LUBBOCK, Texas ?“ Five WAC players have been named to the list of 120 baseball student-athletes on the 2006 Wallace Watch released Monday by the College Baseball Foundation in Lubbock, Texas. The Brooks Wallace Award is presented annually to the national college baseball player of the year.
Hawai'i had two players on the list in infielder Joseph Spiers and pitcher Steven Wright. Last season, Spiers batted .307 with 31 stolen bases and 45 runs while Wright had a 5-3 record in 21 appearances, striking out 75 in 66.1 innings with a 3.26 ERA.
San Jose State pitcher Branden Dewing was 6-6 last year with a 4.31 ERA and team highs of 108.2 innings pitched and 73 strikeouts. Dewing produced four complete games and one shutout among his 16 starts.
Fresno State third baseman Beau Mills was one of the top players on Fresno State's baseball team last year. Starting every game except one, Mills collected a slew of postseason honors after batting .319 and hitting 22 home runs, the third-highest total in Fresno State history. He was named the WAC Freshman of the Year as well as being selected first-team All-WAC at third base.
New Mexico State first baseman Luke Hopkins led the Aggies with a .392 average in 2005. He had 14 home runs and drove in 79 while playing in every game except one.
The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semi-finalists by late May. Then the selection committee will narrow the list to three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals at a press conference in Omaha. The finalists, their head coaches, and their parents will be invited to Lubbock, TX, for a schedule of special events tied to the award banquet, which will again be nationally televised by Fox Sports Network.
Dedicated to the memory of former Texas Tech shortstop and assistant coach, Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A 4-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District Six his senior year when he led the Red Raiders to their first-ever appearance in the Southwest Conference Tournament. After playing two years in the Texas Rangers organization, he returned to Texas Tech and served as a graduate assistant and later as an assistant coach. In the summer of 1984 he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27. The Plano, Texas, native was married to the former Sandy Arnold and they had one daughter, Lindsay Ryan.
The selection committee for the Wallace Award is comprised of a national panel of preeminent coaches, sports information directors, former winners and beat media who most closely follow the sport. Screening Committee members will evaluate the candidates and will continue their review throughout the entire baseball season. The list will expand and contract during the regular season and additional Wallace Watch candidates may be added as the season progresses. Voting for the three finalists and the Wallace Award winner will be conducted by confidential balloting, with totals tabulated by the J.W.Anderson & Associates accounting firm in Lubbock, Texas.