University of North Carolina Athletics
Horton, Woodard Named Golden Spikes Semifinalists
May 2, 2007 | Baseball
May 2, 2007
DURHAM, N.C. - North Carolina shortstop Josh Horton and right-hander Robert Woodard are two of 50 semifinalists for the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, USA Baseball announced Monday. This year will mark the 30th consecutive year that the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award has been presented to the nation's premier amateur baseball player. The winner's name will be announced June 29 during the 2007 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Show presented by Major League Baseball.
Horton is batting .333 with six home runs and 33 RBI on the season, while Woodard is 7-2 with a 2.82 ERA. Carolina's Andrew Miller was one of five finalists for the award in 2006.
Headlining this year's semifinalists is Vanderbilt University, which has three members of its squad on the list (Pedro Alvarez, David Price, and Casey Weathers). Other schools with multiple players include North Carolina (Horton and Woodard), Arizona State (Eric Sogard and Brett Wallace), Virginia (Sean Doolittle and Jacob Thompson), Georgia Tech (Danny Payne and Matt Weiters), Oklahoma State (Corey Brown and Tyler Mach), Florida State (Bryan Henry and Tony Thomas Jr.), South Carolina (Harris Honeycutt and Justin Smoak) and Texas (Adrian Alaniz and Kyle Russell).
In total, 40 college and universities are represented on the 2007 semifinalist list. Among conferences, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) landed 10 players on the list, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) nine players, the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) six players, and the Big-12 Conference five players.
In 2007 USA Baseball instituted a new selection and balloting procedure for the most prestigious award in amateur baseball. After accepting nominations from sports information directors across the country, a committee voted to determine the 50 semifinalists. The names of the 50 semifinalists will now be forwarded to a voting body of 125 who will select the five finalists and the eventual 2007 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Winner.
"USA Baseball is extremely proud to recognize these 50 athletes and their respective baseball programs as semi-finalists for the 2007 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award," said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO. "To see 40 different schools represented on this year's semi-finalist list speaks to the level of college baseball talent across the country."
