Elon's Swim Included on Johnny Bench Award Watch List
WICHITA, Kan. -- Among the 43 catchers on the official watch list for the 2012 Johnny Bench Award is Elon's Alex Swim. The Johnny Bench Award is presented by BaseballSavings.com and is handed out by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission.
Those on the list were nominated by their coaches and is presented annually to the top catcher at the NCAA Division I ranks. The list will be updated until May 7, 2012. Nominees must serve as a team's starting catcher in at least 75 percent of the squad's games.
Swim, a Greensboro, N.C., native has started all 12 games for Elon with nine of the starts coming behind the plate. A preseason second-team All-SoCon selection, he is currently hitting .271 with eight RBI. He has thrown out nearly 25 percent of attempted base stealers so far in 2012.
Swim is one of four Southern Conference catchers on the watch list.
James Madison's Jake Lowery earned the honor in 2011.
SAMFORD'S BRAD MOSS NAMED TO JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-Samford senior catcher Brad Moss has been named to the watch list for the 2012 Johnny Bench Award, presented by BaseballSavings.com.
The Johnny Bench Award is presented annually to the nation's top catcher. The winner of the award must be the team's starting catcher in at least 75 percent of this season's games.
"Over the past couple of years we have completely turned our pitching staff over to him," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said of Moss. "Last year's success on the mound was a direct results of Brad's ability to call the game and work with our pitchers. We often take for granted how much Brad does for our team, but week to week opposing coaches rave about him to our staff about the job he does for us."
So far this season, Moss is batting .278 (10-for-36). Moss has a double, a home run and eight RBI for the Bulldogs this season. Defensively, Moss leads the team in putouts with 109 so far this season.
Moss is in his fourth season as the team's starting catcher. He has developed into one of the most dependable catchers in the Southern Conference. For his career, Moss has a .259 batting average. He has driven in 61 runs.
The Johnny Bench Award will be presented at the Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 28.
Wofford's David Roney Named To Johnny Bench Award Watch List
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission has announced the official watch list for the 2012 Johnny Bench Award presented by BaseballSavings.com. Wofford senior David Roney is one of forty-three catchers on the list.
The catchers are nominated for the award by their coaches. Because the award is given annually to the top division one collegiate catcher, the list will be updated to include other candidates until May 7, 2012. The annual award is to honor those athletes that serve as a team's starting catcher in at least 75% of the games.
Johnny Bench presented James Madison catcher, Jake Lowery, with the award last June in Wichita, Kansas. Mike Zunino of the University of Florida and Chris O'Brien of Wichita State University were the other finalists for the award.
Roney, from Phoenix, Arizona, has started eleven of twelve games this season at catcher and is second on the team with 72 putouts. In 2011 he started 50 of 54 games played at catcher and was second on the team in home runs. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Roney is a humanities major.
The Terriers will play Presbyterian College on Thursday night at Fluor Field in Greenville at 6:00 p.m.
Dowdy Named to Watch List
Leading a slew of Mountaineers swinging hot bats is catcher Jeremy Dowdy, who has four multi-hit efforts and 12 RBI in the last six games. Late on Wednesday, the senior, who has reached base in all 11 games that he's played this season and has thrown out a spectacular 60 percent of would-be base-stealers, was named to the official watch list for the Johnny Bench Award. Dowdy is one of 43 players nationwide on the watch list for the Bench Award, which is given annually to college baseball's top catcher.