DURHAM, N.C. - USA Baseball announced its 55-player preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list on Friday, beginning the process of identifying the top amateur baseball player in the country for the 2018 season.
The list includes nine players from the ACC, the second most from any conference: Clemson’s Seth Beer, Duke’s Griffin Conine, Florida State’s Tyler Holton, Drew Mendoza, and Cal Raleigh, Georgia Tech’s Joey Bart, North Carolina’s Gianluca Dalatri, Virginia’s Jake McCarthy, and Wake Forest’s Johnny Aiello.
Last year, three of the four finalists for the award were from the ACC in Louisville’s Brendan McKay, North Carolina’s J.B. Bukauskas, and Virginia’s Adam Haseley.
McKay was the first Golden Spikes Award winner in Louisville's history and the fifth ACC player to win the award following Jason Varitek (1994), J.D. Drew (1997), Khalil Greene (2002) and Buster Posey (2008). He is the eighth player from a current ACC program to earn the honor after Florida State's Mike Fuentes (1981) and Mike Loynd (1986), and Miami's Pat Burrell (1998) won the award prior to their schools joining the ACC.
The preseason watch list features 55 of the nation's top amateur players, from high school and college baseball. The Golden Spikes Award Advisory Board will maintain a rolling list of players, allowing athletes to play themselves into consideration for the award throughout the season.
Starting on March 26 and ending April 1, fans will be able to nominate their favorite players for the Golden Spikes Award prior to the reveal of the midseason watch list on April 10. The semifinalists list will be sent to a voting body consisting of baseball media members, select professional baseball personnel, current USA Baseball staff and the 40 previous winners of the award, representing a group of more than 200 voters.
Amateur baseball fans across the country will be able to vote for their favorite players at GoldenSpikesAward.com again in 2018, starting on May 21 with the naming of the Golden Spikes Award semifinalists. On June 6, USA Baseball will announce the finalists and voting will begin that day and last until June 22.
The winner of the 41st Golden Spikes Award will be named on Thursday, June 28, at a presentation in Los Angeles. The finalists and their families will be honored at the Rod Dedeaux Foundation Award Dinner that evening at Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles.
USA Baseball has partnered with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation to host the Golden Spikes Award since 2013. The Foundation was formed to honor legendary USC and USA Baseball Olympic team coach, Rod Dedeaux, and supports youth baseball and softball programs in underserved communities throughout Southern California.
ACC Players on the Golden Spikes Award Watch List
Seth Beer, 1B/OF, Jr., Clemson, ACC
Griffin Conine, OF, Jr., Duke, ACC
Tyler Holton, LHP/DH, Jr., Florida State, ACC
Drew Mendoza, 3B, So., Florida State, ACC
Cal Raleigh, C, Jr., Florida State, ACC
Joey Bart, C, Jr., Georgia Tech, ACC
Gianluca Dalatri, RHP, So., North Carolina, ACC
Jake McCarthy, OF, Jr., Virginia, ACC
Johnny Aiello, 3B, Jr., Wake Forest, ACC