2021 Brooks Wallace Award Watch List announced
LUBBOCK, Texas – With college baseball rosters expanded all across the country, the amount and talent level of the shortstop position is like no other time in the game’s history. For that reason, figuring out who exactly are the top players at that spot has been a challenge.
A group of 100 of the most talented athletes in Division I college baseball headline the 2021 Brooks Wallace Award watch list, the College Baseball Foundation announced Tuesday. The watch list features some of the most recognizable names in college baseball who either have paced perennial powers or led some relative newcomers to new heights.
“The list of candidates this year is so competitive we had a hard time pairing down for our first Brooks Wallace Award watch list,” said Larry Wallace, co-chair of the Brooks Wallace Award. “We continue to look at those great fielding shortstops for this award and are always amazed at how well these kids hit and hit for power as well.”
The award, sponsored by Mizuno, honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented this summer by the College Baseball Foundation. It is named for former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died of leukemia at the age of 27.
The award rewards outstanding defensive play as much as it does production at the plate, which opens the watch list to all kinds of players at the position. One of those is North Dakota State senior Bennett Hostetter, who is hitting .409 on the year with four home runs and 25 RBI while fielding .974 on the season.
Right on his heels is Nebraska junior Spencer Schwellenbach. Schwellenbach, who also is on the watch list for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage to go with his .353 batting average, three home runs and 14 RBI.
Another of the better fielders in the group is Tommy Bell at Old Dominion. Bell is leading the upstart Monarchs by fielding .991 on the season while also hitting .292 with three home runs and 22 RBI.
One of the top bats on the watch list is Eastern Illinois Sophomore Trey Sweeney, who is hitting an outstanding .406 on the season with eight home runs and 39 RBI, the most of any player on the watch list.
The Power 5 schools are also well-represented. Junior Drew Swift from Arizona State holds a .989 fielding percentage while hitting .337 with two home runs and 12 RBI.
“Baseball is back in full swing and it’s great to get out to NCAA ballparks,” said Tom Quigley, co-chair of the Brooks Wallace Award. “Shortstops seem to be really hitting the ball well at this point as we have our top 100 and there are 52 players still hitting above .300 and some five or six still above .400. Defensive fielding percentage has high emphasis as well for finalists. We look forward to watching the excitement build as we whittle down our Brooks Wallace Award list for 2021.”
For more information on the Wallace Award or the Night of Champions event, visit www.collegebaseballhall.org.
2021 BROOKS WALLACE AWARD WATCH LIST
| Name | School | Conference | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trey Sweeney | Eastern Illinois | Ohio Valley | Soph. |
| Bennet Hostetler | N. Dakota State | Summit | Sr. |
| Brooks Lee | Cal Poly | Big West | RS-Fr. |
| Phillip Glasser | Youngstown State | Horizon | Jr. |
| Carter Young | Vanderbilt | SEC | Soph. |
| Liam Spence | Tennessee | SEC | Sr. |
| Spencer Schwellenbach | Nebraska | Big Ten | Jr. |
| Collin Burns | Tulane | American Athletic | RS-Soph. |
| Tommy Bell | Old Dominion | Conference USA | Jr. |
| Cody Jefferis | San Diego | West Coast | Soph. |
| RJ Yeager | Mercer | Southern | Jr. |
| Alex Fedje-Johnson | Davidson | Atlantic 10 | RS-Sr. |
| Cristopher DeGuzman | Alabama State | SWAC | Jr. |
| Ryan Bliss | Auburn | SEC | Jr. |
| Nick Neville | Southern Illinois | Missouri Valley | Sr. |
| Mark Jarvis | San Diego State | Mountain West | Sr. |
| Cal Conley | Texas Tech | Big 12 | RS-Fr. |
| Drew Swift | Arizona State | Pac-12 | Jr. |
| Casey Harford | Tennessee-Martin | Ohio Valley | Jr. |
