KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas Wesleyan's Jarrett Gable and Tyler Favretto have been named as NAIA and ABCA All-Americans as selected by the NAIA Baseball Coaches Association All-America Committee.
Gable earned repeat Second Team All-America honors, while Tyler Favretto earned Third Team All-America honors.
Gable had 95 hits on the season, which led the Coyotes and the KCAC and ranked fourth best in the NAIA in 2024. He hit .383 on the season for the Coyotes, and had 77 RBI, just missing his school record total of 82 last season. His 77 RBI ranked 16th in the NAIA this season. Gable had 41 extra base hits on the season, which ranked 15th in the NAIA. He had 19 doubles, three triples and 19 homers. He ranked 21st in the NAIA in homers on the season.
Favretto had 64 hits on the season and had 18 homeruns which ranked 30th in the NAIA. He drove in 58 runs and was hit by a pitch 15 times, which ranked 55th in the country. His .536 on base percentage ranked 11th in the NAIA and he ranked in the Top 100 in slugging at .696. Favretto only had 21 strikeouts on the season, but led the country in walks with 62 on the season, setting a new school record for walks in a season.
The duo helped lead the Coyotes to one of the best seasons in school history. KWU set a new school record for wins in a season with 48, posting a 48-12 overall record, and set a new school and KCAC record for conference wins in a season with 32, posting a 32-4 record in conference play. The Coyotes won the KCAC regular season championship in 2024 and advanced to the Shreveport bracket of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round, where KWU won the bracket and advanced to the program's first-ever NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho.
Darien Smith earns the NAIA Pitcher of the Year recognition with the fourth lowest ERA in the country at 1.87, was 12-0 on the season and ranked third in the NAIA with 130 strikeouts. Four times this year, he pitched a complete game and on six occasions he struck out 10+ batters. His best performance of the season was on April 25th when the Fire beat Keiser (Fla.) 4-0 behind Smith's 12 strikeout, one hit outting. He is the second Fire pitcher to receive the honor in the last three seasons, as his teammate Robb Adams earned the inaugural award in 2022.
Blaze O'Saben received the honor of NAIA Player of the Year as he averaged .443 across 62 games played this season including 14 home runs, 83 RBI, 116 runs scored, and 50 stolen babses. He ranks first in the NAIA in eight offensive categories, inside the top five in nine others, and top 10 in 19 total categories. This marks the second straight season that GGC has boasted the Player of the Year and third time overall (Ajay Sczepkowski in 2023 and Ty Abbott in 2015).
The first and second teams are recognized as ABCA/Rawlings All-Americans by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings Sporting Goods. The ABCA began recognizing All-Americans in 1949 and named the first ABCA NAIA All-America team in 1969. Starting in the 2024 season, the NAIA started recognizing a third All-American team across all sports.