FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
PITCHER OF THE YEAR – Mike Adams, Franklin Pierce (N.H.)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Keith Hernandez, Emporia State (Kan.)

FIRST TEAM (5 SP due to ties in balloting)
Starting Pitcher – +++Mike Adams, Jr., Franklin Pierce (N.H.)
Starting Pitcher – Jim Fuller, So., Southern Connecticut State
Starting Pitcher – Brett Hontz, Sr., Carson-Newman (Tenn.)
Starting Pitcher – Korey Noles, Sr., Columbus State (Ga.)
Starting Pitcher – Ryan Schlecht, Sr., Mount Olive (N.C.) Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, All-American, Division 2, NCBWA

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
STARKVILLE, Miss. (NCBWA) - Five of college baseball’s top relief specialists have been selected as finalists for the fourth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, the NCBWA announced Thursday.

This year’s finalists include NCAA saves leader Tyler Conn of Southern Miss, Scott Bittle of Mississippi, Joshua Fields of Georgia, A.J. Griffin of the University of San Diego and Eric Pettis of UC Irvine. All five relief aces helped their respective teams advance to the 64-team field of the 2008 NCAA Baseball Tournament, which begins this weekend at 16 regional sites across the nation.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, Conference USA, Georgia, National Awards, NCBWA, Ole Miss, SEC, Southern Miss, Stopper of the Year, University of San Diego, West Coast Conference

ASU’s Kipnis Named Pac-10 Baseball Player of the Week and UCLA’s Murphy Named Pitcher of the Week

This is the first weekly honor for Kipnis and Murphy’s third.

Media Release

(Walnut Creek, CA) - Arizona State redshirt sophomore outfielder Jason Kipnis has been named the Pacific-10 Conference Baseball Player of the Week and UCLA junior left-handed pitcher Tim Murphy has been named Pitcher of the Week for May 19 - 25, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced today.

Kipnis, from Northbrook, Ill., helped Arizona State clinch their second straight Pac-10 title, going 8-for-13 (.615) with a double, a triple, a homer and six runs batted in during the final week of the regular season. He also stole a base, drew four walks and played perfect defense in the outfield.

Murphy, from Vista, Calif., pitched his second complete game shutout of the season, helping the Bruins blank No. 15 California, 8-0, in Friday’s series opener at Evans Diamond. Murphy scattered five hits in nine innings, totaling 10 strikeouts while walking four hitters. Murphy’s complete-game effort helped pave the way for UCLA’s series victory at California over the weekend. UCLA blanked the Golden Bears, 7-0, on Saturday to become the first Bruin baseball team to post back-to-back shutouts since 1978. With the win, Murphy improved to 5-6 on the season with a 3.52 ERA and team-highs of 107 strikeouts and 94.2 innings.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, Arizona State, Pac 10, UCLA

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Miami, the top seed in this week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship, led all schools with eight selections on the 2008 All-ACC Baseball Team and also claimed a pair of individual superlatives, as announced today by Commissioner John Swofford. The honors are selected by a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, ACC, ACC Player of the Year, All-Conference teams, Clemson, Duke, FSU, GT, Miami (FL), NC State, UNC, UVA

Cal State Fullerton shortstop Christian Colon on picking college over the minor leagues: “I know it’s tough to eat the right things in the minor leagues, and I didn’t think I was strong enough to avoid getting run down a little bit.” (Orange County Register)

Gordon Beckham tied the Georgia single season homerun record with his 23rd longball of the season last night in the second game of a double header against Alabama. (BamaMag)

Buster Posey scores only run, gets the save in Florida State win. (Tallahassee Democrat)

Pedro Alvarez couldn’t come through in the clutch last night against Florida, as the Commodores drop their fourth straight game. (Tennessean)

University of Arizona catcher Dwight Childs likes to play head games with opposing hitters. (Tucson Citizen)

The Houston Astros are looking to go with an experienced college player with the 10th overall pick. (MLB)

Seven college players are in the top ten of the draft board over at Minor League Ball. (Minor League Ball)

In a battle of two of the Pac-10’s top two pitchers, Washington’s Jordan Merry has his first poor performance of the season while Mike Leake pitches 8 strong in the Sun Devils 13-3 victory. (Devils Digest)

Aaron Crow’s stats “are pornography to baseball geeks.” (Columbia Tribune)

The best pitcher at Stanford doesn’t even play on the team. (SF Gate)

Tags: 2008 Top Players, ACC, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Big 12, Big West, Cal State Fullerton, FSU, Missouri, Pac 10, SEC, Stanford, Vanderbilt

Brody Logan of CSTV recently sent us a video of Gordon Beckham having some fun in the Georgia clubhouse before some games. The full video is after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, CSTV, Georgia, SEC

We recently sent a staff member out to check out the Missouri State Bears. We have our observations about some of their top players.

