DALLAS (NCBWA) – One of the youngest, but most talented squads, was honored with the announcement of the 15th annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason All-America team Monday. The group features numerous standouts from powers such as defending College World Series champion Vanderbilt, runner-up Virginia and 17 Division I conferences nationwide.

Interestingly, there were no returning position players from the first team of the 18th annual 2014 NCAA postseason All-America selections, but returning No. 1 crew starting pitchers Blake Fox (12-0 record, 1.46 ERA) of Rice and Casey Bloomquist (12-2, 1.56 ERA) of Cal Poly highlight a solid group of mound standouts returning for 2015 from the All-America ranks.

They are joined by post-2014 second-team stalwarts outfielder DJ Stewart (.351, 7 homers, 50 RBIs) of Florida State and starting pitchers Kyle Funkhouser (13-3, 1.94 ERA) of Louisville, Atlantic Coast Conference 2014 Pitcher of the Year Nathan Kirby (9-3, 2.06) of Virginia and 2014 Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year Preston Morrison (9-4, 1.32 ERA) of TCU on the first unit of the 2015 NCBWA elite squadron.

Also in that set of standouts are starting pitchers Walker Buehler (12-2, 2.64) and Carson Fulmer (7-1, 1.98) of Vanderbilt along with relief aces Riley Ferrell (3-1, 0.79 ERA, 15 saves) of TCU, David Berg (the 2013 NCBWA Stopper of the Year, (3-2, 1.50 ERA, 11 saves) of UCLA, Bryan Garcia (7-4, 1.75 ERA, 15 saves) of Miami (Fla.), and Matt Ditman (5-6, 1.83 ERA, nine saves) of Rice. The entire first team pitching staff consists of underclassmen except for the senior Berg.

Among the first-team position players are such nationally-recognized stalwarts as Florida Gulf Coast 2B Jake Noll (.367, 18 2B, 29 RBI, 25SB), San Diego State 3B Ty France (.356, 18 2B, 5 HR, 45 RBI), Vanderbilt SS Dansby Swanson (.333, 27 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 34 RBI), Michigan utility player Jacob Cronenworth (1.75 ERA, 12 saves, 2 HR, 28 RBI, 19 SB), and FSU's Stewart dot the roster.

The initial two units also contain starting pitchers with a combined win-loss mark of 115-26 and relief hurlers with a composite 103 saves. The three teams chosen with consultation with individual schools' media relations offices and the NCBWA All-America committee also boast the likes of 2013 SEC Freshman of the Year and Brooks Wallace Award SS Alex Bregman of LSU, All-Mountain West Conference 1B Austin Byler (.326, 14 2Bs, 14 HR, 54RBIs) of Nevada, All-Big 12 Conference 1B Eric Gutierrez (.302, 18 2B, 12 HR, 58 RBI) of Texas Tech, All-Atlantic Coast Conference OF Joe McCarthy (.301, 16 2B, 6 HR, 49RBI) of Virginia, catchers Zach Collins (.298, 14 2B, 11 HR, 54 RBI) of Miami, Fla., and All-Missouri Valley Conference Paul DeJong (.349, 21 2B, 9 HR, 48 RBI) of Illinois State, and All-Ohio Valley Conference Travis Stout (3-1, 1.82 ERA, 15 saves) of Jacksonville State, among others.

The selections prior to the historic 156th season of intercollegiate baseball will be striving to make the 69th annual DI World Series in Omaha, Neb., on June 13-23/24, along with the prestigious Dick Howser Trophy presented by the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Chamber of Commerce on Saturday, June 13, at TD Ameritrade Stadium.

Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. For more information about the NCBWA, visit the association's official Web site, www.ncbwa.com.