DURHAM, N.C. – Bradley senior outfielder Mike Tauchman (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd H.S.) is one of 30 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, presented annually by USA Baseball to the nation's top amateur player.
Sponsored by Major League Baseball and presented each year to the player who best exhibits exceptional on-field ability and exemplary sportsmanship, the list of previous Golden Spikes Award winners includes: Terry Francona (1980), Robin Ventura (1988), J.D. Drew (1997), Mark Prior (2001), Jered Weaver (2004), Tim Lincecum (2006), David Price (2007), Buster Posey (2008), Stephen Strasburg (2009) and Bryce Harper (2010).
The 2013 Joe Carter Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, Tauchman continues to lead the nation with a .425 batting average and he ranks fifth with a .513 on-base percentage. Tauchman's .425 batting average in 49 games is the best-ever by a Brave with at least 100 at-bats in a season and the best by a Valley player since Pat Magness led the league with a .464 average in 1998. Tauchman also leads The Valley by averaging 1.1 runs scored per game and 1.9 runs produced per game (a combination of runs scored, plus runs batted in, minus home runs). He also is second in the league with 28 stolen bases and his eight outfield assists rank among the nation's best.
Tauchman also is a semifinalist for the inaugural Gregg Olson Award, which will be presented to the nation's “Breakout Player of the Year.”
In addition of voting by a panel of USA Baseball National Team coaches and press officers, members of the media who follow closely the amateur game and select professional baseball personnel and USA Baseball staff, fans also may participate in an online vote for the 2013 Golden Spikes Award at GoldenSpikesAward.com through June 3. Once the three finalists are announced June 4, voting will resume through June 14 and the award will be presented live July 19 during MLB Network's “The Rundown.”
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