As if this were a surprise, it appears Josh Phegley and Matt Bashore are on another award watch list, this time for the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award, given by the College Baseball Foundation.
Sorry I didn't have this up sooner, I got tipped off this morning at the IU Athletics gear firesale (where I, of course, made away with much sweet loot). Phegley was actually one of only a handful of watch-listed players named in the College Baseball Foundation, which signals he's probably high on the list.
The full release is below. Stay warm, and Go Jackets.
PHEGLEY, BASHORE NAMED TO WALLACE WATCH LIST
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. \0xAD Juniors Josh Phegley and Matt Bashore have been named to the Preseason Watch List for the 2009 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award, the College Baseball Foundation announced today. Of the players on the list, Phegley is one of just 12 that were a part of the 2008 Watch List. Bashore is a Watch List member for the first time.
Phegley and Bashore are two of just nine Big Ten players to be named to the Watch List. Indiana is the only conference school with more than one player on the list. Both juniors were named first team All-Big Ten in 2008 and were recently ranked among the top 50 college draft prospects by Baseball America, the only two Big Ten players among that group.
Phegley, who collected All-America honors from the National College Baseball Writers of America, the American Baseball Coaches Association and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper in 2008, finished off one of the best offensive seasons in IU history with a .438 average, 15 home runs, 80 RBI and 20 doubles.
Bashore, a first team All-Big Ten honoree, was the top pitcher on the Hoosier staff, going 7-3 with a 3.59 ERA during 2008. He led the conference with 86 strikeouts, tied for fifth on IU's all-time list.
The Hoosiers will begin their 2009 campaign against West Virginia in the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge on Feb. 20 in St. Petersburg, Fla. IU will also play Georgetown and South Florida in the three-day event.
