A Historic Season for West Virginia Baseball
Maxx Yehl, a redshirt junior pitcher for West Virginia University, and sophomore second baseman Gavin Kelly have both been selected to the first‑team All‑America squad by the College Baseball Foundation and D1Baseball, a distinction that underscores their outstanding performances this season.
Yehl’s accolades extend beyond this honor; he becomes the first Mountaineer since JJ Wetherholt in 2023 to earn unanimous All‑America status, collecting his fifth and sixth All‑America recognitions. The right‑hander finished the year 9‑3 with a 2.13 ERA, struck out 112 batters in 97 innings and limited opponents to a .222 batting average, numbers that helped him capture the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year award and the NCBWA District Two Co‑Player of the Year.
Kelly, meanwhile, led the Mountaineers in nearly every offensive category, batting .382 with 19 home runs, 63 RBIs, 70 runs scored, a .725 slugging percentage and a 1.202 OPS. His 19 homers match a single‑season program record set by Jedd Gyorko in 2010 and Mark Landers in 1994, and his all‑around production earned him All‑Big 12 First Team, District Two Co‑Player of the Year and the NCAA Morgantown Regional Most Outstanding Player.
The double‑first‑team selections mark a historic milestone for West Virginia baseball, as Yehl becomes only the third Mountaineer to amass at least six All‑America honors in a single season and Kelly joins a short list of players with five or more All‑America nods. Their achievements follow a lineage of standout Mountaineers, including JJ Wetherholt, Jedd Gyorko and Mark Landers, who have previously set program benchmarks.
Both players will look to build on these honors as they prepare for the upcoming professional draft and next season’s campaign, adding to the growing reputation of WVU’s baseball program on the national stage.