KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Heart of America Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year Chris Thomas of Avila was named to the NAIA Baseball All-America First Team as selected by the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Association All-America Selection Committee.

Thomas is the first HAAC player to earn 1st-team all-America recognition since OF Jeremy Strack of William Jewell was named to the 2008 first team. A native of Liberty, Mo., Thomas finished the season with a record of 12-2 and a 1.53 ERA. He recorded 121 strikeouts against just 21 walks in 94.0 innings of work and limited the opposition to a .171 batting average while giving up just one home run.

Joining Thomas on the all-America list was MNU OF Ben Alison, who was named to the honorable mention squad. A native of Ankeny, Iowa, Alison was named the HAAC Player of the Year after batting .340 with 15 HR and 56 RBI as the Pioneers won a share of the HAAC regular season championship.

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