Trio of Yellow Jackets Named Preseason All-Americans By Baseball America

Drew Burress, Vahn Lackey and Jarren Advincula are all preseason All-Americans according to Baseball American

May 31, 2025; Oxford, MS, USA; Georgia Tech Yellowjackets outfielder Drew Burress (8) slides into third base during the first inning against the Murray State Racers. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

With less than two weeks before the beginning of the highly anticipated 2026 baseball season, three Yellow Jackets have earned preseason All-America status from Baseball America, the publication announced today. Junior center fielder Drew Burress (Houston County, Ga./Houston County HS) was a unanimous 1st Team All-American, while junior catcher Vahn Lackey (Suwanee, Ga./Collins Hill HS) also was named to the 1st Team. Junior infielder Jarren Advincula (Santa Clara, Calif./Cal/ Archbishop Mitty HS) earned 2nd team honors to round out the selections. Baseball America’s preseason All-America teams are voted on and selected by scouting departments of major league organizations.

Burress was one of three unanimous 1st-Team selections, alongside UCLA’s Roch Cholowsky (SS) and Coastal Carolina’s Cameron Flukey (SP). Georgia Tech was on of only two programs with multiple 1st-teamers (Burress and Lackey) comprising two-thirds of the total number of 1st-Team All-Americans from the Atlantic Coast Conference, along with Virginia’s AJ Gracia.

Tech was one of four programs to have at least three players named to one of the three teams, and the only to do so out of the ACC - also Arkansas (four), Texas A&M (four) and TCU (three).

Big Seasons Ahead

May 31, 2025; Oxford, MS, USA; Georgia Tech Yellowjackets outfielder Drew Burress (8) fields the ball during the first inning against the Murray State Racers. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Burress enters his third season on The Flats with the hopes of proving himself to be one of the greatest to ever wear the White & Gold. He is coming off a sophomore campaign in which he was named 1st Team All-American by five different publications, joining Kevin Parada (2022), Joey Bart (2018), and Mark Teixeira (2000) as the only to do so in program history. He was the only player from a Power 4 conference with at least 60 RBI (62), 20 doubles (23), 50 walks (53), 15 HR (19) and 70 runs (77) and led the ACC in extra base hits (43), doubles (23), finishing 2nd in the conference in home runs (19) and runs scored (77).

He became the fastest Yellow Jacket in program history to reach 30 and 40 career homeruns and his 23 doubles were the most by a GT player in the BBCOR era (since 2011). The Houston County man enters his junior year as the only Division I player with a career slugging percentage over .750 (.756), also the best in program history with a minimum of 300 ABs (446), nearly half a point above second place, College Baseball Hall of Famer, Mark Teixeira (.712). His 44 career home runs are currently 10th-most in program history and just 13 shy of the program record, set by Jason Varitek (57) from 1991-94. Burress is now a unanimous 1st-Team preseason All-American after already earning the recognition from both Perfect Game and D1 Baseball earlier this year.

Lackey enjoyed a breakout 2025 season, earning himself the moniker of best catcher in college leading into 2026. He slashed .347 avg./.421 OBP/.500 Slug. with a team-high 77 base hits including 14 doubles, one triple and six home runs for 42 RBI and 45 runs scored last season while also leading all Division I catchers with 18 stolen bases on 21 attempts. He delivered multiple hits in 45% of his games played (27-of-60) and ranked third among DI catchers in both batting average (.347) and hits (77). He worked with the Georgia Tech pitching staff to hold opponents to 8.84 hits-per-nine innings, the lowest mark in over a decade while helping lower the team ERA by 1.57 runs compared to 2024, the largest decrease of any Power 4 team to make a Regional last season.

Over the summer, he was named one of two catchers for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, becoming the fifth Tech catcher to represent on the international stage, joining GT legends Kevin Parada, Matt Wieters, Mike Nickeas and Jason Varitek. Lackey has now been named a 1st-Team All-American by both Baseball America and Perfect Game headed into the 2026 season and was a 2nd-Team honoree by D1 Baseball. The major league scouts that voted for the Baseball America All-American teams touted Lackey as “the best defensive catcher in the class, and some scouts think he has a chance to compete for Gold Glove awards.”

Advincula joined the Yellow Jackets in the offseason after an All-ACC season at California in which he slashed .342 avg./.410 OBP/.506 Slug. His 81 hits ranked second among all second basemen in the nation and he led the Golden Bears in hits (81), doubles (17), at bats (237), stolen bases (13), multiple-hit games (26), three-hit games (11) and total bases (120). Known as one of the toughest outs in the conference last season, Advincula joins a potent Tech lineup as the second-best 2nd baseman in the nation according to Baseball America. He is now a consensus 2nd-Team preseason All-American, after earning the recognition from both Perfect Game and D1 Baseball earlier this year.

2026 will be the first season for new Head Coach James Ramsey. Since Ramsey took over the offense in 2019, Georgia Tech leads the ACC in batting average (.308), OPS (.918), OBP (.408), hits (3,961), doubles (796) and SAC Flies (208) and is second in runs (2,937), triples (84), home runs (547), RBI (2,709) and slugging (.510) with more to come in 2026.

First pitch for the highly anticipated 2026 season is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 13 at 4 p.m. when the Yellow Jackets host Bowling Green for a three-game series at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium.