May 21, 2024

2022 Legion Baseball player of year named semifinalist for Golden Spikes Award

By The American Legion
Baseball
2022 Legion Baseball player of year named semifinalist for Golden Spikes Award
Troy Post 70 catcher Brooks Bryan celebrates after winning Game 15 of The American Legion World Series on Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium in Shelby, N.C., on Tuesday, August 16. Photo by Chet Strange/The American Legion

Troy University’s Brooks Bryan is among 25 players vying for college baseball’s top honor.

The 2022 American Legion Baseball George W. Rulon Player of the Year is a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award.

Brooks Bryan, a catcher for Troy University, is among 25 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, presented annually to the top college baseball player in the nation.

Fan voting is available at GoldenSpikesAward.com through June 3. Finalists will be announced June 5, with fan voting open again June 5-21. The Golden Spikes Award will be presented June 22 on ESPN before Game 1 of the College World Series finals.

Bryan, who in 2022 helped lead Troy (Ala.) Post 70 to the state’s first American Legion World Series championship since 1967, leads the Trojans with 17 home runs and a .599 slugging percentage entering this week’s Sun Belt Conference tournament. He has a school record 82 RBIs this season, which is third nationally. Bryan had a 14-game RBI streak from April 13 through May 4, with 30 RBIs during that streak. Primarily a catcher, he was named first-team All-Sun Belt on Monday.

Semifinalists

The complete list of Golden Spikes Award semifinalists, with position, school and conference:

Jamie Arnold; LHP; Florida State; ACC

Travis Bazzana; INF; Oregon State; Pac-12

Brooks Bryan; C; Troy; Sun Belt

Blake Burke; 1B; Tennessee; SEC

Chase Burns; RHP; Wake Forest; ACC

Drew Burress; OF; Georgia Tech; ACC

Jac Caglianone; LHP/1B; Florida; SEC

Charlie Condon; 1B/OF; Georgia; SEC

Lawson Harrill; OF; Campbell; CAA

Luke Holman; RHP; LSU; SEC

Vance Honeycutt; OF; UNC; ACC

Walker Janek; C; Sam Houston; C-USA

Ryan Johnson; RHP; Dallas Baptist; C-USA

Dakota Jordan; OF; Mississippi State; SEC

Josh Kuroda-Grauer; INF; Rutgers; Big Ten

Nick Kurtz; 1B; Wake Forest; ACC

Jace LaViolette; OF; Texas A&M; SEC

Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman; RHP; ECU; AAC

Braden Montgomery; OF/RHP; Texas A&M; SEC

Christian Moore; INF; Tennessee; SEC

Hagen Smith; LHP; Arkansas; SEC

James Tibbs III; OF/1B; Florida State; ACC

Payton Tolle; LHP/INF; TCU; Big 12

Blake Wright; INF; Clemson; ACC

Trey Yesavage; RHP; ECU; AAC

Previous winners

Previous Golden Spikes Award winners:

1978: Bob Horner; 3B; Arizona State

1979: Tim Wallach; 3B; Cal State Fullerton

1980: Terry Francona; 1B; Arizona (played American Legion Baseball in Pennsylvania)

1981: Mike Fuentes; OF; Florida State

1982: Augie Schmidt; SS; New Orleans

1983: Dave Magadan; 3B; Alabama (played American Legion Baseball for Tampa (Fla.) Post 248; won ALWS and Player of the Year in 1981)

1984: Oddibe McDowell; OF; Arizona State

1985: Will Clark; 1B; Mississippi State (played American Legion Baseball for New Orleans Post 125)

1986: Mike Loynd; P; Florida State

1987: Jim Abbott; P; Michigan

1988: Robin Ventura; 3B; Oklahoma State

1989: Ben McDonald: P; LSU

1990: Alex Fernández; P; Miami-Dade Community College

1991: Mike Kelly; OF; Arizona State

1992: Phil Nevin; 3B; Cal State Fullerton

1993: Darren Dreifort; P; Wichita State

1994: Jason Varitek; C; Georgia Tech

1995: Mark Kotsay; OF; Cal State Fullerton

1996: Travis Lee; 1B; San Diego State

1997: J.D. Drew; OF; Florida State

1998: Pat Burrell; 3B; Miami (FL)

1999: Jason Jennings; P; Baylor

2000: Kip Bouknight; P; South Carolina

2001: Mark Prior; P; USC

2002: Khalil Greene; SS; Clemson

2003: Rickie Weeks; 2B; Southern

2004: Jered Weaver; P; Long Beach State

2005: Alex Gordon; 3B; Nebraska (played American Legion Baseball for Lincoln (Neb.) Post 3)

2006: Tim Lincecum; P; Washington

2007: David Price; P; Vanderbilt

2008: Buster Posey; C; Florida State

2009: Stephen Strasburg; P; San Diego State

2010: Bryce Harper; C/OF; College of Southern Nevada (played American Legion Baseball for Las Vegas)

2011: Trevor Bauer; P; UCLA

2012: Mike Zunino; C; Florida

2013: Kris Bryant; 3B; San Diego (played American Legion Baseball for Las Vegas)

2014: A.J. Reed; 1B/P; Kentucky (played American Legion Baseball for Terre Haute (Ind.) Post 346)

2015: Andrew Benintendi; OF; Arkansas

2016: Kyle Lewis; OF; Mercer

2017: Brendan McKay; 1B/P; Louisville (played American Legion Baseball for Blackhawk (Pa.))

2018: Andrew Vaughn; 1B; California

2019: Adley Rutschman; C; Oregon State

2020: no award

2021: Kevin Kopps; P; Arkansas

2022: Ivan Melendez; 1B; Texas

2023: Dylan Crews; OF; LSU

 

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