ALISO VIEJO, Calif. - The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) announced its baseball all-conference team and individual award winners for the 2026 season.
Cal State San Marcos'
Zech Samayoa was voted the CCAA Newcomer of the Year and the 2026 CCAA Player of the Year. Pitcher of the Year honors went to Cal State Monterey Bay's
Andrew Kotin. Cal State San Bernardino's
Tyson Pettingill was named the Freshman of the Year, and CSUMB's
Walt White earned his fifth career CCAA Coach of the Year award.
Zech Samayoa paced the CCAA with 19 home runs (13th in NCAA Division II), 67 runs batted in (23rd NCAA), 134 total bases, and a .882 slugging percentage (fourth NCAA). The Los Alamitos native also has 17 doubles, 49 runs scored, and a .448 on-base percentage. The transfer from Long Beach State helped lead Cal State San Marcos to a No. 2 seed in the CCAA Baseball Tournament presented by FloCollege with a 32-15 overall record (19-13 CCAA). He is currently on a 16-game on-base streak, and he has recorded multiple RBI in 20 of 45 games. He is the second Cougar in the past three seasons to be voted CCAA Player of the Year (Garrett Teunissen, 2024), and the first to earn CCAA Newcomer of the Year.
Andrew Kotin makes history by being the first Otter to be named CCAA Pitcher of the Year. Despite all their success in their over two decades in the CCAA, the pitcher of the year award has eluded the Otters till now. Kotin registered a 3.04 earned run average, going 9-2 over 56.1 innings pitched. The right-hander had a 1.28 WHIP, and opponents hit just .269 off him. The senior went 5-0 in conference play and helped Cal State Monterey Bay become the first program to win five consecutive CCAA regular season championships. CSUMB was 9-0 in games that Kotin started.
Utility man
Tyson Pettingill was named the CCAA Freshman of the Year after he finished the regular season with a CCAA-best .520 on-base percentage. The Overton, Nev., native ranked third in the CCAA with a .404 batting average, while hitting 10 home runs (11th CCAA) and driving in 50 runs (seventh CCAA). He is currently on a nine-game hitting streak, and he has 16 multi-RBI games.
Walt White etched his name in CCAA lore by guiding Cal State Monterey Bay to its fifth consecutive CCAA regular-season title in 2026. He was selected the CCAA Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his career, and third in the past five seasons. Cal State Monterey Bay spent many weeks in the top 10 of the national rankings and finished the regular season at 36-14 (21-11 CCAA). The Otters led the NCAA in fielding percentage (.979). They were also top three in batting average (.317), doubles (105), home runs (56), on-base percentage (.415), and earned run average (4.76).
Eight of the nine baseball-playing CCAA institutions were represented on the all-conference team, which is voted on by the CCAA coaches. Cal State LA led the conference with three first-team All-CCAA selections (
Omar Gonzalez (IF),
Cesar Chavez (OF), and
Jonathan Manuel(UT)). Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State San Bernardino, and Chico State all had multiple student-athletes earning first-team honors.
First-team All-CCAA selections in the infield included
Nigel Buckley (C, Cal State Dominguez Hills),
Garret Barto (1B, Cal State San Bernardino),
Quinn Johnson (2B, Cal State Dominguez Hills),
Eddie Alfaro (SS, Cal State San Bernardino), and
Caleb Chance (3B, Cal State East Bay). The outfield consisted of
Bobby Benavidez (OF, Cal State Monterey Bay),
Canon King (OF, Cal State San Marcos), and
Jack Sanders (OF, Cal Poly Pomona). On the mound,
Anthony Vazquez and
Andrew Campbell represented Cal Poly Pomona as starters. Chico State earned two spots with starter
Rocco Borrelli and relief pitcher
Manny Lopez.
The 2026 CCAA Baseball Tournament presented by FloCollege begins on Wednesday, May 6, with No. 4 seed Cal State LA facing No. 5 seed Cal State San Bernardino in an elimination game starting at 4 p.m. All games will be available on FloCollege at
GoCCAA.org/FloCollege. For more information about the tournament, visit
GoCCAA.org/Baseball.
