SUPERIOR, Wis. – A pair of Yellowjacket baseball players have been named All-Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the organization announced in a release Tuesday.
 
Yellowjacket senior lefthanded pitcher Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) and junior first baseman Christian Garcia (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) both received All-Region 9 Third Team honors. It's the second year in a row Rodriguez has received the award from the ABCA, as he was a member of the second team a year ago. It was the first time the ABCA has presented the award to Garcia.
 
In 2023 Rodriguez was the ace of the Yellowjacket pitching staff, posting a 6-2 record with an earned run average of 2.59. He allowed just 50 hits and 10 walks in 66 innings for a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.91, and Rodriguez averaged more than a strikeout per inning, fanning 69 hitters in 2023. For his career, Rodriguez went 23-13 in 59 appearances, including 52 starts. He struck out 345 hitters in 319.1 innings.
 
Rodriguez was named the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Pitcher of the Year as well as being an All-UMAC First Team selection. He also received the Mertz Mortorelli Award which goes to the top male student-athlete at UW-Superior.
 
For most of the 2023 campaign, Garcia was the leading hitter for the Yellowjackets. He closed the season with a team-best .441 batting average and had a team-high 56 hits. He ranked second in the UMAC in both categories. Garcia also led the Yellowjackets in doubles (20), runs batted in (31), total bases (82), slugging percentage (.646) and on-base percentage (.482).
 
Garcia closed the season by being named All-UMAC First Team.
 
The Yellowjackets closed the 2023 season with a record of 21-15, marking the first time in program history the team won 20 games in a season. It was also the first time since 1975 a Yellowjacket baseball team finished a season with a record above .500.