Tennessee infielder Dean Curley landed on D1Baseball’s Second Freshman All-American Team on Friday afternoon.
Curley landed as the second team shortstop after hitting .285 with 12 home runs, 10 doubles and 58 RBIs in his debut college season with Tennessee baseball. Alabama’s Justin Lebron landed on the first team over Curley after hitting .338 with 12 home runs, nine doubles and 37 RBIs last season for the Crimson Tide.
A La Verne, California native, Curley didn’t begin his freshman season as the Vols’ starting shortstop. But Curley made his first start against ETSU in Tennessee’s second midweek game of the season and he took the opportunity and ran with it.
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Curley’s spending his summer with the USA Baseball Collegiate Team and is shining to date with a number of impressive performances including a walk off single in the Fourth of July scrimmage.
DEAN CURLEY (@Vol_Baseball) WALKS IT OFF!!! pic.twitter.com/dhZJMFmcYZ
— Micah Beutell (@Micah_CBC) July 5, 2024
While Curley started at shortstop for Tennessee baseball last season, the 6-foot-3, 212-pound infielder could play a number of positions for the Vols next season. The Vols landed Louisville middle infielder Gavin Kilen earlier this week and are in hot pursuit of Ole Miss third baseman Andrew Fischer.
Curley is back for his second season in Knoxville as is the versatile Dalton Bargo. Rising sophomore shortstop Ariel Antigua is also looking to take a step forward in his second season in the Tennessee program. All these moving pieces mean Curley could start at any number of positions next season.