2026 All-CCAA Baseball Team [Full PDF]
| 2026 CCAA Baseball All-Conference Team |
| Player of the Year: |
Zech Samayoa, Cal State San Marcos |
| Pitcher of the Year: |
Andrew Kotin, Cal State Monterey Bay |
| Newcomer of the Year: |
Zech Samayoa, Cal State San Marcos |
| Freshman of the Year: |
Tyson Pettingill, Cal State San Bernardino |
| Coach of the Year: |
Walt White, Cal State Monterey Bay |
| All-CCAA First Team |
| Pos. |
Name |
Yr. |
School |
Hometown |
| C |
Nigel Buckley-* |
So. |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
Los Angeles |
| 1B |
Garret Barto |
Sr. |
Cal State San Bernardino |
Pittsburgh, Pa. |
| 2B |
Quinn Johnson-* |
Jr. |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
Poway |
| SS |
Eddie Alfaro |
Jr. |
Cal State San Bernardino |
Moreno Valley |
| 3B |
Caleb Chance |
Sr. |
Cal State East Bay |
Livermore |
| IF |
Omar Gonzalez |
Jr. |
Cal State LA |
Salinas |
| OF |
Bobby Benavidez |
Sr. |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
Riverside |
| OF |
Cesar Chavez |
Jr. |
Cal State LA |
Walnut |
| OF |
Canon King |
Fr. |
Cal State San Marcos |
Los Angeles |
| OF |
Jack Sanders |
Sr. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
San Diego |
| UT |
Jonathan Manuel |
So. |
Cal State LA |
Rancho Cucamonga |
| DH |
Zech Samayoa |
Sr. |
Cal State San Marcos |
Cerritos |
| P |
Rocco Borrelli |
Sr. |
Chico State |
Antioch |
| P |
Andrew Campbell |
Sr. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Riverside |
| P |
Andrew Kotin-^ |
Sr. |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
Irvine |
| P |
Anthony Vasquez |
Jr. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Covina |
| RP |
Manny Lopez |
Jr. |
Chico State |
Brea |
|
|
|
|
|
| All-CCAA Second Team |
|
|
|
| Pos. |
Name |
Yr. |
School |
Hometown |
| C |
Dom Dominguez |
Sr. |
Cal State San Bernardino |
Victorville |
| 1B |
Jason Del Villar |
Jr. |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
Corona |
| 2B |
Andrew Lehmann |
Jr. |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
South Lake Tahoe |
| SS |
Stephen Espinoza-^ |
Sr. |
Cal State San Marcos |
Lompoc |
| 3B |
Sebastian Arguelles |
Sr. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Monterey Park |
| IF |
Alijah Ramos |
So. |
Cal State East Bay |
Fremont |
| OF |
Austin Duarte |
Fr. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Anaheim |
| OF |
Jacob Embleton |
Jr. |
Cal State San Marcos |
El Cajon |
| OF |
Jeremy Giesegh-# |
Sr. |
Cal State San Bernardino |
Upland |
| OF |
Juni Rodriguez |
Jr. |
Cal State San Bernardino |
Hemet |
| UT |
Tyson Pettingill |
Fr. |
Cal State San Bernardino |
Overton, Nev. |
| DH |
James Starkus |
Jr. |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
Las Vegas |
| P |
Jack Clark-^ |
So. |
Cal State San Marcos |
San Diego |
| P |
Anthony Cosme |
So. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Inglewood |
| P |
Daniel Flores |
Jr. |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
Reseda |
| P |
Jakob Poole |
Fr. |
Chico State |
Martinez |
| RP |
Pierce Sailer |
Jr. |
Stanislaus State |
Riverside |
|
|
|
|
|
| Honorable Mentions |
| C - Ben Lee (CSLA); 1B - Julian Angulo (CPP); Tristan Usher (CSUDH); 2B - Christopher Tampoya (CSUSM); 3B - Xander Sielken (CSUMB); OF - Tyler Blade (CPP), Keedan Nadeau (CSUSB), Dominck Najar (CSUEB), Alex Sepulveda (CSUDH), Noah Zertuche-^ (CSUMB); DH - Logan Stelling (CSUEB); P - Austin Balentine-# (STAN), Hayden Hall (CSUMB), Devyn Hernandez (CSUSB), Zachary Lopez (CSUDH), Kailer Saunders (CSUSB), Jack Tews (CHICO), Jordan Townley (CSUDH); RP - Drew Aguiar (CSUMB), Julian Castro (CSUDH), Matt Lorenzano (CPP), Zach Romero (CSUSM). |
| * - previous All-CCAA first team selection, # - previous All-CCAA second team selection; ^ - previous honorable mention |