SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (July 28, 2026) – For the fourth consecutive season, the Western New England baseball team has been honored by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), picking up the Team Academic Excellence Award, as announced by the organization last week. 

The American Baseball Coaches Association is proud to recognize more than 800 member high school and college programs nationwide with the 2025-26 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, presented by Sports Attack. The award honors ABCA member programs that posted a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale during the 2025-26 academic year.

This year's award recipients include more than 500 college programs and more than 320 high school programs. To qualify, a program was required to be a high school or college baseball program, have a head coach who is a current ABCA member, and post a minimum cumulative team GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the 2025-26 academic year. Western New England was one of four members of the Conference of New England (CNE) to be named this season. Other CNE honorees include Endicott College, Roger Williams University, and Wentworth Institute of Technology. 

On the field, the Golden Bears finished the 2026 season with a 24-20 overall record and advanced to the 2026 CNE Championship Series for the third time in the last five seasons overall. WNE will now turn its sights to the 2027 season, with a full schedule expected to be released in January 2027.