JWCC slugger Mansfield earns NJCAA Division II first-team All-American honors
QUINCY — A record-setting season on the field should end with a worthwhile honor off it.
The John Wood Community College baseball program received that Monday.
Freshman outfielder Payton Mansfield was named an NJCAA Division II first-team All-American, becoming the first JWCC product to earn All-American honors since 2015 and just the fourth first-team selection in program history. He was one of 12 players nationwide named to the first team.
The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Mansfield, who is from Fremont, Mich., established new JWCC single-season records for home runs with 24 and RBIs with 74. Overall, he hit .433 with a .994 slugging percentage as he collected 74 hits, 18 doubles, 35 walks and 10 stolen bases.
He helped the Trail Blazers win 37 games, the second most in a single season in program history, and set new program records for home runs with 69. JWCC also won 19 Mid-West Athletic Conference games, the most ever.
Mansfield was named first-team All-MWAC and first-team All-Region 24, while receiving MWAC Freshman of the Year plaudits.
He will be part of a strong nucleus for the Trail Blazers to build around next season, a group that includes Quincy Notre Dame’s Ben Kasparie. JWCC also had a loaded incoming class of freshmen that includes QND right-hander Tyler Dance, Quincy High School shortstop Blake Bunch and South Shelby right-hander P.J. Schmidt.
Mansfield joins Kyle Pryor (1998), Terry Comiskey (2006) and Jalen Poindexter (2015) as JWCC first-team All-Americans.
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