SOMERSET, N.J. - The Northeast Conference (NEC) named UMES catcher Jonathan Gonzalez Perez to their all-conference first team on May 20, 2026. 

Gonzalez Perez headlined the Hawks' offense, leading the team with a .319 batting average across 48 starts and registering a team-high 14 home runs, 1.004 OPS, and 58 RBI. The senior from Syracuse, New York, and Holguin, Cuba, recorded a team-high two multi-home run games and amassed a season-high seven RBI in UMES' win over Delaware State on April 11. In two seasons with the Hawks, he has led UMES in batting average and recorded over 100 career hits.

Throughout the 2026 season, Gonzalez Perez tallied multiple NEC Prime Performer selections and was a one-time NEC Player of the Week. The 2025 HBCU Swingman Classic selection also was named to the Buster Posey Award Midseason Watchlist.

Most notably, after a two-home run game against Wagner on April 24, Gonzalez Perez set the modern (since 1991) single-season UMES home run record, surpassing the previous record held by Faheem Hammett's 11-homer season in 1998.

Since joining the NEC in 2023, Jonathan Gonzalez Perez is the first UMES baseball player to be named to the All-NEC First Team.

For more info on the NEC postseason awards and recognitions: 2026 NEC Baseball Awards 

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