STATESBORO, Ga. — The accolades continue to pile in for graduate student John Michael Bertrand as he was named a third team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Thursday morning. This is Bertrand’s first postseason All-American honor as he was named a preseason All-American by Perfect Game and NCBWA prior to the 2022 season.
“JM cherishes all aspects of his pitching craft,” said head coach Link Jarrett. “And he is not the only one on our staff that does quite frankly. Every bit of his preparation from stretching and mobility work with Phil, strength work with Kyle, throwing sessions, bullpens, fielding work is done with focus. Chuck has really helped JM hone his pitching arsenal and stuff. He carries that preparation directly into his outings.
“He earned two Notre Dame master’s degrees and has extended his love for Notre Dame and passion for helping others into the campus and regional community. He deserves this honor, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Bertrand has once again been the leader of the Irish rotation in 2022 as he leads the team in wins (8), innings pitched (90.1), strikeouts (94) and ERA (2.39) among qualified starters. He has tied a career-best mark for wins and already surpassed his previous career-high in strikeouts this season. He has been the catalyst for the Irish pitching staff that has set a program best mark for strikeouts in a single season. The Irish have 529 heading into the regional, breaking the previous record of 504 from the 2006 season.
After being the first Irish pitcher to earn first team All-ACC honors in 2021, Bertrand was named to the first team once again following the 2022 regular season. He is the first Irish pitcher to earn back-to-back first team all-conference honors since Aaron Heilman won it three-straight season from 1999-02 back in the BIG EAST. Bertrand finished third in the ACC in ERA among qualified pitchers, fifth in innings pitched while the top-four had one more start than him, sixth in wins and opponent batting average and tied for seventh in strikeouts. He pitched 6.0 innings or more in 11 of his 14 starts and allowed three or fewer earned runs in 12 of his 14 starts.
Some of his best starts of the season came against ACC opponents this season. He set a career high with 12 strikeouts in the 2-0 road win in extras over #5 Florida State. It was the first time in program history that the Seminoles were shutout in an extra inning game. He tossed a season-high 8.1 innings and did not allow an earned run in the 4-1 home win over Clemson. In the ACC Championship, Bertrand tossed 8.0 innings of scoreless work to defeat Florida State and advance the Irish to the semifinals for the first time in program history.
Bertrand and the Irish will be back in action Friday afternoon as they begin the Statesboro Regional. Notre Dame’s opening matchup will be against the No. 3 seed Texas Tech Red Raiders at 2 p.m. ET from J.I. Clements Stadium. The game will be aired nationally on the ACC Network.
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