The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released the 2024 Division II Baseball All-America Teams on Thursday (May 23) afternoon. Saginaw Valley State University senior Hayden Jatczak was named First-Team All-America as a designated hitter. Jatczak is the fifth Cardinal baseball player to achieve All-America honors (the first since 2008), and the first to ever earn First-Team distinction.

The Bay City native added this award after receiving two Midwest Region Player of the Year honors. The first came from the NCBWA last week, with the second announced by the D2CCA earlier this afternoon. He claimed the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Player of the Year award to become the first GLIAC Player of the Year from SVSU since 1993. He ranked in the top five in all of NCAA DII in several categories this season including batting average, doubles, hits, hits per game, runs per game, runs, doubles per game, on-base percentage, total bases, and slugging percentage. Jatczak set new single-season records this season in doubles with 27, RBI with 77, hits with 103, runs scored with 87, and home runs with 15. The two-time All-GLIAC honoree threw a no-hitter, the first confirmed no-hitter for SVSU since 1992, against Findlay early in the season.

"This is an incredible honor for Hayden and a testament to his consistency throughout the year," said SVSU head baseball coach Adam Piotrowicz. "I don't know when the last 1st Team All-American was but he's going to be in very small company. He's one of the most prolific hitters in school history and deserves to play at the next level. I'm incredibly proud of him and happy for his family on this achievement."

The Cardinals make their first appearance in the NCAA Division II Baseball Midwest Super Regional and are hosting Indianapolis in game one tomorrow, May 24 at 1:00 PM EST. The winner of the best-of-three series will advance to the NCAA DII Baseball National Championships in Cary, North Carolina from June 1 to June 8.