While being able to field their position is an important part of the criteria for the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year Award, the players recognized on the newest watch list also have some impressive offensive numbers.
The award, sponsored by Mizuno, honors the nation’s top shortstop and will be presented as part of the annual Night of Champions celebration on July 2 in Lubbock.
Charles Leblanc, a sophomore at Pittsburgh, leads the list with a .409 batting average in 43 games. He has seven doubles, three triples and two home runs to go along with his 41 RBI. He also has a .955 fielding percentage.
Oklahoma junior Sheldon Neuse leads the watch list in home runs with 10 and RBI with 42. He also has a .376 batting average and a .986 fielding percentage.
“There are so many things we look at when putting together these watch lists,” said Larry Wallace, award co-chair. “Each of these shortstops has put up numbers that make them worthy of consideration for this award, and I’m sure they’ll continue to make it difficult to narrow the list down further as we head into postseason play.”
While the offensive numbers of several of the shortstops on the watch list compete with those of any position, fielding percentage remains an important statistic for the position award.
Leading that category is Minnesota freshman Terrin Vavra, who has a .988 fielding percentage. He’s hitting .390 on the season with four doubles, two triples and one home run.
“All of these young men field their position well,” said Tom Quigley, award co-chair. “The shortstop is involved in so many plays on the diamond that for so many of these players, to have such high fielding percentages is really impressive.”
For more information on the Wallace Award or the Night of Champions event, visit www.collegebaseballhall.org.
2016 BROOKS WALLACE SHORTSTOP OF THE YEAR AWARD WATCH LIST
| Name | School | Conference |
| Taylor Walls | Florida State | ACC |
| Devin Hairston | Louisville | ACC |
| Brandon Lopez | Miami | ACC |
| Charles Leblanc | Pittsburgh | ACC |
| JJ Gould | Jacksonville | Atlantic Sun |
| Sheldon Neuse | Oklahoma | Big 12 |
| Donnie Walton | Oklahoma State | Big 12 |
| Nicky Lopez | Creighton | Big East |
| Nick Roscetti | Iowa | Big Ten |
| Terrin Vavra | Minnesota | Big Ten |
| Riley Delgado | Middle Tennessee State | Conference USA |
| Ford Proctor | Rice | Conference USA |
| Nick Dawson | Southern Mississippi | Conference USA |
| Mike Brosseau | Oakland | Horizon |
| Mitch Roman | Wright State | Horizon |
| Matthew Batten | Quinnipiac | Metro Atlantic |
| Dalton Bowers | New Mexico | Mountain West |
| Cody Ramer | Arizona | Pac-12 |
| Colby Woodmansee | Arizona State | Pac-12 |
| Dalton Guthrie | Florida | SEC |
| Kramer Robertson | LSU | SEC |
| Ryan Gridley | Mississippi State | SEC |
| Marcus Mooney | South Carolina | SEC |
| Connor Kaiser | Vanderbilt | SEC |
| Drew LaBounty | South Alabama | Sun Belt |
| Paul Panaccione | Grand Canyon | WAC |
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[…] former Valley Leaguers have been named to the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year “watch list,” and in a strange twist, they were teammates in the Valley just last summer! (Both played for the […]
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