Wiley baseball lands six on Preseason All-HBCUAC Team
Published 12:33 pm Thursday, January 29, 2026
Wiley University baseball had strong representation on the 2026 Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) Preseason All-HBCUAC Teams with two First Team selections and four Second Team selections.
The conference head baseball coaches nominated players and voted on the teams. Ivan Del Villar, a three-time All-HBCUAC first baseman, was selected to the first team. He tied for second in the conference with 10 home runs, third with 63 hits, seventh with 49 runs batted in and ninth with a .624 slugging percentage.
Centerfielder Eddie Garza, who earned First Team All-HBCUAC last season, was selected to the first team. He hit a career-high .339 and increased his slugging with 10 doubles and two home runs. He scored 35 runs and drove in 18.
Second baseman Amir Mason earned Second Team Preseason All-HBCUAC. He was an All-Tournament selection last season. Mason had 11 games with multiple hits and five with multiple RBI. Defensively, he had a .970 fielding percentage and helped turn 11 double plays.
Jaziel Martinez garnered Second Team Preseason All-HBCUAC catcher. In 22 games, he hit .346. Eleven of his 18 hits went for extra bases, giving him a .635 slugging percentage. Martinez hit the go-ahead home run in the series finale against Rust College on March 9. He is expected to be the primary catcher after splitting time last season.
Nick Rodriguez earned a spot on the second team. Last season, he successfully transitioned from the bullpen to the starting rotation. He went 8-3 and struck out 64 batters in 78 innings. He was one of three pitchers to beat the regular season champion Talladega College.
Ethan Jones was selected to the second team. In his freshman season, he posted a 3.55 earned run average in 14 appearances and one start. His lone start came in an elimination game in the 2025 HBCUAC Championship, in which he threw five solid innings to keep the Wildcats’ championship hopes alive. He struck out 25 batters in 25.1 innings. Jones will likely move into the rotation this season.
The coaches picked Wiley to finish second in the conference, after it finished as regular season runner-up and went 2-2 in the HBCUAC Championship.