NEWS

 

Davidson’s Michael Carico was named to two more preseason All-American teams Monday, bringing his total to four.

The junior catcher was named to the Second Team by Baseball America and D1Baseball.com, which follows his First Team selections by Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game.

Carico is coming off a breakthrough season in which he, among other distinctions, led the nation with a .559 on-base percentage, was named the ABCA/Rawlings National Gold Glove catcher, set a school record with 21 home runs and was named Davidson’s first Atlantic 10 Player of the Year.

“Michael has been noticeably better this fall,” said Davidson coach Rucker Taylor. “His offensive work in practice and scrimmages has gone to another level, and he continues to work on the defensive side. Physically, he puts himself in positions to maximize what he can do. Mentally, he’s as consistent as any player I’ve been around, and our team feeds off of him.” 

Along with establishing Davidson’s home run and on-base marks last season, Carico also set single-season program records with an .843 slugging percentage, 71 runs scored, 43 extra-base hits, 166 total bases and 26 hit-by-pitches. As the leadoff hitter, he hit .406 with a 1.402 OPS, 80 hits, 21 doubles and 57 RBIs.

Carico was a finalist for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher Award and the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award. He earned All-America honors from ABCA/Rawlings, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and D1Baseball.com.

After the season, Carico was the first Wildcat to participate in USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team Training Camp.

Carico and the Wildcats will open the 2023 season Feb. 17 when they welcome NJIT to Wilson Field for the start of a three-game series.