/
.
Doolittle Named to Wallace Award Watch List
Story Links
Nov. 25, 2005
Charlottesville, Va. — University of Virginia sophomore first baseman/left-handed pitcher Sean Doolittle (Tabernacle, N.J.) is among the 120 preseason nominees for the 2006 Brooks Wallace Award Watch List, the College Baseball Foundation in Lubbock, Texas has announced. The Brooks Wallace Award is presented annually to the national college baseball player of the year.
Doolittle, one of the nation’s top two-way players, hit .313 last spring with 70 hits, 11 home runs and 57 RBIs. He started all 59 games in the field for the Cavaliers while helping lead the club to the 2005 ACC Tournament Championship game and a NCAA Regional appearance. Doolittle also made 22 appearances on the mound and going 3-2 with a 1.64 ERA and two saves, He recorded 66 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings. The Tabernacle, N.J. native was also named to the All-ACC Second Team, ACC All-Tournament Team, Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Team and Baseball America Freshman All-American First Team last season.
Following the collegiate season, Doolittle was selected to the USA Baseball National Team. He posted a .347 batting average during his stint with Team USA – second-highest on the elite American squad. He recorded 17 hits, 11 runs scored, nine RBI and five doubles.
The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semi-finalists by late May. Then the selection committee will narrow the list to three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals at a press conference in Omaha. The finalists, their head coaches, and their parents will be invited to Lubbock, TX, for a schedule of special events tied to the award banquet, which will again be nationally televised by Fox Sports Network.
Dedicated to the memory of former Texas Tech shortstop and assistant coach, Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A 4-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District Six his senior year when he led the Red Raiders to their first-ever appearance in the Southwest Conference Tournament. After playing two years in the Texas Rangers organization, he returned to Texas Tech and served as a graduate assistant and later as an assistant coach. In the summer of 1984 he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27. The Plano, Texas, native was married to the former Sandy Arnold and they had one daughter, Lindsay Ryan.
The selection committee for the Wallace Award is comprised of a national panel of preeminent coaches, sports information directors, former winners and beat media who most closely follow the sport. Screening Committee members will evaluate the candidates and will continue their review throughout the entire baseball season. The list will expand and contract during the regular season and additional Wallace Watch candidates may be added as the season progresses. Voting for the three finalists and the Wallace Award winner will be conducted by confidential balloting, with totals tabulated by the J.W.Anderson & Associates accounting firm in Lubbock, TX.