CSC Academic All-America Teams
CALIFORNIA (July 1) – California (PA) senior infielder
Payton Conte repeated as a Third-Team Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) on Tuesday afternoon, becoming only the second multi-time Academic All-American in program history.
Conte received third-team status at infield this season after collecting third-team accolades at designated hitter in 2024. He joins Mike Larson, a 2024 Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, as the only Cal baseball players to garner Academic All-America laurels twice in a career.
A 6-foot-4 senior, Conte helped the Vulcans record the winningest season in school history while advancing to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship for the first time since 2010. Cal finished with a 38-15 overall record and earned its first berth in the NCAA Tournament in 15 seasons prior to the retirement announcement of head coach
Mike Conte, his father.
Payton Conte repeated as the PSAC West Athlete of the Year in 2025 and was a consensus all-region honoree for a consecutive campaign.
Conte tied for the team lead with 52 RBI this spring to nearly double his previous career high. He finished with the year with a .352 average (63-for-179) and also posted a .403 on-base percentage and a .525 slugging percentage. Conte scored 45 runs and belted six homers to match his previous career total while batting No. 2 in the lineup. He opened the year on a 12-game hitting streak, hitting at a .467 clip (21-for-45) during that span, and three days later started a streak of 21-conseuctive games reaching base safely over five weeks.
A California native, Conte started at first base in all but two of his initial 31 starts this spring. He then made a handful of starts at designated hitter before starting at third base 11 times over the final two-plus weeks of the season due to a shuffled infield following an injury. Conte started all eight post-season games in the PSAC Tournament and NCAA Tournament at third base despite never starting at the position in college.
Conte completed his bachelor's degree in exercise science in May while maintaining a 3.61 cumulative grade-point average (GPA). Last spring, he was also tabbed to the PSAC Spring Top 10 to become the eighth player in program history to earn the honor.
