FSW baseball player named to All-American team

A college baseball player at Florida SouthWestern University is working hard to ensure his name will be remembered at FSW.

Some of AJ Shaver’s most recent accomplishments include getting named to the All-American Second Team and getting named to the 1st Team All-State.

In the 2023 season, Shaver, an outfielder for the Buccaneers, had an outrageous .403 batting average while smacking 19 home runs. Shaver also tied the FSW record with 24 doubles.

Shaver started the season recovering from a broken bone in his wrist, inhibiting his bat speed.

“I lost all my bat speed. I lost a lot of strength in my hand and all this stuff. It kind of like humbled me a little bit to where I knew that things aren’t always going to go your way, and I had to push through it and fight to just stay mentally locked in,” Shaver said.

Despite racking up the stats, Shaver said he never focused on that. Head Coach Zac Cole explained that Shaver is a team-first player.

“When you’re only worried about yourself and what your stats are and how many runs you hit, it can be overwhelming, but when you’re worried about your team and winning baseball games and other guys around you getting better, it becomes easier, and AJ was a shining light for that in our program of building guys up around him,” head coach Cole said.

“I’m just very thankful for everything, and you know, I’m proud of myself for fighting through it and hope that the story and the name All-American can continue throughout the program,” Shaver said.

Records are made to be broken, but for Shaver, these are the memories he will cherish forever.