Cedar Rapids, IA - At the 2023 DIII Baseball World Series Opening Ceremony, the ABCA released its 2023 All-Americans, and Senior RHP Payne Stolsworth was named a First Team All-American by the association. This honor makes Stolsworth the first Battling Bishop named to the first team since Matt Smith in 2008. Stolsworth's record-setting 2023 campaign will become one of the most prolific in school history with his perfect 12-0 record tying the program record in a season. He also had the lowest ERA in school history with a 1.96, and ranks sixth all-time in strikeouts in the Battling Bishop's record book.

Stolsworth is extremely humbled by the honor and had many thanks to give out to his family and baseball program by saying, "It simply feels amazing to be named an All-American. I'd like to shout out my coaches and teammates for helping me get to the point I'm at now, and I couldn't have done it without them supporting me through the good and the bad. I also want to give a huge shoutout to my parents Bruce and Danette, who are my biggest supporters and always have been. I can't thank them enough for the things they do for me on a daily basis. However, it's just great to see all the hard work over the past 3 years starting to pay off, and I'm excited to see the future of Battling Bishop baseball!"

Stolsworth's journey hasn't always been smooth sailing, and the Salisbury N.C. native has had to overcome many obstacles in his college career to become an All-American. Stolsworth came to NCWU to play football and was an outstanding two-sport athlete for the Falcons of West Rowan by being a starting pitcher and record-setting quarterback for the school. A number of colleges recruited him, but a handwritten letter by the Wesleyan coaching staff made Stolsworth know the close-knit family atmosphere is where he wanted to play his college ball at.

At West Rowan, Stolsworth turned in three almost identical seasons for the Falcons as a passer. In terms of passing yards, he had seasons that rank 13th, 14th, and 17th on Rowan County's all-time list. He threw for 6,085 yards in his career, second in school history and fourth in county history. He threw 68 touchdown passes, second in county history and the most ever by a Falcon. He had a 358-yard passing game as a junior to break the single-game record at a school that has almost always relied on running the football.

On the baseball diamond, Stolsworth had an ERA under 3.00 his Senior year and struck out 27 batters to lead West Rowan to a playoff victory over Western Guilford.

Upon arriving to Wesleyan, Stolsworth knew he wanted to give baseball a shot at the college level, and was hoping Coach Clifton would give him an opportunity at one of the most historic DIII baseball programs in the history of the NCAA. After walking over to Coach Clifton's office and asking for the chance, Coach Clifton happily welcomed him aboard to the program with open arms and immediately saw the potential he brought to the table.

In his first season on the baseball team which was the 2020 season that was cut short due to Covid-19, Stolsworth suffered an arm injury and underwent Tommy John surgery to begin his college career, which is a tremendous blow to a player that young. During his intense rehab and recovery, Stolsworth returned to the diamond a year later, which marked an NCAA Tournament appearance for the Battling Bishops, but unfortunately struggled with a 7.40 ERA. That season, he was unable to locate the ball well and lacked movement with his pitches.

After two of the roughest years in his playing career performance and injury-wise, Stolsworth worked harder than he ever had, and underwent a total mental and physical transformation, wanting to prove to the coach who took a chance on him that he belonged on the big stage. 

Stolsworth did just that, with the help of picking the brain of former St. Louis Cardinal draftee Thomas St. Clair who is now the MILB pitching instructor with the Texas Rangers. St. Clair worked with Stolsworth on not only the movement of his pitches, but helped add about 5mph to his fastball during his time at NCWU.

After the rehab and training that went on for over a year, Stolsworth stepped up in more ways than one for the program and worked harder than anyone, "We are thrilled for Payne and our program, becoming the first 1st Team All-American since Matt Smith in 2008. It started for him last year with our exit meeting and he went to work hard and it never stopped", said Coach Clifton. He added "I am so happy for him, his family, and our program. They don't just hand out these awards, and it was well deserved."

Stolsworth certainly has come back to the mound and dominated, not only by his stats but teammates and fans alike both enjoy watching him pitch every Friday night. Sitting between 92-94 with his fastball, Stolsworth then has the ability to strike batters out with offspeed pitches that have professional type movement and sweep away from the batter. 

For Stolsworth, the story of redemption is not yet complete as he will attempt for one final season to lead the Battling Bishops back to the Greatest Show on Dirt and the DIII World Series in Ohio for the 2024 campaign. It is something about that white ball with red laces, it can change lives and is the only sport that a football recruit can turn themselves into a First Team All-American Friday night starter.