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Doolittle Named Finalist for Brooks Wallace National Player of the Year Award
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June 13, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia sophomore left-handed pitcher/first baseman Sean Doolittle has been named one of the three finalists for the Brooks Wallace Award given to the nation’s top player by the College Baseball Foundation. He also was named second team All-American by Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association on Tuesday.
Doolittle joins Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year Wes Roemer of Cal State Fullerton and C-USA Pitcher of the Year Brad Lincoln of Houston as a finalist. Doolittle had another great season for the Cavaliers as he went 11-2 on the mound with a 2.38 ERA. He registered 108 strikeouts in 90.2 innings while holding opponents to a .193 batting avg. He tied for the team-lead in RBI (57) and tied the single-season record for base on balls (54). Doolittle came within one win on the mound of tying the single season school record wins. Doolittle hit .324 with 70 hits, 15 doubles, one triple and four home runs after playing in all 62 games for the Cavaliers. Virginia won a school record 47 games in 2006 and a school record 21 conference games. He helped UVa to a third place finish in the ACC.
Doolittle was named the 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and a first team All-ACC selection as a starting pitcher. He has been named a second team All-American by Louisville Slugger, the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association and Baseball America as a utility player. He also was named to the College Baseball Foundation’s All-America team. Doolittle was also selected SEBaseball.com’s ACC Player of the Year and a first team All-ACC selection by SEBaseball.com.
The Brooks Wallace Award is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate baseball player and will be nationally televised on Fox Sports Network, and its’ award-winning family of regional affiliate networks, as well as Fox College Sports. The trophy and Wallace Award winner will become part of the permanent display in the College Baseball Hall of Fame under construction in Lubbock.
2006 Wallace Award Finalist Quick Bios
Wes Roemer, Cal State Fullerton, P, So., Glendora, California
The right-hander tossed three complete games, including two shutouts, while finishing play through the Super Regional with a (13-1) record. He has pitched 141.2 innings and only given up an astonishing six walks versus 134 strikeouts. His performances earned him four CBF National Honor Roll berths and Big West Pitcher of the Week honors this season. Roemer, who was previously named Co-Player of the Year by Collegiate Baseball and to the CBF All American Honors Team, was also named the 2006 Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year.
Brad Lincoln, Houston, P/1B, Jr., Clute, Texas
Emerged as one of the nation’s finest all-around players, compiling a sparkling (12-2) record, with a 1.64 ERA and 141 strikeouts in 113.0 innings of work. In C-USA games only as he has assembled a (8-0) record and was also one of the Cougars’ leading hitters with a .297 average, 13 home runs and a team-leading 52 RBIs. He blasted a home run and earned a pitching win in games at UC Irvine and against C-USA rival Tulane earlier this season, joining current San Diego Padre pitcher Woody Williams as the only players to hit a home run and collect a win from the mound in the same game twice during their careers. He was the fourth pick overall in the MLB draft by Pittsburgh.
Sean Doolittle, Virginia, P/1B, So., Tabernacle, New Jersey
Started all 62 games for the Cavaliers, rotating between first base and pitcher. At the plate, Doolittle hit .324 with 70 hits in 216 at-bats. He tied for the team lead in RBI (57), tied the school record for base-on-balls (54) and posted a .981 fielding percentage. The sophomore southpaw also started 15 games on the mound for the Cavaliers posting a record of (11-2), with a save and a team-leading ERA of 2.38, registering 108 strikeouts in 90.2 innings, while holding opponents to a .193 batting average. He is one of only four pitchers in UVa history to win at least 10 games.
Roemer, Lincoln, and Doolittle, along with their parents and head coaches, George Horton of Cal State Fullerton, Rayner Noble of Houston and Brian O’Connor of Virginia, will travel to Lubbock for a two-day celebration of college baseball on July 3-4, which will feature the theme ‘The Past Meets Present’.
The annual award banquet will be held on Monday, July 3rd at 6:30 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena, on the campus of Texas Tech University. Information regarding the sale of individual tickets, as well as group and corporate tables to the VIP event, is available by calling (806) 723-8232 or via the CBF website: www.collegebaseballfoundation.org
On Tuesday, July 4th, the Wallace finalists will serve as Grand Marshall’s in the annual 4th on Broadway Parade, and along with the 2006 Hall of Fame Inductees, will be accessible to attendees during a ‘Hall of Fame Fan Fest’ following the parade.
The Brooks Wallace Award is dedicated to the memory of the former Texas Tech player and assistant coach, who was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A four-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 final CBF National Selection Committee balloting to pick the 2006 Wallace Award winner will conclude at Midnight, June 29th. The group is comprised of a select national panel of coaches, sports information directors, former winners and beat media (print, radio and television) who most closely follow the sport on a daily basis. The Wallace Award is the only major collegiate honor of its’ type that tracks the nominees through the entire season, from first pitch through the completion of the NCAA College World Series. Voting for the Wallace Award winner will be conducted by confidential balloting, with totals tabulated by the J.W.Anderson & Associates accounting firm in Lubbock, TX.
Kurt Suzuki of Cal State Fullerton won the 2004 Brooks Wallace Award and was followed by Alex Gordon of Nebraska in 2005. The awards’ lineage includes former Player of the Year winners Andy Benes, Ben McDonald, Mike Kelly, Bobby Jones, Mike Smith, Darren Dreifort, Jason Varitek, Mark Kotsay, Kris Benson, Lance Berkman, Brad Wilkerson and Jason Jennings.
The one-hour Wallace Award presentation will debut on Fox Sports Southwest, on Saturday, July 8th at 3 p.m. (CDT), and will be carried nationally by FSN affiliates such as Sun Network, Fox Sports Southeast, FSN Arizona, FSN Northwest and FSN West, among others. The Fox College Sports networks (Atlantic, Central and Pacific) will debut the program on July 9th via FCS-Atlantic, 4 pm EDT; FCS-Central, 10 am and 11:00pm CDT, as well as FCS-Pacific, 3 pm PDT.