DENVER - Nine players from the Western Athletic Conference have been named to the pre-season release of the 2008 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Watch List.
Fresno State led the list with three candidates, including senior pitcher Clayton Allison, junior reliever Justin Wilson, and senior outfielder Steve Susdorf. Sacramento State has two players on the watch list with senior outfielder Ryan Blair and junior infielder Gabe Jacobo. Other candidates include Louisiana Tech junior pitcher Luke Burnett, Nevada sophomore infielder Shaun Kort, New Mexico State senior outfielder Joseph Scaperotta, and San Jose State sophomore infielder Kyle Bellows.
Fresno State’s Allison recorded the best win-loss record for the Bulldogs at 10-5 last season. He received numerous accolades in 2007, including First-team All-WAC, Pepsi Johnny Quick MVP, and WAC All-Tournament team honors.
Wilson, one of Fresno State’s aces on the mound last season, made 25 appearances and 19 starts in 2007. He recorded a 3.19 ERA with a 9-5 record throwing 101.2 pitches while striking out a team-best 105.
Bulldog left fielder Susdorf registered a .340 batting average with 14 doubles, two triples, 12 home runs and 68 RBI last season. He received First-team All-WAC and NCAA San Diego Regional All-Tournament team honors in 2007.
Sacramento State’s Jacobo played in each of the Hornet’s 56 games last season while hitting .363. He recorded 81 hits with 14 home runs and 12 doubles. He also registered a .623 slugging percentage.
Blair hit .316 for the Hornets in 2007. He tallied 39 runs, 65 hits, 26 RBI, and three home runs last season. He also connected on a .422 slugging percentage.
Louisiana Tech’s Burnett led the WAC with 115 strikeouts in 91.1 inning pitched in 2007, the third-highest single-season total in Tech history. His opponents batted .221 against him, the second-lowest opponents’ average in the WAC last season.
Nevada’s Kort was named the WAC’s Freshman of the Year and won the league batting title with a .392 average in his first season in 2007. A second-team All-WAC first baseman, he was selected to the Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-America Baseball Team, Rivals.com Freshmen All-America squad, and Pingbaseball.com second-team Freshmen All-America team last season.
New Mexico State’s Scaperotta led the Aggies in batting average (.341), doubles (19), triples (3), home runs (10) and slugging percentage (.594) in 2007. He helped the team win 22 games last season and was a defensive leader in centerfield.
Bellows, a true freshman for San Jose State just a season ago, was named a Freshman All-American by two separate media outlets. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper chose him as a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, while Ping!Baseball.com put him on its All-Ping! Freshman Third Team. Bellows also earned second-team All-WAC distinction, as well as a spot on the WAC All-Tournament Team. He finished the season with a .343 batting average (81-for-236), 48 runs scored, 14 doubles, six home runs and 47 runs batted in.
The Wallace Award is presented to the nation’s top collegiate baseball player in conjunction with the College Baseball Hall of Fame’s annual induction festivities. The 2008 award banquet will be held Thursday, July 3, in the United Spirit Arena on the campus of Texas Tech University.
Last year’s Brooks Wallace award went to Vanderbilt pitcher, David Price. Price was the first overall pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft and is currently pitching in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. The 2006 winner was standout pitcher/designated hitter Brad Lincoln of Houston. Nebraska’s Alex Gordon, now with the Kansas City Royals, took home the 2005 trophy. The inaugural award was given in 2004 to Kurt Suzuki of Cal State Fullerton, who is now catching for the Oakland A’s.
The Wallace Award is a dedication to the memory of the former Texas Tech player and assistant coach Brooks Wallace. Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A four-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District his senior year. He led the Red Raiders to their first-ever appearance in the Southwest Conference Tournament in 1980. 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, TX, native was married to the former Sandy Arnold and they had one daughter, Lindsay Ryan.