Morgan On Johnny Bench Award Watch List
March 09, 2017 | Baseball
Morgan is batting .342 through 11 games and has a team-high 10 RBIs. Behind the plate, he is a perfect 6-for-6 in throwing out would-be base stealers.
The junior from Sisters, Ore. is one of the Pac-12's top prospects and is ranked 16th overall by D1Baseball.com. Morgan earned 2016 All-Pac-12 recognition after seeing action in all 56 games -- 50 starts at catcher -- and leading the Huskies with 12 doubles. He was also on the 2016 Johnny Bench Watch List.
The watch list will be narrowed down to the semifinalists, whom will be announced May 17, 2017. Ballots will be sent to the national voting panel at the end of May for a vote to determine the three finalists. The finalists will be announced June 5, 2017. A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced at the 20th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 29, 2017.
While Bench is remembered for his offense, he may have had the greatest impact behind the plate. He was the first receiver to use a protective helmet in the field, popularized catching one-handed and kept his throwing hand behind his back to protect it from foul tips.
Bench's career honors include: National League Rookie of the Year (1968); National League Most Valuable Player (1970, 1972); World Series Most Valuable Player (1976); 14-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner. In 1980, he set an endurance record by catching 100+ games for 13 consecutive seasons. Bench was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in January 1989 with the fourth highest percentage of total votes cast.
Johnny Bench presented Miami catcher, Zack Collins, with the award last June in Wichita, Kansas. Logan Ice of Oregon State University and Keith Skinner of University of North Florida were the other finalists for the award.
