KANSAS CITY, MO. (Dec. 17, 2020) – The NAIA released the Preseason Baseball All-America Team on Wednesday as the 2021 season is less than three months from beginning spring games. The 17-player list is selected annually by the NAIA-Baseball Coaches Association (NAIA-BCA) All-America Committee.
This marks the first time an OLLU baseball player has received preseason All-American honors. In 2010-2011, men's basketball's Marco Cooper and Robert Martinez were named to the preseason All-America team.
Diaz, who was granted another year of eligibility after his senior season in 2020, will lead the team in 2021. He was a 2019 First-Team All-Conference outfielder/relief pitcher. He is the Saints' all-time leader in games played, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, RBIs, home runs, total bases and stolen bases. In 2020, he had a career-best batting average at .405 and was OLLU's Big Blue Top Saint Male Athlete of the Year.
Fellow Red River Athletic Conference member from LSU Payton Robertson also received preseason All-America honors.
Baseball Preseason All-America Team
Position | Name | School | Year | Hometown |
| SP | Mason Schwellenbach | Central Methodist (Mo.) | SR | Saginaw, Mich. |
| SP | Alex Huey | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | SO | Columbia, Tenn. |
| SP | Colton Williams | Science & Arts (Okla.) | SR | Houston, Texas |
| SP | Chris Wall | Columbia (Mo.) | JR | Wentzville, Mo. |
RP | Jose Diaz (SR/Pinar del Rio, Cuba) | Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | SR | Pinar del Rio, Cuba |
C | Andres Ugarte | Reinhardt (Ga.) | SR | Valencia, Venezuela |
C | Trevor Johnson | McPherson (Kan.) | SR | San Diego, Calif. |
1B | Mitchell Lundholm | Fisher (Mass.) | SR | Plymouth, Mass. |
2B | Clayton Surrell | Rio Grande (Ohio) | SO | Carroll, Ohio |
3B | Payton Robertson | LSU Shreveport (La.) | SR | Orange, Texas |
| SS | Sam Faith | Southeastern (Fla.) | JR | St. Charles, Ill. |
UTIL | Tim Bouchard | Keiser (Fla.) | JR | Ashburnham, Mass. |
DH | Josh Sears | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | JR | Huntsville, Ala. |
OF | Luis Vargas | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | JR | Boston, Mass. |
OF | Kyle Lux | McPherson (Kan.) | SR | Lewes, Del. |
OF | Michael Slaten | Benedictine (Kan.) | SR | Nacogdoches, Texas |
OF | Luis Pelayo | Science & Arts (Okla.) | SR | Santa Cruz, Aruba |