May 1, 2007
(Left to Right): Alvarez, Price and Weathers
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — USA Baseball announced today that third baseman Pedro Alvarez and pitchers David Price and Casey Weathers were named semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award.
Vanderbilt had the most players named to the 50 man list for an award that honors the nation’s premier amateur baseball player.
Alvarez, the 2006 consensus National Freshman of the Year, leads the Commodores with a .382 batting average to go along with 13 homers and 52 RBI. He is coming off a stellar week at the plate going 12-for-19 (.632) with three doubles, a homer and nine RBI in the last four games.
Price, one of five finalists for the award a year ago, is in the midst of his best season at Vanderbilt. The junior from Murfreesboro is 8-0 with a 2.69 ERA and has 135 strikeouts and 22 walks in 90.1 innings this season. He has tallied double-digit strikeouts in nine of his 12 starts this year and currently leads the nation in strikeouts per nine innings.
Weathers is tied for the team lead in wins with an 8-2 record to go with a 1.57 ERA. He leads the team with five saves in 22 relief appearances and has 51 strikeouts in 34.1 innings. The California native was recently named the top senior pitching prospect by Baseball America and is projected to be a first round pick in the amateur draft in June.
All three players were on the 2006 USA Baseball National Team that won a gold medal at the World University Championships last August.
The names of the 50 semi-finalists will now be forwarded to a voting body of 125 who will select the five finalists and the eventual 2007 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Winner.
This year will mark the 30th consecutive year that the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award has been presented to the nation’s premier amateur baseball player. The winner’s name will be announced on June 29, 2007, during the 2007 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Show presented by Major League Baseball.