OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - (Sacramento State Media Relations) Sacramento State senior right handed pitcher Brennan Leitao is one of 10 NCAA Div. I baseball student-athletes who excel both on and off the diamond that were selected as finalists today for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate baseball.
Leitao was one of 30 candidates for the award announced in March, and from that list a national media committee selected the 10 finalists for the award. Those 10 names will now be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote, and fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient of the award.
Fan voting will run through June 8 on seniorCLASSaward.com and fans can vote once per day. This year's Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2015 College World Series® in June. The other finalists come from schools such as UCLA, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, LSU, and Florida.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
A four-year starting pitcher, Leitao has excelled not only on the mound but also in the classroom and community. He is a three-time Academic All-WAC Selection and is on track for his fourth such honor following his senior season, having already completed his degree in three and a half years with a 3.33 cumulative GPA majoring in communication studies.
Leitao overcame a broken back prior to his junior in high school to become a Division I player and has worked his way into becoming one of the premier pitchers on the west coast. He is Sacramento State's all-time leader in wins and innings pitched and is third in program history with 209 career strikeouts with a 3.05 career ERA. He is a two-time all-WAC First Team selection and in 2015 was named a Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American and the WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
He has also done a tremendous amount of work in the community, serving as a volunteer coach for a 9-year-old travel team and volunteering 50 hours teaching sports at his church in Irvine in the summers following his freshman and sophomore seasons. He also has done multiple homeless feeds with the team at First Covenant Church in Sacramento and has registered at least 20 hours of community service with the team each year.
Baseball 2015 Finalists
Trever Allen - Outfielder - Arizona State
David Berg - Relief Pitcher - UCLA
Ronnie Glenn - Pitcher - Pennsylvania
Gage Green - Catcher/Outfielder - Oklahoma State
Andrew Guillotte - Outfielder - McNeese State
Conner Hale - Third Base - LSU
Kevin Kaczmarski - Outfield - Evansville
Brennan Leitao - Pitcher - Sacramento State
Ross Mitchell - Pitcher - Mississippi State
Josh Tobias - Third Base - Florida