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Roch Cholowsky (Photo by Eddie Kelly/ ProLook Photos)

For the first time, Baseball America is officially naming preseason collegiate national award winners and preseason award watch lists.

National awards were selected by a panel of five Baseball America staff members, each of whom submitted up to four nominees per category. Rankings were assigned point values, with winners determined by cumulative totals. College production served as the primary evaluation factor, with prospect status, feedback from professional evaluators and level of competition also considered.

This year’s national awards also carry rare historical significance. It marks just the sixth time a player could win College Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons after first earning the honor as a non-draft-eligible player.

Preseason College Player Of The Year

Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA

The overwhelming expectation is for history to be made in Westwood this season, as Cholowsky enters the most highly anticipated draft year for a college player since former Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman in 2019. In 2025, Cholowsky became just the sixth non-draft-eligible player to win College Player of the Year, joining Robin Ventura, John Olerud, Mike Kelly, Mark Teixeira and Anthony Rendon.

The unanimous top prospect in the 2026 draft class, Cholowsky is the favorite to repeat as POY—a feat no player has accomplished in the award’s nearly half-century history.

Preseason College Pitcher Of The Year

Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina

Flukey announced himself to those unfamiliar with him last June when he helped Coastal Carolina reach the national championship, throwing 10 innings with 12 strikeouts and a 2.70 ERA in the College World Series. It capped an outstanding season in which the hard-throwing righthander posted a 3.19 ERA and team-best 118 strikeouts against just 24 walks over 101.2 innings. Flukey enters his junior season as a candidate to be the first pitcher off the board in the 2026 draft. He is Baseball America’s top-ranked pitcher in the cycle. 

This marks just the second season in which BA will name a College Pitcher of the Year. Former LSU lefthander Kade Anderson was the inaugural recipient of the award in 2025.

Preseason Freshman Of The Year

Jack Bauer, LHP, Mississippi State

Bauer made history twice last year by becoming the hardest-throwing prep lefthander on record when he touched 102 mph with a searing fastball, then later becoming the hardest-throwing prep pitcher, regardless of handedness, to reach the college level. He lived up to that billing during his first collegiate fall and is now expected to take on a contributing workload for a loaded Mississippi State roster.

Bauer was the No. 44 overall prospect in the 2025 draft, making him the highest-ranked high schooler to make it to campus.