The semifinalists for the inaugural Josh Willingham Award presented by College Baseball Lineup and D2BaseballNews.com have been announced.  The new annual award honors DII college baseball’s “most valuable player” – an individual who not only excels on the field, but in the dugout, clubhouse and practice field as well, and leads his team to national championship caliber status. The twenty-eight players selected are on teams preparing to take to the diamond as a part the opening round of double-elimination Regional Championship Tournament which will determine the eight teams who will advance to Cary, NC to a compete for the DII national title.

The award is named after the former University of North Alabama Lion star, Josh Willingham. While playing baseball at UNA Willingham was a two-time All American and tied or broke 14 school single-game, season and career records. After his junior season Willingham was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 17th round of the Major League Baseball Draft and he is currently in the midst of his 10th season at the highest professional level.

The determination of the semifinalists candidates and initial voting for the award has been made by a select panel of baseball sports information contacts and media members. Once a group of finalists are selected, the panel will vote again and a fan Internet vote is planned to contribute to the selection of the winner.

The finalists are scheduled to be named on Monday, May 20th. The winner will be announced at the conclusion of the DII Baseball Championship held in Cary, NC from May 25th to June 1st.

For more information about the award visit www.willinghamaward.com.

2013 Josh Willingham Award Semifinalists

DALLAS – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association continues its tradition of NCAA Division I polls for the 16th year with its 2013 weekly surveys. Polls will be circulated from Feb. 18-June 27 (weekly through June 11) following the 67th annual NCAA World Series in Omaha, Neb., at TD Ameritade Park.

Arkansas (preseason), North Carolina (next 10 surveys) and Vanderbilt (three polls from April 29-May 13) have held the No. 1 positions during the 2013 NCBWA Top 30/35s. The NCBWA poll voters come from 44 college baseball writers and related media persons from throughout the nation.

The current poll has representation by 12 different conferences (18 total for the season) among the 298 baseball-playing schools in the 2013 NCAA Division I ranks. The surveys of 2012 had a NCBWA-poll record 22 different DI conferences and independents rated at least one week. For more information or to join the NCBWA, please go to www.ncbwa.com.

Rank-School-2013 Record-Previous Rank
1 Vanderbilt Southeastern 45-6 1
2 LSU SEC 45-7 4
3 Oregon State Pac-12 41-8 5
4 North Carolina Atlantic Coast Conference 45-6 2
5 Cal State Fullerton Big West 41-8 3 Continue reading →

College Baseball Lineup is proud to announce the creation of the Josh Willingham Award, an honor to DII college baseball’s most valuable player. The award is to bestowed upon a player who not only excels on the field, but in the dugout, clubhouse and practice field as well, and leads his team to national championship caliber status. Because the award honors players who help propel their teams to an elite level, only players from teams who advance to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship are eligible.

The award is named after the former University of North Alabama Lion star, Josh Willingham. While playing baseball at UNA Willingham was a two-time All American and tied or broke 14 school single-game, season and career records. After his junior season he was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 17th round of the Major League Baseball Draft and he is currently in the midst of his 10th season at the highest professional level.

The semifinalists for the 2013 will be named this week prior to the start of the extended NCAA postseason. The determination of candidates and initial voting for the award will be made by a select panel of baseball sports information contacts and media members. Once a group of finalists are selected, the panel will vote again with a fan Internet vote also contributing to the of the winner.

The finalists are scheduled to be named on Monday, May 20th. The winner will be announced at the conclusion of the DII Baseball Championship held in Cary, NC from May 25th to June 1st.

For more information about the award visit www.willinghamaward.com.

ATLANTIC REGION TOP 10

NATIONAL TOP 25

Rank-School-2013 Record-Previous Rank
1 Vanderbilt Southeastern 41-6 1
2 North Carolina Atlantic Coast 42-4 2
3 Cal State Fullerton Big West 39-7 3
4 LSU SEC 43-6 4
5 Oregon State Pac-12 37-8 5 Continue reading →