DALLAS — Texas Wesleyan designated hitter Brendan Vela has been named the recipient of the 15th annual SABR Metroplex Carroll Beringer College Division Player of the Year Award, presented by the Ernie Banks-Bobby Bragan DFW Chapter of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR).

The award honors the legacy of Carroll Beringer, a former Major League pitching coach, Fort Worth Cats standout and longtime advocate for college baseball. Vela becomes the seventh player in Texas Wesleyan history to earn a SABR Metroplex collegiate award and the fourth Ram to receive the Carroll Beringer Award since 2016.

A native of Fresno, California, Vela put together one of the best offensive seasons in program history in 2026. The senior led the Sooner Athletic Conference with a .453 batting average, the second-highest single-season average in school history behind Kiki Hernandez's .466 mark in 2018. He was named the 2026 Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Year and earned First Team All-SAC honors for the second time in his career while also receiving regional and national award consideration.

Vela started all 54 games for head coach Bobby Garza and helped lead the Rams to the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season championship and a conference tournament runner-up finish. Texas Wesleyan finished the season 42-12 overall while setting a program record with 22 conference victories.

He totaled 85 hits, including 20 doubles and seven triples, while driving his season totals to a .761 slugging percentage, a .493 on-base percentage and 150 total bases. His seven triples rank second in a single season in program history, and he added 20 stolen bases in 24 attempts.

Vela's outstanding season also placed him among the program's single-season leaders in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and triples.

"Brendan Vela had an exceptional season and was one of the premier players in college baseball across the Metroplex," Banks-Bragan SABR Chapter President Paul Rogers said. "His production at the plate, consistency throughout the season and contributions to Texas Wesleyan's championship run made him a deserving recipient of the Carroll Beringer College Division Player of the Year Award."

The award is presented annually by the Ernie Banks-Bobby Bragan DFW Chapter of SABR to recognize the top collegiate player in the Metroplex College Division.

Previous winners of the Carroll Beringer Award: Chase Brown, UT Dallas, 2012; Elvin Rodriguez, Northwood, 2013; Jake Howeth, Texas Wesleyan, 2014; Brandon George, UT Dallas, 2015; Conner Combs, East Texas Baptist, 2016; Luis Roman, Texas Wesleyan, 2017; Kiki Menendez, Texas Wesleyan, 2018; Casey Combs, East Texas Baptist, 2019; A.J. Liu, UT Dallas, 2020 and '21; Joseph Barfield, Texas Wesleyan, 2022 Sayers Collins, East Texas Baptist, 2023; (co) Collins and Dane Jones, LeTourneau, 2024; Trent McCown, UT Dallas, 2025; Brandon Vela, Texas Wesleyan, 2026.