DALLAS (NCBWA) Several candidates for the prestigious Dick Howser Trophy highlight the 14th Annual Pro-Line Athletic National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-America Team announced Wednesday.
The 2009 Pro-Line Athletic/NCBWA All-America Team includes eight now-consensus selections, and such Howser Trophy semifinalists as NCAA World Series-bound 1B Dustin Ackley of North Carolina and Arizona State pitcher Mike Leake, along with fellow luminaries pitchers Kyle Bellamy of Miami (Fla.), A.J. Morris of Kansas State, and Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State, and Johnny Bench Award finalist catcher J.T. Wise of Oklahoma.
Among the 57 standouts on the three units, there are student-athletes from 19 different conferences and 17 conference championships teams. The three All-America squads are also made up of 18 conference Player of the Year winners.
Some of the record-setting and nation-leading honorees are NCAA Division I total home run co-leader (28) OF Kent Matthes of Alabama, Pacific-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year (in both 2008 and '09) and national wins leader (16-1) Leake, versatile utility player Bryce Brentz (who tops the nation with a .465 batting average and 28 homers) of Middle Tennessee, and Strasburg (national strikeouts' pacesetter with 195 and the first player taken in Tuesday's Major League Baseball draft by the Washington Nationals). Most of the 2009 NCBWA Division I District Players of the Year made one of the three squads.
The three finalists, all among this group, for the 23rd Annual Dick Howser Trophy, as voted upon by NCBWA members and awarded since 1987, will be announced just on Saturday, June 13, in Omaha at 9:30 a.m. (CDT) at the Omaha Press Club at 16th and Dodge Streets (22nd Floor). The Dick Howser Trophy recipient will be named during the inaugural College Baseball Awards Show on July 2 at the United Spirit Center in Lubbock, Texas.
Previous Pro-Line Athletic NCBWA All-America teams from 1996-2008 have featured the likes of OF J.D. Drew of Florida State, P-DH Jason Jennings of Baylor, 1B Mark Teixeira of Georgia Tech, RHP Mark Prior of Southern California, SS Khalil Greene of Clemson, SS-2B Rickie Weeks of Southern and P David Price of Vanderbilt (all current Major Leaguers), among others.
Pro-Line Athletic is in its fifth year as a sponsor of the NCBWA. It produces and distributes plaques for National Hitter and Pitchers of the Week during the regular season and extends its award production to include plaques for each member of the Pro-Line/NCBWA All-America team.
During the Summer of 2006 Pro-Line launched into the custom game clothing business with all products being manufactured in its facility in Fort Worth, Texas. As a part of this transition, the company rebranded from Pro-Line Cap Co. to become Pro-Line Athletic a full line athletic apparel company offering American Made headwear, workout gear and uniforms.
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. For more information about the NCBWA, visit the association's official Web site, www.ncbwa.com.
For more information on the Pro-Line Athletic All-America Team, contact NCBWA Executive Director Bo Carter at 214-418-6132.
NCBWA All-America Teams since 2001:
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001