Posted: May 20, 2026

Palma, Sheppard, Martin Sweep DAC Baseball Marquee Honors

DALLAS – Dallas College Eastfield's Sebastian Palma was voted the Most Valuable Player of the Dallas Athletic Conference, and Harvester Bees teammate Benjamin Sheppard the league's Pitcher of the Year.

Outgoing Eastfield coach Michael Martin was named the DAC Coach of the Year.

The Harvester Bees collected 14 honors.

Palma is hitting .436 with a nation-leading 26 home runs and 94 runs batted in, along with 20 doubles, a triple and 16 stolen bases as Eastfield heads off to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III World Series in Johnson City, Tennessee this weekend. He was a seven-time DAC Hitter of the Week, three-time National Player of the Week, and hit for the cycle in win over NJCAA Division I win over Navarro College.

Sheppard, a sophomore left-hander, is 9-1 with one save, a 3.07 earned run average, two complete games and 33 strikeouts. His nine victories are tied for second in the country. In his two-year Eastfield career, he's 20-3 with a save, 2.85 ERA, three complete games and 76 strikeouts. He was named DAC Pitcher of the Week twice this year.

Second baseman Angel Gutierrez, shortstop Sergio Gastelum, center fielder Luke Sasser, right fielder Erik Aguirre and pitchers Traelyn James and Cooper Sexton earned First Team All-DAC honors.

Outfielder Keydren Majors was a Second Team All-DAC selection.

First baseman Sebastian Vasquez, catcher Jake Pickering and pitchers Ian Roberts and Turner Corey were Honorable Mention All-DAC picks.

Gutierrez is hitting .328 with 12 doubles, five triples, three homers, 36 RBI and 54 stolen bases, which ranks second in NJCAA Division III.

Gastelum owns a .359 average with 13 home runs, 17 doubles, 64 RBI and 31 stolen bases.

Sasser is second on the team in hitting with a .377 batting average, 14 doubles, seven homers, two triples, 59 RBI and 31 stolen bases.

Aguirre is batting .353 with 14 doubles, 10 home runs, a triple, 61 RBI and 17 stolen bases.

James will take a 6-1 record with one save, 3.12 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 49 innings, seven starts and 19 appearances into Johnson City.

Sexton is 5-1 with a 3.65 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 49.1 innings and 19 appearances.

Majors has a .355 average with 11 doubles, five homers, a triple, 37 RBI and 12 stolen bases.

Vasquez is hitting .303 with seven homers, five doubles, a triple, 24 RBI and four stolen bases.

Pickering is batting .380 with nine doubles and 20 RBI in 34 games.

Roberts is 5-1 with a 5.05 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 46.1 innings and 12 starts.

Corey is second in the nation with six saves, while putting up a 4-0 record, 4.66 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 29 innings.

Martin, who will be inducted into the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame this weekend, guided the Harvesters to a fifth consecutive DAC regular season title. The Bees won the NJCAAA Division III South Central District Tournament title to punch their ticket to the World Series.

Eastfield (44-13) will open the NJCAA Division III World Series against Oakton Community College (26-27) at TVA Credit Union Ballpark 3 p.m. Saturday.

ALL-DALLAS ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Most Valuable Player – Sebastian Palma, So, 3B, Dallas College Eastfield

Pitcher of the Year – Benjamin Sheppard, So, LHP, Dallas College Eastfield

Coach of the Year – Michael Martin, Dallas College Eastfield

FIRST TEAM ALL-DAC

1B – Cooper Scott, So, Dallas College Mountain View

2B – Angel Gutierrez, So, Dallas College Eastfield

SS – Sergio Gastelum, So, Dallas College Eastfield

3B – Bradley Boedeker, So, Dallas College Brookhaven

C – Caleb Solis, So, Dallas College Richland

DH – Julio Cuotto, So, Dallas College Cedar Valley

DH – Salvador De La Garza, So, Dallas College North Lake

UT – Cyler Moore, So, Dallas College North Lake

OF – Brandon Bell, Fr, Dallas College Richland

OF – Luke Sasser, So, Dallas College Eastfield

OF – Kai Kirchheiner, Fr, Dallas College Cedar Valley

OF – Erik Aguirre, So, Dallas College Eastfield

OF – Diego Washington, So, Dallas College Mountain View

SP – Grayson Brown, So, Dallas College North Lake

SP – Traelyn James, So, Dallas College Eastfield

SP – Matthew Reynozo, Fr, Dallas College Mountain View

SP – Jayden Honey, Fr, Dallas College North Lake

RP – JT Posten, Fr, Dallas College Richland

RP – Cooper Sexton, So, Dallas College Eastfield

RP – Santiago Aravena, So, Dallas College Mountain View

SECOND TEAM ALL-DAC

1B – Brett Petillo, So, Dallas College Brookhaven

2B – Brady Breedlove, So, Dallas College Brookhaven

SS – Easton Bettcher, So, Dallas College Cedar Valley

3B – Ivan Rodriguez, Fr, Dallas College North Lake

C – Micah Gregory, So, Dallas College Mountain View

UT – Cooper Reaves, Fr, Dallas College Richland

OF – Noah Castillo, Fr, Dallas College Mountain View

OF – Adrien Varela, So, Dallas College Mountain View

OF – Keydren Majors, Fr, Dallas College Eastfield

SP – Clayten Mixon, So, Dallas College Brookhaven

SP – Christian Alcala, So, Dallas College Cedar Valley

SP – Matthew Wendorf, So, Dallas College North Lake

SP – Grady Silva, So, Dallas College Brookhaven

RP – Carson Shumate, Fr, Dallas College North Lake

RP – Skyler Raley, Fr, Dallas College North Lake

RP – Blake Brown, So, Dallas College Cedar Valley

RP – Dillon Precht, So, Dallas College Richland

HONORABLE MENTION

1B – Sebastian Vasquez, Fr, Dallas College Eastfield

2B – Jesse Orozco, Fr, Dallas College North Lake

SS – Jesse Orozco, Fr, Dallas College North Lake

3B – Brayden McCallum, So, Dallas College North Lake

C – Jake Pickering, Fr, Dallas College Eastfield

C – Brance Farrell, Fr, Dallas College Cedar Valley

UT – Jesse Orozco, Fr, Dallas College North Lake

OF – Issac Garcia, So, Dallas College North Lake

OF – Payton Stephenson, So, Dallas College Brookhaven

OF – Brayden McCallum, So, Dallas College North Lake

SP – Branden Kirtley, So, Dallas College North Lake

SP – Aidan Baker, So, Dallas College Brookhaven

SP – Ian Roberts, So, Dallas College Eastfield

RP – Turner Corey, Fr, Dallas College Eastfield

RP – Makoy Stone, So, Dallas College North Lake

ALL-REGION V

3B – Sebastian Palma, So, Dallas College Eastfield

SP – Benjamin Sheppard, So, Dallas College Eastfield