2009 Golden Spikes Award watch list announced

 DURHAM, N.C. -- USA Baseball announced its preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List Tuesday, marking the organization's first step toward identifying the top player in college baseball. Sponsored by Major League Baseball, the Golden Spikes Award will be presented in 2009 for the 32nd time.

The watch list features 50 of the nation's top collegiate talents, and it will be a "rolling" list to ensure that athletes can play themselves into consideration for the Golden Spikes Award.

Headlining the 2009 watch list is San Diego State hurler and 2008 Olympian Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg went 8-3 with the Aztecs in 2008 compiling 133 strikeouts and only 16 walks, including a 23-strikeout performance against Utah on April 11. Strasburg followed his All-America sophomore season with starring roles on both the USA Baseball National (Collegiate) and Olympic Team pitching staffs. The right-hander went 3-0 with 48 strikeouts for the National Team and, as the only collegian on the Olympic squad, led the U.S. pitching staff with 16 strikeouts in 11 innings of work en route to a bronze medal.

Strasburg, a 2008 Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, is joined on the list by Dustin Ackley (North Carolina), Kentrail Davis (Tennessee), Chris Dominguez (Louisville), and Alex White (North Carolina), all of whom are looking to improve upon their 2008 semifinalist finish as well. Louisiana State and North Carolina lead all schools with three nominees each.

Conferences boasting the most players on the watch list include the PAC-10 and the SEC with eight names, the ACC with six, and the Big 12 with five.

"We're very pleased to announce the 50 members of the preseason watch list for the 2009 Golden Spikes Award," said Paul Seiler, Executive Director/CEO of USA Baseball.

"The talent in college baseball is growing exponentially and to see quality players such as these recognized for this prestigious award speaks highly in regards to the caliber of athletes playing the game of baseball today."

On May 26, USA Baseball officials will cut the watch list of players to 30 names. The final list of 30 will then be sent to a voting body consisting of select professional baseball personnel, past USA Baseball National Team coaches, select members of the media, former USA Baseball sports information directors, and current USA Baseball staff - close to 150 voters in total.

Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2009. May 26 will also mark the day when college baseball fans from across the country will be able to vote for their favorite player for the Golden Spikes Award on www.goldenspikesaward.com. As part of this selection process all voters will be asked to choose five players from the list of 30 names. On June 2, USA Baseball will announce the five finalists, and voting will once again commence that same day.

The 2009 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award will be presented nationally July 15 on an award show via live telecast from St. Louis in conjunction with the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Weekend Festivities.

Past winners of the Golden Spikes Award include Terry Francona (1980), Will Clark (1985), Robin Ventura (1988), Jason Varitek (1994), J.D. Drew (1997), Mark Prior (2001), Jered Weaver (2004), Tim Lincecum (2006), David Price (2007), and last year's winner Buster Posey (2008).

2009 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Important Dates

• Friday, February 20 - NCAA baseball season opens
• Tuesday, May 26 - 30 semifinalists announced
• Tuesday, June 2 - Five finalists announced
• Tuesday, July 14 - 2009 MLB All-Star Game in St. Louis

• Wednesday, July 15 - Golden Spikes Award presentation live from St. Louis

The complete 2009 preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List is attached below.

2009 PRESEASON GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD WATCH LIST

Name	School	Pos	Class
Jason Stoffel	Arizona	RHP	Jr
Jason Kipnis	Arizona State	OF	Jr
Mike Leake	Arizona State	RHP/IF	Jr.
Kendal Volz	Baylor	RHP	Jr
Josh Fellhauer	Cal State Fullerton	OF	Jr
Blake Smith	California	OF/RHP	Jr
Brett Jackson	California	OF	Jr
Shane Davis	Canisius	LHP	So
Rob Lyerly	Charlotte	OF/1B	Jr
Scott Woodward	Coastal Carolina	3b	So
Brandon Sizemore	College of Charleston	2B	Sr
Cory Harrilchak	Elon	OF	Sr
Matt den Dekker	Florida	OF	Jr
Robbie Shields	Florida Southern	SS	Jr
Tommy Mendonca	Fresno State	3B	Jr
Alan Ahmady	Fresno State	1B	Jr
Rich Poythress	Georgia	1B	Jr
Derek Dietrich	Georgia Tech	SS	So
Josh Phegley	Indiana	C	Jr
Ben Tootle	Jacksonville State	RHP	Jr
Greg Rohan	Kent State	1B	Sr
Chris Dominguez	Louisville	3B	Jr
Justin Marks	Louisville	LHP	Jr
Blake Dean	LSU	OF	Jr
D.J. LeMahieu	LSU	SS	So
Micah Gibbs	LSU	C	So
Nate Lape	Marshall	OF	Sr
Chris Hernandez	Miami	LHP	So
Ryan Jackson	Miami	SS	Jr
Chris Fetter	Michigan	RHP	Sr
Scott Bittle	Mississippi	RHP	Sr
Kyle Gibson	Missouri	RHP	Jr
Tim Clubb	Missouri State	RHP	Jr
A.J. Pollock	Notre Dame	OF	Jr
Andrew Oliver	Oklahoma State	LHP	Jr
Tyler Lyons	Oklahoma State	LHP	Jr
Jerry Sullivan	Oral Roberts	RHP	Jr
Ryan Ortiz	Oregon State	C	Jr
Diego Seastrunk	Rice	C	Jr
A.J. Griffin	San Diego	RHP	Jr
Stephen Strasburg	San Diego State	RHP	Jr
Grant Green	Southern Cal	SS	Jr
Jeff Inman	Stanford	RHP	Jr
Kentrail Davis	Tennessee	OF	So
Luke Anders	Texas A&M	1B	Sr
Eric Pettis	UC Irvine	RHP	Jr
Alex White	UNC	RHP	Jr
Dustin Ackley	UNC	1B	Jr
Matt Harvey	UNC	RHP	So
Mike Minor	Vanderbilt	LHP	Jr