| Tyler Wilbur | Southeast Missouri | Ohio Valley | Jr. |
| Branden Comia | Illinois | Big Ten | Soph. |
| Simon Scherry | Evansville | Missouri Valley | Soph. |
| Ed Johnson | Tennessee Tech | Ohio Valley | Soph. |
| Richie Garcia | Florida Gulf Coast | Atlantic Sun | Sr. |
| Ernie Yake | Gonzaga | West Coast | Jr. |
| Kodie Kolden | Washington State | Pac-12 | Jr. |
| Jason Dicochea | Santa Clara | West Coast | Sr. |
| Mikey Kluska | West Virginia | Big 12 | Fr. |
| Joshua Lamb | Texas-San Antonio | Conference USA | RS-Jr. |
| Eric Brown | Coastal Carolina | Sun Belt | Soph. |
| Jason Matthews | USC Upstate | Big South | Sr. |
| Brandon Zaragoza | Oklahoma | Big 12 | RS-Sr. |
| Brian Dempsey | Boston College | ACC | Sr. |
| Brendan Brooks | UNLV | Mountain West | Jr. |
| Evan Keller | Southeastern Louisiana | Southland | Jr. |
| Benjamin Cowles | Maryland | Big Ten | Jr. |
| Channy Ortiz | Grand Canyon | WAC | Sr. |
| Jake Lazzaro | St. John's | Big East | RS-Fr. |
| Kole Kaler | Hawaii | Big West | Jr. |
| Austin Thompson | Georgia Southern | Sun Belt | Sr. |
| Benjamin Sems | Michigan | Big Ten | Sr. |
| Wyatt Young | Pepperdine | West Coast | Jr. |
| Andy Armstrong | Oregon State | Pac-12 | Sr. |
| Collin Wolf | Campbell | Big South | RS-Sr. |
| Matt McLain | UCLA | Pac-12 | Jr. |
| Kyle Ball | Stetson | Atlantic Sun | RS-Jr. |
| Trey Faltine | Texas | Big 12 | RS-Fr. |
| Christian Sepulveda | UT Rio Grande Valley | WAC | Sr. |
| Wyatt Hoffman | Pacific | West Coast | Sr. |
| Jalen Battles | Arkansas | SEC | Jr. |
| Ashton King | East Tennessee State | Southern | Soph. |
| Grant Smith | Incarnate Wood | Southland | Soph. |
| Drew Frederick | Troy | Sun Belt | Sr. |
| Ben McKay | Northern Colorado | WAC | Jr. |
| Jacob Gonzalez | Ole Miss | SEC | Fr. |
| Mack Chambers | New Mexico | Mountain West | Soph. |
| Wilfredo Alvarez | Florida Atlantic | Conference USA | Sr. |
| Zach Bushling | Connecticut | Big East | Jr. |
| Jack Dragum | Charlotte | Conference USA | Soph. |
| Kelby Weyler | Lamar | southland | Soph. |
| Alex Freeland | Central Florida | American Athletic | Fr. |
| Jack Winkler | San Francisco | West Coast | Jr. |
| Bailey Welch | Appalachian State | Sun Belt | Sr. |
| Mack Timbrook | Kent State | Mid-American | Soph. |
| Matt Richardson | Utah | Pac-12 | Jr. |
| Luke Waddell | Georgia Tech | ACC | Jr. |
| Jordan Schaffer | Indiana State | Missouri Valley | Jr. |
| Keith Torres | Sacramento State | WAC | Jr. |
| Cole Frederick | Jacksonville State | Ohio Valley | Jr. |
| Taishi Nakawake | UC Irvine | Big West | Jr. |
| Tyler Simon | Kennesaw State | Atlantic Sun | Jr. |
| Cameron Buford | Grambling | SWAC | Sr. |
| Fausto Lopez | Middle Tennessee | Conference USA | RS-Jr. |
| Jacob Blas | Arizona | Pac-12 | Soph. |
| Jordan Thompson | LSU | SEC | Fr. |
| Judah Wilbur | Southern | SWAC | Jr. |
| Cam Locklear | Liberty | Atlantic Sun | Sr. |
| Trotter Harlan | College of Charleston | Colonial | Fr. |
| Pascanel Ferreras | Western Carolina | southern | Fr. |
| Shawn Goosenberg | Northwestern | Big Ten | Jr. |
| Damon Dues | Wright State | Horizon | RS-Soph. |
| Tre Richardson | Baylor | Big 12 | Fr. |
| Josh Kasovich | Oregon | Pac-12 | Fr. |
| Santi Montiel | South Alabama | Sun Belt | Jr. |
| Benjamin Blackwell | Dayton | Atlantic 10 | Jr. |
| Connor Coolahan | La Salle | Atlantic 10 | Soph. |
| Jordan Sprinkle | UC Santa Barbara | Big West | RS-Fr. |
| Christian Knapczyk | Louisville | ACC | Fr. |
| Danny Serretti | North Carolina | ACC | Soph. |
| Adam Crampton | Stanford | Pac-12 | Soph. |
| Pat O'Neill | Villanova | Big East | Sr. |
| Darren Willis | New Orleans | Southland | Sr. |
| Brandon Dieter | New Mexico State | WAC | Soph. |
| Steven Ondina | Florida International | Conference USA | Fr. |
| Justin Guerrera | Fairfield | Metro Atlantic | Jr. |
| Anthony Martinez | Oral Roberts | Summit | Sr. |
| Taber Mongero | UNC-Wilmington | Colonial | RS-Soph. |
| Justin Barr | Akron | Mid-American | RS-Jr. |
| Sebastian Randle | Abilene Christian | Southland | Fr. |
| Matt Happ | Saint Louis | Atlantic 10 | Jr. |