DURHAM, N.C. -- USA Baseball has announced the names of the 30 semifinalists for the 2012 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award (GSA). This marks the 35th consecutive year that the award has been presented to the nation’s top amateur baseball player.
Michael Roth (South Carolina) and Mike Zunino (Florida) were semifinalists for the 2011 GSA and return to the list for 2012. Texas A&M tops all schools with three semifinalists, Florida State and Louisiana State each have two, and in total 26 colleges and universities are represented on the list. Among conferences, the SEC leads with six players, while the ACC and Big 12 have five and the Pac-12 has four. Juniors are tops with 16 semifinalists and they are joined by five sophomores and eight seniors. Carlos Rodon (North Carolina State) is the only freshman on the list.
A complete list of the 30 2012 Golden Spikes Award semifinalists is as follows:
Name, Position, Class, School, Conference
Mark Appel, RHP, Junior, Stanford, Pac-12
Sean Bignall, OF, Senior, Arkansas-Little Rock, Sun Belt
Jayce Boyd, IF, Junior, Florida State, ACC
Kris Bryant, IF, Sophomore, San Diego, WCC
Kevin Gausman, RHP, Sophomore, Louisiana State, SEC
Jeff Gelalich, OF, Junior, UCLA, Pac-12
Marco Gonzales, LHP/IF, Sophomore, Gonzaga, WCC
Andrew Heaney, LHP, Junior, Oklahoma State, Big 12
Kurt Heyer, RHP, Junior, Arizona, Pac-12
Goose Kallunki, IF, Senior, Utah Valley, Great West
Daniel Kassouf, IF, Senior, Appalachian State, SoCon
Alex Keudell, RHP, Senior, Oregon, Pac-12
Trenton Moses, IF, RS-Junior, Southeast Missouri, Ohio Valley
Tyler Naquin, OF, Junior, Texas A&M, Big 12
D.J. Peterson, IF, Sophomore, New Mexico, Mountain West
Nick Petree, RHP, RS-Sophomore, Missouri State, Missouri Valley
Kevin Plawecki, C, Junior, Purdue, Big Ten
Danny Poma, OF, Senior, Hofstra, CAA
James Ramsey, OF, Senior, Florida State, ACC
Raph Rhymes, OF, Junior, Louisiana State, SEC
Carlos Rodon, LHP, Freshman, North Carolina State, ACC
Michael Roth, LHP, Senior, South Carolina, SEC
Richie Shaffer, IF, Junior, Clemson, ACC
Chris Stratton, RHP, Junior, Mississippi State, SEC
Ross Stripling, RHP, Senior, Texas A&M, Big 12
Marcus Stroman, RHP, Junior, Duke, ACC
Josh Turley, LHP, Junior, Baylor, Big 12
Michael Wacha, RHP, Junior, Texas A&M, Big 12
Alex Yarbrough, IF, Junior, Mississippi, SEC
Mike Zunino, C, Junior, Florida, SEC