Baseball: Gyorko Named Wallace Award Semifinalist
June 09, 2010 10:59 AM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
June 9, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University baseball player Jedd Gyorko has been named a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year Award, announced by the College Baseball Foundation.
The Wallace Award, presented by Mizuno, will be presented in Lubbock, Texas, on July 2 as part of the College Baseball Awards Show. Gyorko is one of 10 players eligible for the national honor, joining semifinalists Christian Colon (Jr., Cal State Fullerton), Josh Rutledge (Jr., Alabama), Drew Maggi (So., Arizona State), Ryan Soares (Jr., George Mason), Derek Dietrich (Jr., Georgia Tech), Carter Jurica (Jr., Kansas State), B.A. Vollmuth (So., Southern Mississippi), Brodie Greene (Sr., Texas A&M) and Adam Bryant (Jr., Troy).
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| Gyorko's offensive numbers have overshadowed his production in the field during his career.
BIG EAST Photography |
“These players have compiled some very impressive statistics as they have moved into the post-season,” said Kevin Dunagan, Wallace Award committee co-chair.
The Morgantown native had another stellar year at WVU in 2010. He batted .381 with a career-high 19 home runs, 57 RBIs, 28 doubles, 90 base hits and 71 runs scored. He also set career bests with a .750 slugging percentage, 43 walks, a .973 fielding percentage and 192 assists, which is the single-season record at WVU.
Gyorko is first among the candidates in runs scored, second in RBIs, doubles and fielding percentage and third in base hits.
Gyorko was named a Brooks Wallace Award finalist one season ago after batting .421 with eight home runs, 58 RBIs, 28 doubles and 96 base hits. He is WVU’s career leader with a .404 batting average, 73 doubles, 113 extra base-hits and is tied in first place with former Mountaineer Tim McCabe with 35 home runs.
The former University High product earned his first All-America honor in 2010 last week, being named to the Louisville Slugger second team for the second consecutive season. He was also named to the all-BIG EAST first team prior to the conference tournament for the second straight year.
Gyorko was selected in day two of the Major League Baseball first-year player draft by the San Diego Padres with the 59th overall pick in the second round.
