Cavaliers Now

Kyle Teel Named Consensus First-Team All-American, Nation's Top Catcher

Teel became the first Cavalier in program history to be selected as a First-Team All-American by six different baseball publications

Matt Newton

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

Kyle Teel may have played his last game in a UVA uniform, but he is still garnering some impressive national honors even after the end of the season. The 2023 ACC Player of the Year added an array of accolades to his resume this week, getting the nod as a First-Team All-American by six different college baseball publications and being tabbed as the 2023 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year at a banquet held by the Wichita Sports Commission on Thursday night. 

Teel is the first Cavalier in program history to earn the award, which has been presented annually to the top catcher in college baseball since 2000. With the award having a particular emphasis on durability, Teel was the most deserving candidate as he started all 65 games behind the plate for the Cavaliers and missed just 23 total innings this season. Teel committed only three errors all season and caught 15 runners stealing on 24 attempts. 

It was Teel's offensive numbers that really separated him from the pack and is making him a potential top 10 pick in next month's MLB Draft. Teel batted .407 at the plate, becoming just the second Cavalier since 1985 to bat .400 or better in a season, and tallied 65 RBI, 13 home runs, 25 doubles and 105 hits, fourth-most in the nation and second-most in program history behind Griff O'Ferrall, who also set UVA's hits record this season. 

Teel became the fifth consensus First-Team All-American in Virginia program history - joining Seth Greisinger (1996), Jacob Thompson (2007), Danny Hultzen (2011), and Nathan Kirby (2014) - with consensus being defined as earning First-Team honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association, Baseball America, and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Additionally, Teel was named a First-Team All-American by D1Baseball, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and Perfect Game, becoming the first Cavalier in program history to be a First-Team All-American in six different publications. 

Including Teel, five Cavaliers have been named All-Americans by the various college baseball publications: 

2023 Virginia All-America Honorees

C Kyle Teel – Baseball America (First Team), NCBWA (First Team), Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (First Team); Perfect Game (First Team), ABCA (First Team), D1Baseball (First Team)

3B Jake Gelof – NCBWA (Second Team); Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (Second Team); Perfect Game (Third Team)

SP Connelly Early – NCBWA (First Team); Perfect Game (Second Team); Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (Third Team)

SS Griff O’Ferrall – ABCA (Third Team)

SP Jack O’Connor - Perfect Game (Freshman First Team)

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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