STARKVILLE — The first honor of JT Ginn’s collegiate baseball career arrived Monday in the form of a nod to Baseball America’s Preseason All-America Team.
The freshman from Brandon, who was a first-round pick in the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft, earned a second-team nod. He was the only freshman selected to the publication’s All-America squad.
Baseball America’s preseason All-America team was based on major league organizations’ scouting departments voting on the team. The organization is asked to make their selections based on performance, talent, and professional potential.
Ginn, who is in position to contribute on the mound and at the plate, was one of five underclassmen (freshman or sophomore) named to Baseball America’s preseason All-America list. He was selected as a utility player. The rookie also received the nod as having the best fastball among the preseason selections.
The first team included 14 juniors. Ginn joined Arizona State sophomore Spencer Torkelson and South Carolina sophomore Noah Campbell as the highest-placed underclassmen.
Ginn joins senior outfielder Jake Mangum as the only Bulldogs to earn preseason All-America honors in 2019. Mangum has been named a preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (first team), D1Baseball (second team), and Perfect Game (third team).
After being drafted in the first round of the 2018 Major League Baseball First Year Player draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ginn chose college over professional baseball. As a senior in high school, he was named USA Today All-USA Baseball Player of the Year and Gatorade Mississippi Player of the Year. A two-time Clarion-Ledger, Prep Baseball Report and USA Today Mississippi Player of the Year, Ginn earned High School All-America honors as a junior and senior at Brandon High. He was selected to play in the Under Armour All-American Game following his junior season, and represented Team USA with the USA Baseball U18 team that won a gold medal at the World Baseball/Softball Confederation World Cup in Thunder Bay, Ontario, the summer prior to his senior year of high school.
MSU will take on Youngstown State at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, in its season opener at Dudy Noble Field.
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