BUFFALO, N.Y. - Canisius senior third baseman Connor Panas is one of 50 players to be named to the preseason USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award watch list, USA Baseball announced on Tuesday. The Golden Spikes Award is presented annually to the nation’s top amateur baseball player, with the trophy presentation scheduled for Tuesday, June 23, in Los Angeles. Sponsored by Major League Baseball and presented in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation, 2015 marks the 38th year of the USA Golden Spikes Award.
The preseason watch list features 50 of the nation’s top amateur players, and will be a “rolling” list until May 22 when the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists are announced. This policy is set up to ensure that athletes can play themselves into consideration for the award throughout the collegiate and high school seasons.
Panas, the 2015 MAAC Preseason Player of the Year and the 2014 MAAC Player of the Year, is the first Griff to be named to the Golden Spikes Award watch list since Shane Davis, who earned a spot on the list in 2009. Named a 2015 Louisville Slugger Preseason First-Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball, Panas was third in the MAAC in batting average (.362), first in home runs (6), RBI (51) and slugging percentage (.574), second in doubles (16) and fifth in on-base percentage (.443) in 2014. The third baseman was one of four Division I players with a .350 batting average, 50 RBI and 15 stolen bases last season. The Toronto native reached base in 43 of 47 starts, including the final 18 games of the season, and 10 of 19 times in the MAAC Championship. He had a career-long 15-game hitting streak in his junior season and he led the Griffs with 22 multi-hit games and 13 multi-RBI games.
Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2015. Friday, May 22, marks the day when amateur baseball fans across the country will be able to vote for their favorite semifinalists at GoldenSpikesAward.com. As part of this selection process, all voters will be asked to choose three players from the list. On Tuesday, June 3, USA Baseball will announce the finalists, and voting will once again commence that same day.
Past winners of this prestigious award include current Major League Baseball players such as Mike Zunino (’12), Trevor Bauer (’11), Bryce Harper (’10), Stephen Strasburg ('09), Buster Posey ('08), David Price (’07), Tim Lincecum (’06), Alex Gordon (’05) and Jered Weaver (’04). Former Major League stars that have captured the award include Pat Burrell (’98), Mark Kotsay (’95), Robin Ventura (’88), Jim Abbott (’87), Will Clark (’85), Dave Magadan (’83), Terry Francona (’80) and Tim Wallach (’79).