NACSB National Players of the Week - July 15, 2026
SANFORD, Fla.- Throughout the 2026 season, the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball will honor two players at the conclusion of each week, a National Player and Pitcher of the Week. Players are nominated for the award by earning their league's Player or Pitcher of the Week award. This week's honors represent performances through Sunday, July 12. The weekly honors are selected via a vote of league officials from around the Alliance.
The newest National Player of the Week is Marshall McGowan (Western Carolina), playing this summer for the Strasburg Express of the Valley Baseball League. McGowan had a huge week with 12 RBIs and seven extra-base hits in five games. He hit for a .454 average (10-for-22) with seven runs scored, three doubles, two triples and two home runs. In three of the five games, McGowan produced four RBIs.
McGowan has been one of the leaders for a Strasburg team that is battling for the top spot in the VBL's North Division. The Forest City, North Carolina native is hitting .321, and ranks second on the roster with 23 runs batted in. His 23 RBIs rank in the top ten of the Valley League, as does his 47 total bases and .580 slugging percentage.
Winning National Pitcher of the Week honors for the first full week of July is Brendon Miller (Fairfield), who wears the colors of the Vermont Mountaineers of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. The San Diego, California, left-hander struck out an incredible 18 batters over seven innings while allowing just one hit and no runs. Miller opened the week by striking out seven over three hitless innings against Keene before recording 11 strikeouts across four one-hit innings in a victory over North Adams.
He now ranks tied for second in the NECBL with 35 strikeouts and owns a 1.47 ERA while averaging 17.18 strikeouts per nine innings this season. Miller is coming off a strong campaign at Fairfield where the Stags reached the MAAC Winner-Take-All Championship game in 2026. Miller concluded the season with MAAC All-Academic Team honors after posting a 4-1 record with a 4.32 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 58.1 innings.
Additionally, the Alliance honors the players from around the nation that were nominated for this week's award.
National Honor Roll (Hitters): Hartley Rahman (DC, Cal Ripken Sr./Catawba), Tino Vasell (Sonoma, California/San Francisco), Boomer Rogozinski (DeLand, Florida/Stetson), Ben Meyers (Muskegon, Great Lakes/Aquinas), Aaron Vetter (Sag Harbor, Hamptons/Palm Beach Atlantic), James Love (Upper Valley, New England/Eastern Illinois), Sean Stoney (Syracuse, New York/Wilmington), Jackson Oehler (Concord, Southern/Rockingham CC), Kason Gleaton (Brookhaven, Sunbelt/Bethune-Cookman)
National Honor Roll (Pitchers): Austin Weiss (Olney, Cal Ripken Sr./Maryland), Franky Lopez (Academy, California/Hope International), Christopher Keltz (Sanford, Florida/Undecided), Grant Jolly (Lima, Great Lakes/Marshall), Derek Desmarais (Sag Harbor, Hamptons/Tufts), Cam Hasenfus (Dansville, New York/Wheaton), Elijah Darwin (Concord, Southern/Wingate), John Kosobud (Brookhaven, Sunbelt/Centre), Lucas Marrero (Winchester, Valley/Lynchburg)
The following leagues were not included in this week's awards: Atlantic, Cape Cod
The National Alliance of College Summer Baseball (NACSB) is an alliance of twelve college summer leagues that are partially funded by Major League Baseball. Each league and all of their teams are non-profit organizations that support the highest level of collegiate players in their journey to play professional baseball. Members work closely with college baseball programs to ensure player development and eligibility during summer months while maintaining policies that keep player health paramount. This is evidenced by the Alliance's early adoption of the MLB Pitch Smart policy and maintaining a reasonable number of games played across each league. Over 4,000 players choose NACSB leagues each summer with hundreds getting their name called in the MLB draft each year. Member league information can be found on NACSB.ORG.