Clarke Schmidt named to Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list
South Carolina junior right-handed pitcher Clarke Schmidt is one of 40 players in the nation named to USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list. The Golden Spikes Award will be presented on June 29 in Los Angeles to the top amateur baseball player in the country.
Schmidt is 4-0 on the year with a 1.15 ERA in seven starts. Schmidt has allowed just nine runs this year, six earned, on 32 hits in 47.0 innings with 14 walks to 57 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .193 against him. Schmidt ranks second in the SEC in ERA as well as sixth in opposing batting average and sixth in strikeouts. His 1.29 ERA in league games is fourth best as well.
Schmidt is one of 11 SEC players on the midseason watch list. The SEC leads all conferences in players listed. This is Schmidt’s second consecutive year to be named to the midseason watch list.
“The 2017 Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list highlights the depth of elite amateur talent across the entire country,” said Paul Seiler, Executive Director and CEO at USA Baseball. “These forty athletes have performed at an elevated level and deserve to be honored at this point of their baseball seasons. We look forward to watching the rest of the amateur baseball schedule and announcing the semifinalists for this prestigious award in May.”
On Wednesday, May 31, USA Baseball will announce the semifinalists for the 2017 Golden Spikes Award.
Amateur baseball fans across the country will be able to vote for their favorite semifinalists at GoldenSpikesAward.com from May 31-June 9. On Wednesday, June 14, USA Baseball will announce the finalists for the award, and fan voting will once again commence that same day. Fan voting for the finalists will end on Friday, June 23.
A complete list of the 40-player USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list is as follows:
Name, Year, Position, School
Tyler Adkinson, Jr., OF, San Diego State
Joey Bart, So., C, Georgia Tech
J.B. Bukauskas, Jr., P, North Carolina
Jake Burger, Jr., IF, Missouri St.
Griffin Canning, Jr., P, UCLA
Morgan Cooper, Jr., P, Texas
Alex Cunningham, Sr., P, Coastal Carolina
Greg Deichmann, Jr., OF, LSU
Alex Faedo, Jr., P, Florida
Ben Fisher, Sr., IF, Eastern Kentucky
Steven Gingery, So., P, Texas Tech
Dre Gleason, Sr., IF, Austin Peay
Adam Haseley, Jr., OF/P, Virginia
Luke Heimlich, Jr., P, Oregon State
Keston Hiura, Jr., IF/OF, UC Irvine
Tyler Holton, So., P, Florida State
Tanner Houck, Jr., P, Missouri
Marshall Kasowski, Jr., P, West Texas A&M
Jeren Kendall, Jr., OF, Vanderbilt
Nolan Kingham, So., RHP, Texas
Blaine Knight, So., P, Arkansas
Gunner Leger, Jr., P, Louisiana Lafayette
Nick Madrigal, So., IF, Oregon State
J.J. Matijevic, Jr., IF, Arizona
Brendan McKay, Jr., IF/P, Louisville
Kevin Merrell, Jr., IF/OF, South Florida
Casey Mize, So., P, Auburn
Eli Morgan, Jr., P, Gonzaga
David Peterson, Jr., P, Oregon
Jared Poche, Sr., P, LSU
Brent Rooker, Jr., OF, Mississippi State
Jake Scheiner, Jr., IF, Houston
Clarke Schmidt, Jr., P, South Carolina
JP Sears, Jr., P, Citadel
Danny Sexton, Jr., LHP, Wright State
Brian Shaffer, Jr., P, Maryland
Pavin Smith, Jr., IF/OF, Virginia
Keegan Thompson, Jr., P, Auburn
Logan Warmoth, Jr., IF, North Carolina
Evan White, Jr., IF, Kentucky
This story was originally published April 12, 2017 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Clarke Schmidt named to Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list."