Baseball America - All-Americans

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Cody Sedlock was named to the All-America first team by Baseball America, the publication announced Tuesday. Sedlock, the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, becomes the 14th All-America first team selection in Illinois program history.

Sedlock joins Tyler Jay to give Illinois first team All-Americans in back-to-back seasons for the second time in team history and for the first time in 68 years. Andy Phillip and Lee Eilbract were All-Americans in 1947, followed by Russ Steger in 1948 before first-, second- and third-team distinctions were routine in All-America selections.

Sedlock is the second right-handed pitcher to earn first-team honors in Illinois history, joining former Big Leaguer Jason Anderson. Anderson was a first-team pick by the American Baseball Coaches Assocation in 2000 and went on to pitch in 32 Major League Baseball games for the Yankees, Mets and Indians.

Sedlock was the only pitcher in the conference to finish in the top five of innings (1st, 64.2), strikeouts (1st, 75), ERA (3rd, 1.67) and opponent batting average (3rd, .188) during conference games. He finished the year with a 5-3 record, 2.49 ERA and a program-record 116 strikeouts in 101.1 innings.

The junior right-hander from Sherrard, Illinois, put together one of the best end-of-season runs in Illinois history over his last five starts. He averaged 8.9 innings per start with a 1.01 ERA against five Big Ten opponents on his way to the Illini's team record for innings pitched during a Big Ten season (64.2).

Sedlock set career bests of 10.2 innings pitched and 14 strikeouts, also an Illinois Field record, against Ohio State on April 22. The outing earned Sedlock Illinois' first ever National Pitcher of the Week award. He followed that spectacular performance by going 9.0+ innings in three of his next four starts. Sedlock was the only pitcher in the nation to pitch into the 10th inning on two occasions in 2016.

The plant biotechnology major has one year of eligibility left, but is expected to be a high pick in the upcoming MLB Draft. Many publications are predicting Sedlock will be a first-round selection on June 9, including Baseball America, which predicts he will be picked at No. 33 by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Congrats to @CodySedlock on being named a first team All-American. #Illini

» https://t.co/NyXW9woX8C pic.twitter.com/u7f3TPYjMs

— Illini Baseball (@IlliniBaseball) June 7, 2016