HOUSTON- Rice first-baseman Vincent Sinisi is among 12 semifinalists for the 15th annual Rotary Smith Award announced Wednesday.
Sinisi, a freshman from The Woodlands (High/Univ. of Texas), currently leads the Owls and the Western Athletic Conference with a .434 batting average, a mark that jumps to .509 in conference games only. That season average would be a Rice school record should he maintain it through the end of the season.
Also advancing to the next stage ion the balloting is a pair of Clemson Tigers, Khalil Greene and Jeff Baker, Wake Forest senior closer Dave Bush, sluggers Nate Gold of Gonzaga, Brian Barthelemy of Florida State and Ryan Kenning of New Mexico State, starting pitchers Justin Simmons of Texas, Brad Sullivan of Houston and Shane Komine of Nebraska, and infielders Russ Adams of North Carolina and Rickie Weeks of Southern.
The 12 semifinalists were selected in a national round of voting by college baseball publicists. Voting to determine the three finalists who will be invited to the gala Rotary Smith Award Dinner will begin Thursday, with the results announced June 6. The winner will be announced on June 24 at the conclusion of the dinner, which will be held this year at the Hotel Inter-Continental in Houston.
Now in its 15th year, the Rotary Smith Award is awarded each summer to the nation's top college baseball player. Once again this year, the gala award dinner will be held at the Doubletree-Post Oak Hotel in Houston. The award, a national project of the Rotary Club of Houston, raises money for Rotary charities, Texas Children's Hospital and the Karl Young League. Eight previous winners have been active in major league baseball during the 2002 campaign - 1988 winner Andy Benes of Evansville (St. Louis Cardinals), 1991 winner Bobby Jones of Fresno State (San Diego Padres), 1994 winner Jason Varitek of Georgia Tech (Boston Red Sox), Mark Kotsay (San Diego), Kris Benson (Pittsburgh Pirates), 1997 winner Tim Hudson of Auburn (Oakland Athletics), 1999 winner Jason Jennings of Baylor (Colorado Rockies) and 2001 winner Mark Prior of Southern California (Chicago Cubs). Former Rice star Lance Berkman, now a National League all-star with the Houston Astros, was a finalist in 1997.