Ole Miss center fielder J. B. Woodman earns All-American accolades
Woodman led the Rebels with a .323 batting average this season. (Photo credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss Athletics)
Ole Miss center fielder J.B. Woodman was named an All-American by Baseball America on Tuesday. The team captain from Orlando, Florida, earned Second Team All-America honors, becoming the 23rd All-American in the history of the Ole Miss Baseball program.
(Click here for the complete list of Baseball America All-Americans.)
Woodman hit .323 this season and led the team in runs scored (53), slugging percentage (.578) and RBI (55)–which also placed him in the top 10 in the Southeastern Conference in those categories. He also led the team with 12 stolen bases.
Woodman, named All-SEC First Team this season, currently leads the SEC in home runs with 14.
It wasn’t just his power at the plate that made Woodman so great; his ability to track down balls in the outfield provided many highlights for Ole Miss supporters.
J.B. Woodman (Photo credit: Bentley Breland, The Rebel Walk)
It became routine for him to rob an opposing hitter of a solid outfield hit with his uncanny ability to reach anything in his vicinity. He recorded nine outfield assists in 2016, which puts him at the top of the SEC–and ranks him third in the nation. Seven of Woodman’s nine outfield assists actually occurred at the plate and kept runs from scoring.
In the Rebels’ series win over LSU, the speedy Woodman threw three runners out at home and hit .500. Following those “Superman” actions, Woodman was named National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association National Hitter of the Week and SEC Player of the Week.
Woodman, a finalist for the Ferriss Trophy honoring the best collegiate baseball player in the state of Mississippi, helped Ole Miss secure a 43-19 record in 2016, including a spot in the SEC Semifinals in Hoover, Alabama and a host spot in the NCAA Regional Tournament.
Following the Rebels’ win over South Carolina in the 2016 SEC Tournament, Bianco heaped praise upon his star center fielder:
He’s always been a superstar; we love that guy….He has been a star since he stepped on campus. He is such a talent, a smart kid and a great competitor.
Mike Bianco on J.B. Woodman
In 2014, Woodman was named by Baseball America to the Freshman All-America team. He becomes the 13th All-American honoree during head coach Mike Bianco’s 16 seasons at Ole Miss and the seventh in the last five years.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss Athletics)
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
