2024 D2CCA NCAA DII Baseball All-America Teams
Will Shannon upped his game from an already historic 2023 season in 2024, and the entire nation took notice.
Hillsdale College's junior first baseman put up a monster season at the plate, becoming Hillsdale's first-ever G-MAC Player of the Year and earning unanimous All-Midwest Region honors. With that kind of resume, All-American honors were only a matter of time, and indeed the Division II Conference Commissioners Association made it official on Thursday afternoon by honoring Shannon as its second-team first baseman in their release of the 2024 NCAA Division II All-American teams. The D2CCA awards are chosen from players nominated by sports information directors from across the region, who also conduct the voting and select the teams.
Shannon is Hillsdale's sixth baseball All-American at the NCAA DII level, and the fourth to earn the distinction from the D2CCA, joining first-teamer Luke Ortel (2016), third-teamer and former teammate Aidan Brewer (2022) and honorable mention Steven Ring (2017). Former Chargers Chris McDonald (2016) and Ethan Wiskur (2017) also received All-American honors from other awards bodies.
The junior from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan exceeded already sky-high expectations with his performance in 2024, leading the G-MAC in season batting average (.426), slugging percentage (.838), on-base percentage (0.508), and, as a consequence of those three numbers, OPS as well (1.346). Shannon was even better in conference play, batting .436 with an .882 slugging percentage and a 1.402 OPS.
Despite missing Hillsdale's first seven games with an injury, Shannon put up incredible numbers in 2024 to lead the Chargers in virtually every hitting category, finishing with a team-high 63 hits, 14 doubles, 15 home runs and 52 RBIs while scoring 50 runs and drawing 27 walks. Shannon's .838 slugging percentage is second only to Jeff DePorter's .848 in 1988 for a single season in program history, and for a single season the junior's 2024 campaign ranks seventh in batting average (.426), sixth in runs scored (50), ninth in doubles (14), third in home runs (15) and sixth in RBIs (52).
Shannon was consistent at the plate for the Chargers, with a 20-game hitting streak, 18 multi-hit games, and and just five games out of 42 played where he didn't record a hit. The junior also had three multi-home run games this season for the Chargers, including a 5 for 6 outing with two home runs and a double in a 16-12 win over Grand Valley State that was his first five-hit game of his career. He also was a solid defensive player at first base for Hillsdale, with a .990 fielding percentage, 297 putouts and 14 assists while playing a part in turning 18 double plays for the Chargers.
On Wednesday, the day before Shannon received All-American honors from the D2CCA, the American Baseball Coaches Association also weighed in with their All-Midwest Region team for 2024, tabbing Shannon as their second-team All-Region first baseman. Together with first-team All-Region honors from the D2CCA and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Shannon's ABCA honor makes him a unanimous All-Region player for the second-straight season for the Chargers, with recognition from all three major awards bodies for NCAA DII baseball.
Shannon is scheduled to play in the MLB Draft League this summer, looking to hone his craft and get attention from Major League Baseball scouts before returning to Hillsdale College this coming spring for one more assault on the Chargers' record books. Only one player in Hillsdale College history, Steven Ring, has ever earned All-American honors across multiple seasons, a feat Shannon will get an opportunity to duplicate in his senior year.