Will Verdung earns NJCAA All-America honors

FULTON, Miss. – Itawamba Community College’s Will Verdung of Corinth was selected to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Second Team on Monday.

He led the Indians in seven offensive categories with a .389 batting average, .484 on-base percentage, .706 slugging percentage, 70 hits, 65 RBI, 32 walks and 15 home runs in 49 games during his sophomore season. He also scored 58 runs, which was the second highest on the team, hit 10 doubles and one triple and had five stolen bases. Defensively, the third baseman had a .917 field percentage, recording 57 assists and 42 outs while turning four double plays.

The Southern Miss signee made nine appearances on the mound on the way to a 4-1 record while collecting a pair of saves in 14-plus innings of relief. He struck out 14, allowed 14 hits and finished the season with a 3.68 earned run average.

Verdung also earned the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) Player of the Year honor while being selected to the All-MACCC First Team and NJCAA All-Region 23 Team after helping the Indians finish 36-13 on the season and No. 13 in final NJCAA rankings while earning a spot in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament.

He finished his career with a .401 batting average, 127 hits, 28 doubles and 107 RBI – all second in the history of the ICC baseball program since 2017. He added 25 career home runs that ties him with Tyreque Reed for first.

Verdung is the fifteenth Indian to earn All-America honors and the first since Houston Harding in 2019.