THE FLATS – Four Yellow Jackets have been awarded All-Southeast Region honors, the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings announced today. Drew Burress (Houston County, Ga. / Houston County HS) was named 1st Team All-Region while three Jackets were given 2nd Team All-Region honors: Vahn Lackey (Suwanee, Ga. / Collins Hill HS), Kyle Lodise (Brunswick, Ga. / Brunswick HS) and Mason Patel (Knoxville, Tenn / The Webb School).
The four all-region award winners is tied for the most in a single season since 2000 – tied with ’22, ’19 and ’05). It is the second-straight 1st Team All-Region selection for Burress, becoming the first Yellow Jacket to go back-to-back in the award selection since GT Hall of Famer, Bryan Prince, in 2000 and 2001. This is the first-career all-regional selections for Lackey, Lodise and Patel.
Burress continued his illustrious career in 2025, leading the ACC in extra base hits (43), doubles (23) and finishing 2nd in the conference in home runs (19) and runs scored (77). His .756 career slugging percentage is the best in program history with a minimum of 300 ABs (446), nearly half a point above second place, Mark Teixeira (.712 slug over 528 ABs). This season, he became the fastest Yellow Jacket in program history to reach 30 and 40 career homeruns, currently sitting at 44 career long balls, the 10th most in program history and just 13 shy of the program record. His 23 doubles this season are the most by a GT player in the BBCOR era (since 2011) and tied for the 7th most in program history.
Lackey was a key contributor in the Jackets ACC regular season championship lineup, batting in the heart of the order and finishing with a .347 batting average, 77 hits (tied for the team lead and the most hits by any Power 4 catcher), 45 runs and 42 RBI. He led the team with eight hit-by-pitches, posting an ultra-impressive .421 on-base percentage while starting in all 60 games (50 as catcher, 10 at 3rd base).
The Suwanee native led the Yellow Jackets in stolen bases (18-for-21 – 85.7 percent) while successfully stopping 14 of 43 attempts against him (32.6 percent).
Lodise earned his place on the all-regional team after posting a .329 batting average with a 1.096 OPS, 20 doubles, a team-high three triples and 16 home runs for 39 extra base hits, the third most in the ACC. He led the Georgia Tech defense with 140 assists this season and was the only Yellow Jacket to record three home runs in a single game when he went off for three HRs and a triple in Tech’s 18-7 win over Notre Dame (March 21).
Patel was nothing short of dominant, becoming the first Yellow Jacket in program history to record at least 11 wins in a single season without ever starting a game. The Knoxville, Tenn. native was the go-to during high-leverage moments all season, often entering games with runners on or while the team was trailing, leading to a record setting 11 victories in 23 relief appearances with five saves. He was the only pitcher this season to collect double-digit wins and at least five saves, the first relief pitcher to do so from a Power 4 conference since Kevin Kopps’ Golden Spikes Award winning season in 2021 (Arkansas).
He posted a 3.34 ERA over 23 appearances and became the first Yellow Jacket pitcher this century to win each of his first six starts, finishing with an 11-2 record. His 11 wins is tied for the 13th-most in a single season in GT history and the most since Kyle Bakker posted 13 wins in 2002. Patel pitched the first 22.2 innings of the season without allowing a run and has posted career-bests in wins (11), saves (5), innings pitched (70.0), strikeouts (64) and opponent’s batting average (.223).
The teams are voted on by members of the American Baseball Coaches Association and the process is led by the ABCA NCAA Div. I All-America & Coach of the Year Committee.
The ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. I All-America teams will be announced the morning of Friday, June 13 prior to the start of the 2025 NCAA Div. I College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. First Team All-Region selections are eligible for All-America honors.
The finalists for the ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. I Gold Glove team will be announced via Twitter by Rawlings Sporting Goods (@RawlingsSports) on Monday, June 16. The Gold Glove winners in all divisions will be announced on Wednesday, June 18.
In all divisions, the ABCA/Rawlings National Pitchers and Position Players of the Year will be announced on Monday, June 23.
The ABCA All-America team was first recognized in 1949 and now includes nine divisions: NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA Divisions I, II and III, Pacific Association Division, and high school. ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove teams were first recognized in 2007.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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