI (Bill Narleski in 1984 and Chris Newell in 2020).

Ford batted .336 (85-for-253) to go along with 13 doubles, a triple and 60 runs scored while earning an invitation to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp during the summer.

Didawick was one of three Cavaliers to start all 63 games in 2024. The outfielder tied the Virginia single-season home run record with 23 and eclipsed the school mark for runs scored in a season with 78. His 68 RBI in 2024 were the seventh most in a season by a UVA hitter.

UVA Preseason All-Americans

2B Henry Godbout – Baseball America (First Team), D1Baseball (First Team), NCBWA (First Team), Perfect Game (Second Team)

1B/OF Henry Ford – Baseball America (First Team), Perfect Game (Second Team), NCBWA (Second Team)

C Jacob Ference – D1Baseball (First Team), NCBWA (First Team)

P Evan Blanco – D1Baseball (Second Team), NCBWA (Second Team)

UTL Chris Arroyo – D1Basball (Third Team)

OF Harrison Didawick – NCBWA (Third Team)