Baseball Earns ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award for Seventh-Straight Season

TOLEDO, OH – The Central Catholic baseball program has earned the 2025-26 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Award, marking the seventh-consecutive year the Fighting Irish have received the prestigious national honor.

Central Catholic is one of just 19 high school baseball programs in Ohio to earn the distinction this year. Overall, 320 high school programs and more than 500 collegiate programs were recognized with the 2025-26 award, which is presented by Sports Attack.

The ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award recognizes high school and collegiate programs coached by ABCA members that posted a team grade-point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale for the entire 2025-26 academic year.

The American Baseball Coaches Association has a long tradition of recognizing excellence among baseball coaches and student-athletes at all levels. Its awards program includes the ABCA/Rawlings All-America and All-Region teams, Regional and National Coaches of the Year, the ABCA Hall of Fame, and several other major honors.

On the field, the Fighting Irish finished the 2026 season with a 9-19 overall record under Head Coach Jeff Mielcarek while competing in the Catholic High School League (CHSL).

Several Central Catholic student-athletes also earned postseason recognition.  Draden Wardrop was named All-Catholic, Jack Zelmanski earned All-League honors, and Ryan Dempsey was selected to the CHSL All-Academic Team.

Wardrop also earned Division III Second Team All-Ohio honors from the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association (OHSBCA) following his outstanding senior season.

At the district level, Wardrop and Zelmanski were named First Team All-District, while senior Trent Snapp received Second Team All-District recognition.

Click HERE to view the complete list of 2025-26 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award recipients.