COMPLETE ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA RELEASE
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. | The 2026 Academic All-America® baseball teams as selected by the College Sports Communicators were announced Tuesday, and Farmingdale State College senior right fielder
Richie Heyder (Holbrook, N.Y.) has been tabbed on the NCAA Division III First Team following a season in which he led the nation across all divisions with a .608 on-base percentage.
Heyder is just the fourth student-athlete in Farmingdale State Athletics history to earn the prestigious Academic All-America honor, and the second first-team honoree overall (Michelle Mongiello, softball - 2015).
Patric Santiago (a four-sport student-athlete in golf, indoor and outdoor track, and men's soccer) was a second-team at-large selection in 2006, while softball alumna Jenna Giliberti garnered third-team accolades in 2024.
A Business Management major with a 3.78 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale, Heyder's on-base percentage was the top mark in any of the NCAA's three divisions. The D3baseball.com First Team All-American and Skyline Conference Player of the Year ranked third in Division III with an .897 on-base percentage, seventh in both batting average (.470) and walks per game (1.05), and 16th with an average of 0.49 doubles per game. Heyder went 4-for-8 with two home runs during the Rams' stint in the 2026 NCAA Division III Championship (the program's Skyline Conference-record 10th appearance in the tournament), and led the Skyline in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, doubles (18), and walks (39). He also ranked third in the conference in runs scored (47), fifth in hits (55) and sixth in RBI (43).
Heyder holds Farmingdale State career records in batting average (.426), slugging percentage (.705), on-base percentage (.521), doubles (40) and intentional walks (11), while holding top-10 rankings in the following categories: home runs (second, 15); total bases (second, 265); runs (third, 110); walks (third, 73); hits (fourth, 160); and triples (T-eighth, 10).
Farmingdale State went 27-11 in 2026, which included a program-record 21 game winning streak from March 16 through May 10 – when head coach
Keith Osik's side secured its second-straight Skyline Conference title and 10th automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
About the Academic All-America® Program
Academic All-American is a title reserved for college student-athletes who perform at an elite level in their chosen sport and in the classroom. The all-time list of 40,000+ Academic All-Americans includes major sports stars and some of the world's most accomplished individuals in medicine, business, science and the arts. Established in 1952 and selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC), Academic All-America is the longest running and premier award for athletic and academic success across championship college sports at all NCAA levels, the NAIA, two-year colleges and Canadian institutions.
Teams are announced year round and amplified by CSC member colleges, universities, and conferences on a wide local, regional, national, and even international scope. Nominating and voting for Academic All-America® is an exclusive right of College Sports Communicators members.
The Division II and III CSC Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2025-26 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs. The NAIA CSC Academic All-America® program is partially financially supported through the NAIA governance structure. The College Division Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) governance structure.
