2021 D3baseball.com All-America Team | ABCA/Rawlings All-America Team
Release courtesy of Franklin & Marshall Athletic Communications
LANCASTER, Pa. – Kyle Roche continued to add to his individual accolades as the Diplomats' right-hander was named a second-team All-American by D3Baseball.com and a third-team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). This latest recognition comes after Roche earned first-team All-Mid-Atlantic Honors from both associations earlier this week.
With his All-America status cemented, Roche becomes just third All-American in the history of the Diplomats' program. He joins Tim Sheridan '96 and Jonathan Cole '20 in earning All-American recognition. All three of F&M's All-Americans have been pitchers as they were each voted as the Centennial Conference Pitcher of the Year during their historic seasons. Roche's second-team honors match the same accolades that Sheridan received from the ABCA in 1996 while Cole was a second-team selection by D3Baseball following the 2019 season.
Roche was simply dominant for the Diplomats during his junior campaign as he won all seven starts he made this spring. In addition to his conference-leading win total, Roche led the Centennial Conference in starter's ERA (1.00) and strikeouts (54) during the conference-only schedule. Opponents hit just .131 against Roche as he struck out an average of 10.8 batters every nine innings.
Over his seven starts, Roche did not all more than four hits during any of his outings. Three different times, he did not allow an earned run. That included allowing just two hits over six innings of work during a combined shutout of Johns Hopkins. He also allowed just two hits over five scoreless innings versus Muhlenberg. Going seven innings during each of his final four starts, Roche struck out a season-high 12 batters at Gettysburg while allowing just three hits and no earned runs. He also recorded a double-digit punch-out total with 11 Ks in the 3-1 victory at McDaniel.
Roche's numbers were not only the best in the Centennial Conference, but were also among the national leaders in all of Division III. The F&M righty led all Division III players with a 0.60 WHIP. Roche allowed just four hits per nine innings to rank fourth in the nation while his 7.71 strikeout/walk ratio was the 22nd-best mark nationally. Roche's 1.00 ERA was the ninth-best mark in DIII as he ranked sixth among starting pitchers.