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.

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