Vahle, Dillman Earn Baseball All-KCAC Honors

A momentous season for Avila baseball finishes with even more historic success: two Eagles have been named to the 2024 Baseball All-KCAC teams, the conference announced this month. Senior shortstop Landon Vahle was named First Team All-Conference as a utility player, while junior utility player Zach Dillman was named Second Team All-Conference as a catcher.

In the season where Avila qualified for the KCAC Tournament for the first time since the school has been part of the league and recorded their most wins – both in league play and overall – since joining the KCAC ahead of the 2019 season, Avila baseball set numerous other program landmarks with these two postseason honors.

It's the first time in the KCAC era that two Eagles have earned spots on either the First Team or Second Team [Vahle and Kurt Trotter were both Honorable Mention selections in 2023]. Counting those two players last season, Avila has had at least one Honorable Mention honoree every year, but Dillman becomes Avila's first Second Team honoree since Jared Fry in 2020 [Fry also won that honor as a catcher]. And Vahle now becomes Avila baseball's first First Team honoree since the Eagles have been part of the KCAC, and the program's first of those since Brandon Chandler won that distinction as a first baseman in 2018, Avila's last year in the HAAC.

An everyday starter for three seasons now, Landon Vahle has become one of the best overall hitters in the recent history of Avila baseball. This season, Vahle led the Eagles in hits (62), runs (69), stolen bases (21), home runs (12) and slugging percentage (.630), and set personal career highs in nearly every stat. He ranks in the KCAC's Top 20 in many facets, including on-base and slugging, and finishes top five in the league in steals and runs scored, and second in hits by pitch (teammates Bryce Culp and Gio Armas incredibly round out the KCAC's top three in that department).

An Honorable Mention honoree last year as a shortstop, Vahle made waves this season by moving over to first base for a couple of series as he navigated an injury to his throwing hand. It was his first experience at first in his collegiate career, and he pulled it off with aplomb: counting his time at both positions, Vahle also set career bests defensively in total chances, errors and fielding percentage (.944).

Utility selections in the KCAC are typically awarded either to players who excelled at multiple positions, or are the "next best" player that just missed the first cut for the top spot at their position across the league. Either way, this season Vahle was more than deserving of the recognition as First Team All-KCAC, the first of those in program history.

Zach Dillman brought with him to Kansas City a reputation as a veteran and a big slugger, and he certainly lived up to that billing as the season progressed. A true utility player, Dillman became Avila's everyday catcher over the final two-thirds of the season while also seeing time in right field and center with two appearances on the mound. He finished in the top three on the team in most everything, including hits (55), doubles (15), triples (3), homers (11), slugging (.597) and RBI (53), which led the club.

And a lot of that damage came late. In 18 games in April and May, Dillman hit .352 and slugged .761, with 25 hits including six doubles, seven homers, and a whopping 25 runs driven in, culminating in a solo shot off Friends' Brett Black in Avila's second postseason game, the only run the team scored in that game. Ricky Dober was the only other Eagle with a finish that was close to as hot in all phases, but Dillman's longevity and versatility helped him become Avila's first Second Team All-KCAC selection in four years.

The full list of the 2024 KCAC All-Conference selections will be shared when it becomes available.