DURHAM, N.C. — Clemson freshman Seth Beer was named a semifinalist for the 2016 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award on Wednesday.
The ACC Player of the Year helped guide the Tigers to their first ACC Championship in 10 years. He leads the Tigers with a .372 batting average and 16 home runs. He also has a .686 slug percentage and on base percentage of .532. He has successfully reached base in 57 straight games.
Beer is second on the team with 63 RBIs and has 12 doubles. He has drawn 57 walks and has struck out just 24 times all season.
USA Baseball unveiled on Wednesday the 25 semifinalists for the 2016 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award marks the 39th consecutive year the Golden Spikes Award has been awarded to the top amateur baseball player in the United States.
The Southeastern Conference leads 12 different conferences represented on the list with seven semifinalists, followed closely by the Atlantic Coast Conference with six. The Pac-12 and Southern conferences both host a pair of semifinalists while the Big 12, Big East, Colonial Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Southland and West Coast conferences each have one athlete on the list.
USA Baseball officials will announce the finalists for the 2016 Golden Spikes Award on Monday, June 13. To select the finalists, the list of semifinalists is sent to a voting body consisting of past Golden Spikes Award winners, past USA Baseball National Team coaches and press officers, members of the media that closely follow the amateur game, select professional baseball personnel, and select current USA Baseball staff, representing a group of more than 200 voters in total.
Fan voting will once again be part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2016. This announcement officially marks the opening of voting for amateur baseball fans from across the country on GoldenSpikesAward.com. As part of the selection process, all voters will be asked to choose three players from the list of names. Voting will be open until Wednesday, June 8.
The live presentation of the 2016 Golden Spikes Award will be announced exclusively on ESPN’s flagship program, SportsCenter, on Thursday, June 30th. The announcement will take place in ESPN’s Los Angeles Production Center at L.A. Live.
Last year, University of Arkansas’ Andrew Benintendi took home the prestigious award, joining a group of recent winners that includes A.J. Reed (2014), Kris Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Trevor Bauer (2011), Bryce Harper (2010), Stephen Strasburg (2009) and Buster Posey (2008).
The remaining timeline for the 2016 Golden Spikes Award announcement is:
- Wednesday, June 1: 2016 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists named – voting opens
- Wednesday, June 8: Semifinalist voting closes
- Monday, June 13: 2016 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists named – voting opens
- Friday, June 24: Finalist voting closes
- Thursday, June 30: 2016 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award trophy presentation
The complete 2016 Golden Spikes Award semifinalist list is as follows:
Name, Position, Class, School
Seth Beer, OF, Fr., Clemson
Jake Burger, 3B, So., Missouri State
C.J. Chatham, SS, Jr., Florida Atlantic
Zack Collins, C, Jr., Miami
Will Craig, 1B, Jr., Wake Forest
Brett Cumberland, C, So., California
Nick Feight, C, So., UNC-Wilmington
Jameson Fisher, C/IF, R-Jr., Southeastern Louisiana
Anfernee Grier, OF, Jr., Auburn
Thomas Hackimer, P, Sr., St. John’s
Dakota Hudson, P, Jr., Mississippi State
Connor Jones, P, Jr., Virginia
Eric Lauer, P, Jr., Kent State
Kyle Lewis, OF, Jr., Mercer
Brendan McKay, IF/P, So., Louisville
Sheldon Neuse, 3B, Jr., Oklahoma
AJ Puckett, P, Jr., Pepperdine
Heath Quinn, OF, Jr., Samford
Troy Rallings, P, Sr., Washington
Corey Ray, OF, Jr., Louisville
Nick Senzel, 3B, Jr., Tennessee
Jordan Sheffield, P, R-So., Vanderbilt
Logan Shore, P, Jr., Florida
Boomer White, IF, Jr., Texas A&M
Kyle Wright, P, So., Vanderbilt
–Staff Reports