University of Tennessee Athletics
Davis semifinalist for Golden Spikes Award
May 21, 2008 | Baseball
USA Baseball on Tuesday announced that Tennessee freshman Kentrail Davis is among 50 semifinalists for the 2008 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award (GSA). This marks the 31st consecutive year that the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award has been presented to the nation???s premier amateur baseball player.??
Davis is the only freshman included among the elite list of semifinalists and is one of just six underclassmen.
While starring as UT???s starting centerfielder this season, Davis won the team Triple Crown by leading the Volunteers in batting average (.330), home runs (13) and RBI (44). The Theodore, Ala., native earned second-team All-SEC honors for his outstanding rookie campaign and also was among the initial group of players to accept an invitation to USA Baseball???s 2008 National Team Trials.
In total, 40 colleges and universities are represented on the 2008 GSA semifinalist list. Among conferences, the Southeastern Conference is tops with nine players on the list, while the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Pacific-10 Conference boast eight and seven semifinalists, respectively.
???USA Baseball is proud to recognize these 50 athletes and their respective baseball programs as semifinalists for the 2008 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award,??? USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO Paul Seiler said. ???As in 2007, we see 40 different schools represented on this year???s semifinalist list???this again speaks to the level of baseball talent among college programs across the country.???
USA Baseball also recently launched GoldenSpikesAward.com. The new Web site features content devoted exclusively to the GSA, including news, voting history, past-winner photo galleries and photographs and video highlights for 2008 semifinalists. Fans can follow online at GoldenSpikesAward.com as the list of 50 players is narrowed to five finalists on Tuesday, June 3, en route to the announcement of this year???s winner on Wednesday, July 16.
Tennessee has produced three GSA finalists in Todd Helton (1995), Chris Burke (2001) and Luke Hochevar (2005).
The 2008 GSA will be awarded as part of a production by Major League Baseball that will be streamed live on the Internet exclusively at GoldenSpikesAward.com and MLB.com. The annual event will be held in New York City following MLB All-Star Week with a time and location to be announced in early June.
In 2007, USA Baseball instituted a new selection and balloting procedure for the most prestigious award in amateur baseball, and it will follow the same model again in 2008. After accepting nominations from sports information directors across the country, a committee voted to determine the 50 semifinalists. The names of the 50 semifinalists will now be forwarded to a voting body of 125 who will select the five finalists and the eventual 2008 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award winner.
