June 28, 2007
NASHVILLE, Tenn. –The 2007 Golden Spikes Award winner will be revealed Friday night in a televised program at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
The award is given to the nation’s top amateur baseball player by USA Baseball and is sponsored by Major League Baseball. The five finalists this year are Vanderbilt’s David Price and Pedro Alvarez, Florida first baseman Matt LaPorta, Texas outfielder Kyle Russell and Florida State infielder Tony Thomas Jr.
The awards show is a 30-minute program that will show interviews and highlights of the finalists with the winner to be announced at the conclusion of the broadcast.
Price and Alvarez are vying to become the first Vanderbilt player to ever receive the honor and the first player from the Southeastern Conference to receive the award since South Carolina’s Kip Bouknight in 2000.
Other Commodore baseball notes: Vanderbilt now has three players competing for USA Baseball this summer with the addition of freshman pitcher Mike Minor to the squad. He was one of 10 players invited to try out for two additional spots to the original 20 man roster and made the team with a strong showing in two outings. The Chapel Hill, Tenn., native went 2-0 with seven strikeouts and no walks in five innings while only giving up an unearned run. He joins Pedro Alvarez and Ryan Flaherty who were added to the team in May. This marks the second straight year Vanderbilt has had three players on the USA National Team, as Price, Alvarez and Casey Weathers all competed a year ago … Price and Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin will travel to Lubbock, Texas, on Sunday to take part in the College Baseball Foundation’s Hall of Fame festivities next week in conjunction with the Brooks Wallace Award (also a National Player of the Year Award). The award ceremony will be on July 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena on the campus of Texas Tech University … The final award ceremony of the year will be the Roger Clemens Award on July 11 at the Crystal Ballroom of the Rice Hotel in downtown Houston. Clemens is expected to be in attendance to present the trophy as the ceremony is during Major League Baseball’s All-Star break.
