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