DiChiara becomes 3rd consensus All-American

[aubiefifty 16,754]

Sonny DiChiara becomes Auburn baseball’s 3rd consensus All-American

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

3-4 minutes

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May 25, 2022; Auburn, AL, USA; Sonny DiChiara (17) reacts after a home run during the game between Auburn and Kentucky at Hoover Metropolitan Complex. Mandatory Credit: Jacob Taylor/AU AthleticsJacob Taylor/AU Athletics

Auburn’s Thicc King has been crowned.

Sonny DiChiara joined some royal company Monday as he became the third player in Auburn history -- and the second of the Butch Thompson era -- to earn consensus All-America honors on the Plains. The Tigers’ first baseman joins Frank Thomas (1989) and former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize (2018) as the only players to earn consensus All-America designation in program history.

DiChiara was named a first-team All-American by D1 Baseball, Baseball America, Perfect Game and the American Baseball Coaches Association. He also picked up second-team honors from Collegiate Baseball, College Baseball Foundation and the National College Baseball Writers Association.

RELATED: How Sonny DiChiara became one of college baseball’s most feared, beloved hitters

The consensus All-America tag caps a memorable season for DiChiara, the former Samford slugger who transferred to Auburn last summer. A native of Hoover, DiChiara made a massive impact for Auburn as the program advanced to the College World Series for the second time in three postseasons and won a game in Omaha for the first time since 1997.

DiChiara was the SEC Co-Player of the Year, a first-team All-SEC selection and a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy, both of which recognize college baseball’s top player. DiChiara hit .383 on the season with a .529 on-base percentage and .777 slugging percentage. He reached base at the second-best clip among all Division I players this season, and his .529 on-base percentage finished as second in program history behind only Thomas (.568) and was 42 points higher than any other SEC player in the last 10 full seasons.

He also hit 22 home runs this season, which led Auburn and ranked fourth in the SEC along with second-most in school history -- just one shy of matching 2010 SEC Player of the Year Hunter Morris. DiChiara’s 22 home runs this season gave him 63 for his career, which are tied for the second-most among active D-I players.

DiChiara drove in 59 runs for the Tigers this season while also drawing 68 walks on the year. That marked the second-most in a single season in team history and helped DiChiara reach base at a historic clip. Along with finishing second only to Thomas in single-season on-base percentage at Auburn, DiChiara reached base in all but two of Auburn’s 65 games, and he reached base multiple times in 49 of the Tigers’ games.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group.

[AUBwins 10,074]

WHAT A WAY TO CELEBRATE IT!  CONGRATS SONNY DI!

 

[AUApostle 7,651]

Does this mean my homeslice, Jay Waggoner, is now the 3rd best first baseman in Auburn history?

[toddc 13,194]

Can’t wait to see him next season in Huntsville. War Eagle 🦅

 

Sonny DiChiara assigned to Alabama-based minor league team

Wade Peery•about 2 hours

(Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Former Auburn slugger Sonny DiChiarawas assigned to a AA minor league team on his 23rd birthday on Friday afternoon, per a Twitter announcement from the Rocket City Trash Pandas. The team is located in Huntsville, Alabama, so the former Tigers’ star will not be far from his old home. Check out the cool graphic the team released on Friday afternoon, with bottles of Sunny Delight — the namesake for his nickname Sonny D — in the background.

DiChiara joined the team in Chattanooga and he’s expected to make his professional debut sometime soon, per a report from FOX54News in Hunstsville. 

He firmly cemented himself as one of the best power hitters in all of college baseball the past few years. Last season for Auburn, he swatted 22 home runs and brought in 59 RBIs. The 22 homers were good enough for second most in program history. His on base percentage also ranked second in program history behind Hall-of-Famer Frank Thomas. 

DiChiara’s historic season helped propel Auburn all the way to the 2022 College World Series, where they were ousted after an 11-1 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks. He racked up first team All-American accolades from several publications across the country, including ABCA, Baseball America, D1 Baseball, and Perfect Game. The gifted slugger also became just the third SEC Player of the Year in Auburn program history.

DiChiara tips the scales at an imposing size, checking in at 6-foot-1, 263 pounds. Before hitting the transfer portal and joining Auburn, he suited up for the Samford Bulldogs for three seasons, and he swatted 18 home runs there during his junior season in 2021.

During his freshman year at Samford, DiChiara earned first team All-SoCon honors and he was also named the SoCon Freshman of the Year following the 2019 season. The big fella blasted 21 home runs, the most by a freshman in school history. He also had 58 hits, scored 40 runs, and brought in 55 RBIs that year, too. A native of Hoover, Alabama, DiChiara starred at Hoover High School. There, he was named Over the Mountain Journal’s 2018 Co-Baseball Player of the Year. The gifted slugger was also named the No. 2 first baseman in the state and the No. 14 overall first baseman in America, according to Perfect Game.