Baylor Baseball: Branch, Castle Earn All-Big 12 Honors
IRVING, Texas – Baylor baseball’s Kolby Branch was unanimously named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team while Cort Castle earned All-Big 12 honorable mention, as announced by the conference office Tuesday.
As a true freshman, Branch led the Bears in virtually every offensive category: batting average (.325), runs (49), hits (69), doubles (17), home runs (6), RBIs (41) and on-base percentage (.430).
Branch is the 13th BU player to make the All-Big 12 Freshman Team and the first since Chase Wehsener in 2019.
In comparison to Baylor’s last five Freshman All-America honorees – Jared McKenzie, Nick Loftin, Shea Langeliers, Max Muncy and Logan Vick – Branch ranks second in RBIs, third in batting average and fourth in home runs among their true freshman seasons.
Castle came into his own offensively in his second year at Baylor. The Waco Midway product started 29 games behind the dish and was fifth in the conference with a .393 batting average in Big 12 play, nearly 40 points higher than the next closest catcher.
Over the final month of the season, Castle finished on a torrid pace, going 19-for-56 at the plate. He was also fifth on the team in runs scored (23) and sixth on the team in on-base percentage (.364).
It’s the first time since 2014, excluding the Covid-shortened 2020 season, that the Bears did not have at least one first or second-team selection.
Baylor (20-35, 6-18) broke the program record in losses and failed to make the Big 12 Tournament for the first time ever in 2023.
Read the latest article recapping Mitch Thompson’s first season and stay tuned for offseason coverage on SicEm365.
2022 ALL-BIG 12 AWARDS
Honorable Mention: Cort Castle, C
All-Freshman: Kolby Branch, INF