Cody Grande Named 2023 USCAA Baseball All-American
Freshman standout baseball player Cody Grande has been named to the 2023 United States Collegiate Athletic Association's Baseball All-American squad. He was named an Honorable Mention All-American as announced by the organization on Tuesday.
"In my mind, no one is more deserving of this honor than Cody," shared longtime Williamson head baseball coach Doug Thompson. "He is an outstanding player, but also an outstanding person as well. I'm extremely happy for him for this very special honor."
To say Grande had an outstanding year would almost be an understatement. He finished 6th in the nation in hitting with a .477 batting average. He also finished sixth in the nation in slugging percentage with an astounding figure of .711. He led Williamson in batting average, hits and doubles, while tying for the team lead in runs scored and was third in RBIs. Perhaps most amazingly of all, he struck out just one time all season.
"I remember speaking with Coach Thompson about Cody before the season even started and he looked at me point blank and proclaimed that without a doubt Cody would be an All-American this season. He was that confident in Cody's ability and his drive," shared Williamson Director of Athletics Dale Plummer.
An outstanding high school player who batted .485 in his senior season at Springfield High School, Cody almost didn't play baseball this year at Williamson. Sadly, his brother passed away this Fall and he missed baseball tryouts. He figured he would just play tennis, but when he found out later tryouts for football and soccer players interested in playing baseball were added after their seasons, he approached Thompson about trying out with that group. Thompson agreed and needed all of one session to declare Grande had made the team. The rest, as they say, is history. And in this case, wonderful history for both Grande and the Williamson baseball program.
In earning All-American status, Grande joins a long line of Williamson baseball players who have also earned All-American status however, his is the team's first one to do so since Bobby Jones earned Second Team All-American status in 2018.
In earning All-American status as a freshman, he now can join a select group of Williamson players who have gained the honor twice. No Williamson baseball player has been named an All-American three times. When it comes to Cody Grande and his exploits already on the baseball diamond, one would be wise not to bet against him becoming Williamson's first player to ever do so.
