Gillespie Among Semifinalists For Wallace Award
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State junior outfielder Cole Gillespie is among the 30 semifinalists for the 2006 Brooks Wallace College Player of the Year Award, as announced by the College Baseball Foundation in Lubbock, Tex. The Wallace Award is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate baseball player and will be nationally televised on Fox Sports Network and its family of regional affiliate networks, as well as Fox College Sports.
Gillespie (West Linn, Ore./West Linn HS) is batting .365 (66-for-181) with 10 home runs, two triples, 19 doubles, 47 runs batted in, a school-record-tying 67 runs scored and is 14-for-18 on stolen bases. He has been among the Pacific-10 leaders in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage much of the season.
The selection committee will trim the list to three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals and make that announcement of that trio in Omaha, Neb., on June 15. The finalists, their head coaches and parents will be invited to Lubbock, where they will participate in a two-day celebration of college baseball on July 3-4, which will feature the theme "The Past Meets Present."
The Wallace Trophy and winners will become part of the permanent display in the new College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock. The three finalists will also meet the Inaugural 2006 College Baseball Hall of Fame Class who will be recognized during the ceremony and enshrined during the Official Induction Ceremonies the following afternoon on July 4.
The award is dedicated to the memory of the former Texas Tech player and assistant coach. Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A four-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District Six his senior year, when he led the Red Raiders to their first-ever appearance in the Southwest Conference Tournament. After playing two years in the Texas Rangers organization, he returned to Texas Tech and served as a graduate assistant, and later as an assistant coach. In the summer of 1984 he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27. The Plano, Texas, native was married to the former Sandy Arnold and they had one daughter, Lindsay Ryan.
The selection committee for the Wallace Award is comprised of a select national panel of coaches, sports information directors, former winners and beat media (print, radio and television) who most closely follow the sport on a daily basis. The Wallace Award is the only major collegiate honor of its’ type that tracks the nominees through the entire season, from first pitch through the completion of the NCAA College World Series. Final balloting will conclude at Midnight, July 1st. Voting for the Wallace Award winner will be conducted by confidential balloting, with totals tabulated by the J.W.Anderson & Associates accounting firm in Lubbock, Tex.
Kurt Suzuki of Cal State Fullerton won the 2004 Brooks Wallace Award with Alex Gordon of Nebraska taking home the 2005 trophy. The awards’ lineage includes former Player of the Year winners Andy Benes, Ben McDonald, Mike Kelly, Bobby Jones, Mike Smith, Darren Dreifort, Jason Varitek, Mark Kotsay, Kris Benson, Lance Berkman, Brad Wilkerson and Jason Jennings.
The 2006 semifinalists are Emeel Salem, 3B, jr., Alabama; Sean Doolittle, P-ATH, so., Virginia; Shane Robinson, OF, jr., Florida State; Wes Roemer, P, so., Cal State-Fullerton; Kellen Kulbacki, OF, so., James Madison; Tim Lincecum, P, jr., Washington; Drew Stubbs, OF, jr., Texas; Andrew Miller, P, jr., North Carolina; Joe Savery, P-ATH, so., Rice; Nick Schmidt, P, so., Arkansas; Matt Weiters, C-ATH, jr., Georgia Tech; Heath Rollins, P-ATH, jr., Winthrop; Luke Gorsett, OF, jr., Nebraska; Tom King, SS, jr., Troy; Ryan Strieby, 1B, jr., Kentucky; Eddie Degerman, P, jr., Rice; Chad Tracy, C, jr. Pepperdine; Craig Cooper, 1B, sr., Notre Dame; Tyler Mach, 3B, jr., Oklahoma State; Matt McBride, C, So., Lehigh; Andy Alessio, 1B, jr., Clemson; Steven Wright, P, jr., Hawai’i; Brad Lincoln, P-ATH, jr., Houston; Josh Morris, 1B, jr., Georgia; Cole Gilliespie, OF, jr., Oregon State; Scott Cousins, OF-P, jr., San Francisco; Chuckie Caufield, OF, sr., Oklahoma; Matt Dobbins, P-ATH, so., Jacksonville; Ronnie Bourquin, 3B, jr., Ohio State; Beau Mills, 3B, so., Fresno State.
