Merced College Alum Cesar Avila named to the NAIA All-American Team at University of the Cumberlands
Kansas City, MO – With the Baseball season coming to a close a few days ago, the NAIA released their All-American teams this morning. The Patriots Duo of Charlie Muniz and Max Harper garnered first-team honors, while Cesar Avila earned honorable mention honors.
Starting with back-to-back first-team All-American Charlie Muniz. The Naranjito, PR native, was first-team All-Conference, along with garnering MSC and NAIA Ball Player of the Week honors this year. For his stellar season, he put his name in the NAIA and Cumberlands record book. Muniz broke the NAIA Opening Round record for home runs while tying the single-game home run record. For Cumberlands record books, he is now first in hits in a single season with 96 hits, second in home runs (24), tied for second in doubles (26), fourth in RBIs (73), and fifth in batting average (.425).
This season, the sophomore led the team in hits, batting average, doubles, and home runs. He tallied 96 hits, with 24 homers, 26 doubles, for 73 RBIs and a .425 batting average. Muniz had a .858 slugging percentage and tallied 194 total bases on the year.
Max Harper also took home first-team All-American honors after earning first-team All-Conference honors and being named the Mid-South Player of the Year. Harper also took home an MSC Gold Glove while putting his name in the Cumberlands record books as well, as he is first in RBIs (84) and is tied for third in both runs scored (72) and home runs (23).
The Fredericksburg, VA native batted .409 on the year, with 88 hits. Of his 88 hits, 24 were homers, 14 were doubles, and he tallied one triple with his 84 RBIs. The senior had a .805 slugging percentage and totaled 173 bases.
Cesar Avila earned All-American Honorable Mention honors after taking home first-team All-Conference honors. The Livingston, CA native had an outstanding season as he tied for second in Patriots history in appearances with 20 and saves with nine. The junior had 20 appearances with one start for a record of 1-3. He pitched 29.1 innings with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Avila had 41 strikeouts, including the biggest one in Patriots history, the one that sealed the NAIA Opening Round Championship and sent the Pats to the NAIA World Series.