Baseball candidates announced for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award
March 19, 2014
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Thirty NCAA® baseball student-athletes who excel both on and off the diamond were selected as candidates today for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate baseball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Of the 30 candidates, 11 have cumulative grade point averages of 3.5 or higher with three of those having a perfect 4.0 GPA. There are six CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-Americans and three Baseball America and Louisville Slugger All-Americans from last season. Five candidates play for teams currently ranked in the USA Today top 25 coaches poll.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2014 College World Series® in June.
Baseball 2014 Candidates
| Name | Position | School |
|---|---|---|
| Cody Apthorpe | Pitcher | Bowling Green State |
| Garrett Bayliff | Outfield | Wichita State |
| Tim Colwell | Outfield | North Dakota State |
| Kevin Courtney | First Base | Stony Brook |
| Dustin DeMuth | Third Base | Indiana |
| Nick Favatella | Second Base | Rutgers |
| Clinton Freeman | Pitcher/Outfield/Infield | East Tennessee State |
| Jeff Gardner | Outfield | Louisville |
| Matt Hicks | Pitcher | Louisiana |
| Jeff Keller | Outfield | Dartmouth College |
| Jesse Kelso | Outfield | Canisius College |
| Ross Kivett | Infield/Outfield | Kansas State |
| Ryan LaGrange | Infield | UNCW |
| T.J. Losby | Catcher | Bowling Green State |
| Whit Mayberry | Pitcher | Virginia |
| Joshua McAlister | Pitcher | Arizona State |
| Andrew Morales | Pitcher | UC Irvine |
| Josh Nethaway | Infield/Outfield/Catcher | Albany |
| Steven Patterson | Infield | UC Davis |
| Mark Payton | Outfield | Texas |
| Jordan Piche’ | Pitcher | Kansas |
| Chase Raffield | Outfield | Georgia State |
| AJ Salcines | Pitcher | Miami (FL) |
| Oscar Sanay | Second Base | Bakersfield |
| Aaron Silbar | Shortstop | Columbia |
| Collin Slaybaugh | Outfield/Catcher | Washington State |
| Gage Smith | Pitcher | Florida State |
| Kevin Swick | Infield | Southern California |
| Ryan Thompson | Pitcher | Campbell |
| Derrick Workman | Outfield | Mercer |
