NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame baseball team had four student-athletes tabbed for preseason accolades by D1Baseball in their ACC conference preview this week.
Junior Cameron Junker was named a top prospect for the 2019 Draft while sophomores Joe Boyle and Tommy Sheehan were selected as top prospects in the 2020 Draft. Freshman Carter Putz earned Top Freshman honors to round out the accolades from the Fighting Irish.
Junker comes in at No. 33 on the top 50 prospects list for the 2019 Draft in the ACC and is one of the experienced arms returning for the Irish. The Cincinnati, Ohio native made 14 appearances last season and tallied nine starts over 35.0 innings. He is one of nine Irish pitchers to return that threw at least 20 innings last season. Junker collected his first career win after three innings of scoreless relief against Pittsburgh on May 5.
Boyle ranks No. 8 on the top prospect list for the 2020 Draft and made eight appearances for the Irish in his freshman campaign. The Goshen, Ky. native came into his own during summer ball in the Northwoods League. Boyle came out of the pen for the Kalamazoo Growlers and racked up 16 strikeouts in just 8.1 innings. Following the summer, Boyle was a consensus top prospect from the Northwoods League by D1Baseball, Baseball America and Perfect Game.
Sheehan (No. 43) is another experienced arm returning for the Irish as he tied for the team lead with 14 starts in his freshman season. Sheehan’s first career start came on the road at Alex Box Stadium against No. 9 LSU where he picked up his first career win after working 5 innings in a 10-5 Notre Dame win. Sheehan was the first freshman Irish pitcher to start and earn a win since Brandon Bielak back in 2015 against Florida State.
Putz comes to the Irish from Bishop Miege HS in Belton, Mo. He guided his team to a state runner-up finish during his senior season, batting .460 (40-87) with 13 extra-base hits and 23 RBI. Putz earned a number of honors after the year, including All-Class Player of the Year, 4A Co-Player of the Year and first team All-Metro.
Junker, Sheehan, Boyle and Putz join Eric Gilgenbach on the list of Irish athletes to earn preseason honors. Gilgenbach was tabbed first team Preseason All-ACC by College Baseball Daily. The senior captain is the most experienced bat returning for the Irish and he led the team in RBI (45) and tied for the team lead in home runs (10) in 2018.
The Notre Dame baseball team is just weeks away from the start of the 2019 season. The Irish will open up on the road with a three game series against Pac-12 foe Arizona State. The season opener is February 15 with first pitch scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.
For a behind-the-scenes look at the Irish baseball program, follow @NDBaseball on Twitter and @NotreDameBaseball on Instagram. For tickets to an Irish baseball game, click here.
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