Baylor baseball junior reliever Troy Montemayor was named a second-team Collegiate Baseball 2017 Preseason All-American, the organization announced Monday.
Montemayor’s selection marks Baylor’s first preseason All-American since 2009, when Aaron Miller and Kendal Volz were honored by Baseball America. Overall, he is the Bears’ 13th preseason All-American since 1998 and second overall named by Collegiate Baseball (Zane Carlson, 2001). Montemayor is one of 30 on the second team list, one of eight on the three-team, 81-man list representing the Big 12 and one of nine relief pitchers on the 81-man list.
Montemayor is coming off a sophomore season that earned him first-team 2016 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings Midwest All-Region and first-team All-Big 12 selections, while also being one of 43 semifinalists for the 2016 Gregg Olson Award (breakout player of the year).
Excelling in his first season as closer, the San Antonio native led the Big 12 and ranked tied for seventh in the country with 14 saves in 2016. Montemayor converted his first eight career save attempts and 14 of 15. In 24 appearances, he posted a 1-1 record and 0.78 ERA, giving up just four runs on 15 hits and nine walks with 22 strikeouts over 23 innings while holding hitters to a .188 batting average.
Montemayor is the ninth player in BU history to record 10 or more saves in a season (first since Josh Michalec set the single-season Baylor and Big 12 records with 21 saves in 2014) and his 2016 season ranks tied for third on BU's single-season saves list and he is already eighth on BU's career list.
Baylor Preseason All-Americans Since 1998
Troy Montemayor (2017, second team, Collegiate Baseball)
Aaron Miller (2009, third team, Baseball America)
Kendal Volz (2009, first team, Baseball America)
Nick Cassavechia (2007, third team, NCBWA)
Mark McCormick (2005, first team, Baseball America)
Zane Carlson (2004, third team, NCBWA)
Michael Griffin (2004, first team, NCBWA)
Michael Griffin (2004, third team, Baseball America)
Mark McCormick (2004, second team, Baseball America)
Steven White (2002, third team, Baseball America)
Zane Carlson (2001, first team, Collegiate Baseball)
Jeremy Dodson (1998, third team, Baseball America)
Kip Wells (1998, second team, Baseball America)
