Following a stellar start to his Panther career this spring, Henry Ayers of the Middlebury baseball team was recognized as an All-American selection by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and D3baseball.com. He becomes the sixth national honoree in program history and the first rookie to accomplish the feat in the 21st century.

HONOREE HIGHLIGHTS

• Ayers (Third/Fourth Team)
  • Ayers lands on the ABCA's third team and D3baseball.com's fourth team after becoming the first Panther to garner the media outlet's regional rookie of the year laurel since at least 2012.
  • He posted a .476 batting average during his initial campaign, headlining the NESCAC and slotting second in Division III.
  • Ayers struck out just five times across 145 at-bats in 2026, good for the 10th-best clip nationally (once every 29 opportunities).
  • He also spearheaded the conference in hits (69), slugging percentage (.676) and on-base plus slugging (OPS - 1.182). His 69 base knocks reset the single-season school record.
  • Ayers reached base safely in 33 of his 34 outings, including multi-hit efforts in each of Middlebury's five postseason matchups.

A full list of D3baseball.com All-Americans can be found here. The list of ABCA All-American honorees can be found here.