Full Release
WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) in conjunction with Rawlings released its 2026 ABCA/Rawlings All-Region squad on Wednesday afternoon and West Chester had four players honored as
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) earned his third Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year honor of the year and was a First Team selection, while
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove), Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North), and Hunter Smith (Martinsburg, Pa./Central) were Second Team honorees.
For Smith, this is his third All-Region certificate of the year, while Strawhecker earns his second, and Stalker picks up his first.
Costa is in the midst of a season for the ages as the redshirt-senior lefty tied the Golden Rams single-season win record in the NCAA Tournament opener on Thursday after breaking the Golden Rams career wins and strikeout records earlier this season.
Following Thursday's victory vs Millersville, Costa is 12-2 on the year with a 2.63 ERA and a .241 batting average against with 74 strikeouts in 82.0 innings of work, including four complete games and three shutouts. Costa is 3-0 in the postseason already, including a win in the PSAC Quarterfinals over Shepherd, a victory over Bloomsburg in the NCAA Tournament at Serpico Stadium, and a win over Millersville in Super Regionals after carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning at Cooper Park. The NCBWA Division II National Pitcher of the Week earlier this season, Costa also threw his second career no-hitter earlier this spring against Frostburg State, as he became the first and only Golden Ram to record two no-hitters in his career after becoming the first to record a no-no since 1947 last Spring in an early-season trip to Cary, North Carolina.
Strawhecker captured his second All-Region honor of the spring from the ABCA as he posted a .359 batting average with 61 hits, including 24 extra-base hits (14 doubles, eight home runs, and two triples), while scoring 61 runs and driving in 43 more. The sophomore posted a 1.099 OPS and also gunned down 11 would-be base stealers in an excellent 2026 season behind the plate.
Smith picked up his third All-Region citation of the spring this afternoon as he posted a .339 batting average with 56 hits, including 17 doubles, seven home runs, and three triples, while scoring 38 runs and driving in 55 more as the sophomore posted a 1.053 OPS, which is third best on the team as one of three players on the squad with an OPS north of 1.000.
Stalker earned his first All-Region certificate of the 2026 season as the senior batted .344 on the spring with 63 hits, including 14 doubles, a team-best 11 home runs, and four triples, driving in 59 runs and scoring 54 more. Stalker hit his 11
th home run of the season at Millersville in the Super Regionals last week, which helped West Chester take an early lead in a 7-2 victory over the Marauders.
With his latest First Team All-Region honor, Costa advances to the ABCA All-America Ballot. The Division II All-America teams will be announced on Friday, May 29.
