The Katy Tiger baseball squad was recently honored by the American Baseball Coaches Association with the team academic excellence award for holding a GPA of 3.0 or above for the entire 2019-20 academic year.

Although their season was cut short before district play, the Tigers started the season on an 12-3-2 clip and had six hitters averaging over .300 at the plate with a minimum of 15 at-bats. On the mound, four pitchers registered double-digit innings pitched and three of them, senior Alec Atkinson, junior Aiden Huerta and sophomore Brayden Powers, recorded more than 20 strikeouts.

All the while, Katy was able to get it done in the classroom as well and finished the year with a 3.52 GPA to be part of a record number of teams being honored by the national association.

“A record 428 college and high school programs submitted nominations and received this year’s award,” a press release from the ABCA says. “In total, 143 high school teams along with 285 programs from the NCAA Div. I, II, III, NAIA and Junior College levels were recognized.”

The Tigers were one of 13 high school programs from the state of Texas earning a spot on the list.

“In light of the challenges faced by so many programs across the country, we are humbled to be able to honor a record number of teams for their outstanding academic achievements,” ABCA Executive Director Craig Keilitz said in the release. “It is a testament to the leadership of our member coaches and the commitment of their student-athletes who persevered during an unprecedented academic year.”

The 2020 Katy High School baseball roster included Dylan Swanson, Jacob Leskovsky, Caleb Matthews, Adam Maldonado, Blake Bastubee, Jackson Johnson, Dwight Trevino, David Hankins, Hunter Clapp, Conner Muenster, Ryan Brome, Caleb Fields, Alec Atkinson, Aiden Huerta, Brayden Powers, Kyron Tate, Nayden Ramirez, Aidan McKinney, Bryce Nirider, Kaden Godfroy, Parker Kidwell, Judson Ceyanes, Fernando Garza, Tyler Martin and Dominic Melchor.