Former Mars pitcher Will Bednar named to freshman All-American team

Although his freshman season was cut short, former Mars pitcher Will Bednar received postseason honors this week.

After pitching 15⅓ innings this season for Mississippi State, the 6-foot-2, 229-pound right-hander was named to Collegiate Baseball’s 2020 Freshman All-American team. Bednar was one of 24 relief pitchers named to the team and was joined by teammate Christian MacLeod, who was one of four players named Freshman Player of the Year.

Read all about the Collegiate Baseball 2020 Freshmen All-Americans, including the 4 Freshmen National Players of The Year, at: https://t.co/HyNPvfnzmg pic.twitter.com/8PxPssPirF

— Collegiate Baseball (@CBNewspaper) June 3, 2020

In his first year at Mississippi State, Bednar appeared in four games before the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. He earned one save with a 1.76 ERA.

All four of Bednar’s appearances lasted three innings or more, and he made one start March 7 against Quinnipiac, just four days before the season was canceled.

Bednar threw 5⅓ innings while only allowing two hits, one earned run and striking out eight in that start. It was his longest outing of the year.

Although Bednar missed almost all of his senior baseball season at Mars, the hard-throwing right-hander had success before heading off to Mississippi State. As a junior, Bednar went 8-0 with a 0.64 ERA while only allowing 39 hits and 11 walks in 66 innings. He also recorded 120 strikeouts that season and led the Fightin’ Planets to a WPIAL championship appearance.