FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, June 8, 2021 Contact: Emily Fedewa – [email protected], (919) 474-8721 x255 OR Brad Young, (919) 474-8721 x212 USA BASEBALL ANNOUNCES 2021 GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD SEMIFINALISTS The 43rd Golden Spikes Award will be presented in July CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball today announced the 25 semifinalists for its Golden Spikes Award, moving one step closer to naming the top amateur baseball player of the year. The winner of the 43rd Golden Spikes Award will be announced in July. Twenty-two different universities are represented by the 2021 semifinalists, and the list includes 12 athletes who have played their way into consideration since the midseason list was announced on April 14. “We are thrilled to honor these twenty-five tremendously talented student-athletes as Golden Spikes Award semifinalists in 2021,” said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball’s Executive Director and CEO. “This group of players truly showcases the elite level of amateur baseball talent in the United States as they have excelled on and off the field this season, and we are privileged to recognize their contributions to their teams and schools.” The watch list is headlined by Henry Davis (Louisville), Sal Frelick (Boston College), Jack Leiter (Vanderbilt), Ty Madden (Texas), and Kumar Rocker (Vanderbilt), who all also earned spots on the Golden Spikes Award Preseason and Midseason Watch Lists in 2021. Vanderbilt University is one of three schools that boasts multiple semifinalists in 2021, with East Carolina and Mississippi State also featuring two athletes on the list. In total, at least one athlete from 10 different NCAA conferences has earned semifinalist honors this year. The Southeastern Conference leads all conferences represented with six athletes named semifinalists, while five players represent the Atlantic Coast Conference, and three hail from both the Pac-12 and the Big 12. Oregon State’s Adley Rutschman took home the prestigious award most recently in 2019, joining a group of recent winners that include Andrew Vaughn (2018), Brendan McKay (2017), Kyle Lewis (2016), Andrew Benintendi (2015), A.J. Reed (2014), Kris Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Trevor Bauer (2011), Bryce Harper (2010), Stephen Strasburg (2009), Buster Posey (2008), and David Price (2007). Beginning with the announcement of the semifinalists, a ballot will be sent to a voting body consisting of baseball media members, select professional baseball personnel, current USA Baseball staff and the previous winners of the award, representing a group of more than 200 voters. As part of this selection process, all voters will be asked to choose three players from the list of semifinalists. On June 24, USA Baseball will announce the finalists, and voting for the winner will begin that same day. Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2021. Beginning with the semifinalist announcement and continuing through the finalist round voting deadline on Tuesday, June 15, fans from across the country will be able to vote for their favorite player on GoldenSpikesAward.com. The winner of the 43rd Golden Spikes Award will be named in July. To stay up-to-date on the 2021 Golden Spikes Award visit GoldenSpikesAward.com and follow @USAGoldenSpikes on Twitter and Instagram. The 2021 Golden Spikes Award timeline: June 8: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists voting begins June 15: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists voting ends June 24: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists announced, voting begins July 2: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists voting ends July: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award trophy presentation A complete list of the 2021 Golden Spikes Award semifinalists is as follows: Name, Position, School, Conference Andrew Abbott; LHP; Virginia; Atlantic Coast Tanner Allen; OF; Mississippi State; Southeastern Jacob Berry; INF; Arizona; Pac-12 Colton Cowser; OF; Sam Houston; Southland Henry Davis; C; Louisville; Atlantic Coast Sal Frelick; UTL; Boston College; Atlantic Coast Tyler Hardman; INF; Oklahoma; Big 12 Jace Jung; INF; Texas Tech; Big 12 Niko Kavadas; INF; Notre Dame; Atlantic Coast Austin Knight; INF; Charlotte; C-USA Kevin Kopps; RHP; Arkansas; Southeastern Jack Leiter; RHP; Vanderbilt; Southeastern Ethan Long; INF; Arizona State; Pac-12 Ty Madden; RHP; Texas; Big 12 Matt Mikulski; LHP; Fordham; Atlantic 10 Matheu Nelson; C; Florida State; Atlantic Coast Doug Nikhazy; RHP; Ole Miss; Southeastern Connor Norby; INF; ECU; American Kumar Rocker; RHP; Vanderbilt; Southeastern Spencer Schwellenbach; INF/RHP; Nebraska; Big Ten Landon Sims; RHP; Mississippi State; Southeastern Paul Skenes; C/RHP; Air Force; Mountain West Trey Sweeney; 3B; Eastern Illinois; Ohio Valley Gavin Williams; RHP; ECU; American Aaron Zavala; OF; Oregon; Pac-12 About Golden Spikes Award Since 1978, USA Baseball has honored the top amateur baseball player in the country with the Golden Spikes Award. Following the first-ever presentation of the Award to Bob Horner of Arizona State, the Golden Spikes Award has been presented each year to the player who exhibits exceptional athletic ability and exemplary sportsmanship. The 2019 Golden Spikes Award winner was Adley Rutschman from Oregon State Unviersity. Past winners of this prestigious award include current Major League Baseball players such as Andrew Vaughn (’18), Brendan McKay (’17), Kyle Lewis (’16), Andrew Benintendi (’15), Kris Bryant (’13), Mike Zunino (’12), Trevor Bauer (’11), Bryce Harper (’10), Stephen Strasburg ('09), Buster Posey ('08), David Price (’07) and Alex Gordon (’05). Former Major League stars that have captured the award include Tim Lincecum (’06), Pat Burrell (’98), Mark Kotsay (’95), Robin Ventura (’88), Jim Abbott (’87), Will Clark (’85), Dave Magadan (’83), Terry Francona (’80), Tim Wallach (’79), and Horner (’78). For more information, please visit GoldenSpikesAward.com. Fans can follow the Golden Spikes Award on Twitter @USAGoldenSpikes. About USA Baseball USA Baseball is the national governing body for the sport of baseball in the United States and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseball Classic, Premier12 and Pan Am teams (and all other USA Baseball Professional Teams); the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team; the USA Baseball 18U, 15U and 12U National Teams; and the USA Baseball Women’s National Team, all of which participate in various international competitions each year. The organization is responsible for the continued proliferation and health of the sport, and leads a number of amateur initiatives including PLAYBALL and Pitch Smart. USA Baseball also presents the Golden Spikes Award annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country. For more information, please visit the organization’s official websites: USABaseball.com, PLAYBALL.org, PitchSmart.org, GoldenSpikesAward.com and USABaseballShop.com. ### .