RF Nolan Keane SR, 5′9, 170 - Keane is a power hitting lefty that hit .314 with 9HR and 32RBI last season. This year he is at .341 with 4HR 10 Doubles and 36RBI while striking out 20 times and walking 36 times. He has a shot to be drafted in the middle rounds with his nice bat and on base abilities. I will be watching him to see if he has any pop or just a hit-for-average type player. I will also be curious to see his arm. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, CBB Column, Missouri State, Missouri Valley

FROM NCBWA RELEASE
LINCOLN, Neb. — The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, working in conjunction with the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, has released the list of 16 semifinalists for the 2008 Dick Howser Trophy, given to the top player in collegiate baseball. The membership of the NCBWA will choose the Dick Howser Trophy based on three rounds of voting. The 2008 winner will be announced just prior to the first game of the College World Series, with a press conference slated for Saturday, June 14, at 10 a.m. (CDT) at the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, National Awards, National Player of the Year, NCBWA

The CBB recently had an opportunity to take in the Missouri-Kansas series over this past weekend. We focused on the strong Missouri team which includes one of the top pitchers in the country for 2008 in Aaron Crow and one of the top 2009 pitching prospects in Kyle Gibson. We also checked in on some of the other top players on the squad who might make an impact in the coming future.

Aaron Crow JR 6′3, 195 RHP
Crow is one of the top players in the country and I believe him to be the best pitcher in the country (Brian Matusz of San Diego gets a close 2nd). Crow has 2 very strong pitches he relies on. His fastball and his slider. His fastball is in the lower to mid 90’s with good late movement. He has great command of it and throws it on both sides of the plate and will use it up in the zone. His control is extremely good. Having control and command of a mid 90’s moving fastball is a sick thing to have as a pitcher. He couldn’t do it all with just a fastball however. His second pitch is a slider in the mid 80’s. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, 2009 Top Players, Big 12, CBB Column, CBB Visit, Kansas, Missouri, MLB Draft

The CBB will be holding a Q and A with our great readers about the 2008 MLB Draft around Memorial Day. We are asking our loyal readers to send us some questions and we will be answering as many questions as possible about different players around the nation. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, CBB Event, MLB Draft

Junior/SP/Ole Miss

Say it with me in a Donald Trump impression - “he’s huuuuuge”
To the tune of 6′5 - 260 as listed on the Ole Miss web site. I don’t know that he is 6′5, but 260 does not surprise me.

Lynn is underrated based on where I see him on preseason draft lists: Baseball America did not even project him going in the first round. Mymlbdraft.com does not project him going in the first round. MLBdraftsite.com has him going 44th. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, MLB Draft, Ole Miss, SEC

The CBB will be holding a Q and A with our great readers about the 2008 MLB Draft over the coming weeks. We are asking our loyal readers to send us some questions and we will be answering as many questions as possible about different players around the nation. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, CBB Event, MLB Draft

Rivals.com division Rivals High released their first ever Top 100 High School Baseball Players this week.  The rankings (found here) are topped by Griffin, GA SS Tim Beckham (pictured left), a Southern Cal commit and probable top 5 pick in the upcoming draft.  Joining him at the top are Cooper City, FL 1B Eric Hosmer (Arizona State); Long Beach, CA OF Aaron Hicks (Southern Cal); Wentzville, MO P Tim Melville (uncommitted); and Santa Ana, CA P Gerrit Cole (UCLA).  The top five are widely speculated to all go pro after the 2008 MLB Draft. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, 2009 Class, MLB Draft, Perfect Game, Rivals

Junior/3B/1B/Arizona State

Brett Wallace can hit - fastballs, curveballs, changeups, oranges, grapefruit, pinatas…you get the idea.
So, the obvious question is: why don’t most of the projection lists have him as a top 10 talent? I wondered the same thing - more specifically, why is there a feeling that Smoak, Hosmer, and Alonso are better 1B prospects? Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, Arizona State, CBB Column, Pac 10

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES
The College Baseball Foundation and Diamond Sports are proud to bring you this week’s “National All-Star Lineup”. Outstanding individual performances have earned several ‘newcomers’ a spot in the lineup. Josh Harrison of Cincinnati boasted a perfect 10 for 10 effort. Old Dominion’s Anthony Shawler tied a school record with 18 strikeouts in one game. Matt Long (Santa Clara) and Chris Richburg (Texas Tech) both find themselves in their school’s history books as they hit for the cycle. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, College Baseball Foundation, National Awards, National Player of the Week