Alabama State Hornets junior catcher Santiago Garcia and Bethune Cookman junior Shamir Morales hav been named to the 2020 Buster Posey Award watch list, the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission announced on Monday afternoon.
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 more notable players.
Santiago Garcia has posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage while serving as the Hornets primary backstop. In 2019 he caught every pitch from the Hornets’ rotation in 464 innings.
Shamir Morales boosts a .982 fielding percentage and has thrown out seven would be base stealers this season.
This marks the second consecutive season in which an HBCU baseball player has appeared on the National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award initial watch list.
The 60 players named to this initial watch list were nominated by their coaches.
Buster Posey Award Timeline:
May 19: Semifinalists announced
June 2: Finalists announced
June 25: Award presentation in Wichita, Kansas
2020 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Watch List
Patrick Arndt SR Chicago State University
David Avitia JR Grand Canyon University
Patrick Bailey JR North Carolina State University
Dallas Beaver SR University of South Carolina
Brett Bonar SR University of Nebraska Omaha
Alex Brait SR Florida Gulf Coast University
Peter Burns SO Boston College
Seth Caddell JR East Carolina University
Jacob Campbell SO University of Illinois
Chris Ceballos SR Kansas State University
Nick Cimillo SO Manhattan College
Troy Claunch JR Oregon State University
Justin Collins JR Rice University
Alex Crotty SR Mercer University
Henry Davis SO University of Louisville
Adrian Del Castillo SO University of Miami
Ciaran Devenney SR University Massachusetts Lowell
Conrado Diaz SR University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Dillon Dingler JR Ohio State University
Hayden Dunhurst FR Ole Miss
Ty Duvall SR Vanderbilt University
Robert Emery SR University of San Francisco
Kale Emshoff JR University of Arkansas-Little Rock
Zac Fascia SR Purdue University
Braxton Fulford JR Texas Tech University
J. Paul Fullerton SR University of Alabama Birmingham
Santiago Garcia JR Alabama State University
Saul Garza JR Louisiana State University
Hunter Goodman SO University of Memphis
Mikey Hoehner SR Texas A&M University
Nick Jones SR Eastern Michigan University
Adrian Kerner JR University of San Diego
Coltyn Kessler JR University of Kentucky
A.J. Lewis SR Eastern Kentucky University
Sam Loda JR Central Connecticut State University
Austin Martin SR University of Iowa
Justin Mazzone JR Seattle University
Rhett McCall JR Lamar University
Chad McDaniel JR University of Missouri
Liam McGill SR Columbia University
Natale Monastra SR Xavier University
Shamir Morales JR Bethune Cookman University
Mat Nelson SO Florida State University
Casey Opitz JR University of Arkansas
Cody Pasic SR University of Maine
Straton Podaras SR Radford University
Sam Praytor R-SO University of Alabama
Sam Punzi JR Iona College
Keaton Rice JR Bradley University
George Rosales SO Fairleigh Dickinson University
Michael Rothenberg JR Duke University
Matt Scheffler SR Auburn University
Matthew Suggs SO UNC Wilmington
Carson Taylor SO Virginia Tech
Andy Thomas SR Baylor University
Brendan Tinsman SO Wake Forest University
Michael Trautwein SO Northwestern University
John Tuccillo JR Stony Brook University
Sonny Ulliana SR University of Rhode Island
Austin Wells SO University of Arizona