Alabama State Hornets junior catcher Hunter May and Southern University redshirt senior Taj Porter have been named to the 2022 Buster Posey Award watch list, the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission recently announced.
The Buster Posey Award, formerly known as the Johnny Bench Award, is presented annually to the top Division I collegiate catcher in the nation. Former winners include Kurt Suzuki, Jeff Clement, Buster Posey, Mike Zunino, and many other notable players.
Hunter May has posted a .975 fielding percentage while serving as the Hornets primary backstop.
Taj Porter boosts a perfect .1000 fielding percentage and has thrown out five would be base stealers this season.
This marks the fourth consecutive season in which an HBCU baseball player has appeared on the National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award initial watch list.
The 75 players named to this initial watch list were nominated by their coaches.
Buster Posey Award Timeline for 2022:
May 19: Semifinalists announced
June 7: Finalists announced
June 29: Award presentation in Wichita, Kansas
2022 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Watch List:
Silas Ardoin, R-SO, Texas
Gray Betts, JR, Liberty
Thomas Bramley, SR, Mount St. Mary’s
Colin Burgess, JR, South Carolina
Connor Burns, SO, Long Beach State
Peter Burns, SR, Boston College
Ross Cadena, SR, Wichita State
Michael Campagna, SO, San Francisco
Jackson Campbell, SR, Belmont
Mike Caruso, SR, Fairfield
Cam Cerruto, SR, Army West Point
Connor Charping, SR, Western Michigan
Troy Claunch, SR, Texas A&M
Jorge Corona, SO, Louisiana Tech
Alex Crump, SR, Murray State
Angelo D’Acunto, SR, Holy Cross
Adam Dapkewicz, JR, Georgetown
Mitchell Dickson, JR, Abilene Christian
Hayden Dunhurst, JR, Mississippi
Cole Elvis, SR, California
Tomas Frick, SO, North Carolina
Fernando Gonzalez, SO, Georgia
Bryce Grizzaffi, SO, Southeastern Louisiana
Garret Guillemette, SO, Southern California
Nick Hassan, SO, Kennessaw State
Kaden Hollow, SO, Dixie State
Ty Hooks, SO, Winthrop
Kody Huff, Jr, Stanford
Cade Hunter, SO, Virginia Tech
Jerry Huntzinger, SR, Xavier
Ryan Johnson, JR, Pepperdine
Dylan Judd, JR, Massachusetts
Dominic Keegan, SR, Vanderbilt
Will King, SO, Eastern Kentucky
David LaManna, SR, Notre Dame
Ryan Leitch, SO, Marshall
Sam Loda, SR, Central Connecticut State
Hunter May, JR, Alabama State
Mike Mazzara, SR, Canisius
Thomas McCaffrey, SO, UC Irvine
David Melfi, SO, Wagner
Nolan Metcalf, SR, Kansas
Zach Morgan, JR, Fresno State
Jimmy Obertop, JR, Michigan
Kevin Parada, SO, Georgia Tech
Shane Paradine, JR, Stony Brook
Caleb Pendleton, SO, Florida Atlantic
Taj Porter, R-SR, Southern
Ryan Proto, SO, UMass Lowell
Cam Redding, JR, Saint Louis
Keaton Rice, SR, Bradley
Caleb Ricketts, JR, San Diego
Maxwell Romero, Jr., JR, Miami
George Rosales, SR, Fairleigh Dickinson
Alonzo Rubalcaba, SR, Kentucky
JC Santini, Grad, Northwestern
Drew Sims, SR, Utah Valley
Ryan Snell, JR, Lamar
Chase Stanke, SR, Minnesota
Matt Suggs, JR, UNCW
Daniel Susac, SO, Arizona
Dominic Tamez, JR, Alabama
Logan Tanner, SO, Mississippi State
Justin Taylor, JR, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Kyle Teel, SO, Virginia
Jared Thomas, JR, Loyola Marymount
Brendan Tinsman, JR, Wake Forest
Cason Tollett, FR, Arkansas State
Humberto Torres, SO, Gardner-Webb
John Tuccillo, SR, Bryant
Anthony Tulimero, SO, Houston
Michael Turner, SR, Arkansas
Collin Villegas, JR, Cal Poly
Matt Wood, JR, Penn State
Jake Wright, JR, Arkansas-Little Rock
Jake Wyandt, SR, Auburn
Hernan Yanez, JR, Incarnate Word