Cunningham And Yesavage Selected Semifinalists For NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy

DALLAS, Texas – East Carolina senior infielder Carter Cunningham and junior RHP Trey Yesavage have been named semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy according to an announcement by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Thursday afternoon.

The prestigious award is given to the top player in college baseball based on two rounds of national voting by NCBWA members.

The 2024 award will be presented at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, the home of the College World Series, for the 12th year. The winner also will be unveiled on MLB Network on Thursday, June 13, in the 9 a.m. (CDT) highlight show hour. A Friday, June 14, news conference with the winner will be held at 10 a.m., the opening day just prior to the first game of the 77th NCAA College World Series, in the Schwab Stadium Media Room.

This year's 68 candidates hail from 18 different conferences and 48 different schools. The Southeastern Conferences leads with 16 semifinalists with the Atlantic Coast having 13, Conference USA with six, Pac-12 with five, Big 12 and West Coast Conference with four apiece, Big West, Conference USA, Southern and Sun Belt with three, the American Athletic, Western Athletic and Ohio Valley with two and the Atlantic-10, CAA, Southland and SWAC with one.

Cunningham has built his case for American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and All-America accolades all season, currently leading the league in batting average (.400), slugging percentage (.697), on base percentage (.494), runs scored (66) and OPS (1.191) while slotting second in hits (78) and RBI (56). He also ranks 19th nationally in batting average and runs scored as well as 29th in hits.

Yesavage has been magnificent all season long, pacing the AAC in earned run average (2.13), opposing batting average (.165), strikeouts (132) and victories (10). The Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List member enters this weekend's series with Rice among the nation's leaders in victories (third), strikeouts (fourth), ERA (sixth), WHIP (0.87/sixth), strikeouts per nine innings (14.79/seventh) and fewest hits allowed per nine innings (5.15/seventh). With 14 more strikeouts, Yesavage will set the program single-season record held as of now by Jake Agnos who fanned 145 batters in 2019.

The Dick Howser Trophy, presented by The Game Headwear, is given in memory of the former Florida State University All-America shortstop and major league player and manager who died of brain cancer in 1987. The trophy is regarded as baseball's most prestigious award. Criteria for consideration of the trophy include performance on the field, leadership, moral character and courage – all qualities that were exemplified by Dick Howser's life.

The Howser Trophy was created in 1987, shortly after Howser's death. Previous winners of the Howser Trophy are Mike Fiore, Miami, 1987; Robin Ventura, Oklahoma State, 1988; Scott Bryant, Texas, 1989; Alex Fernandez, Miami-Dade Community College South, 1990; Frank Rodriguez, Howard College (Texas), 1991; Brooks Kieschnick, Texas, 1992 and 1993; Jason Varitek, Georgia Tech, 1994; Todd Helton, Tennessee, 1995; Kris Benson, Clemson, 1996; J. D. Drew, Florida State, 1997; Eddy Furniss, LSU, 1998; Jason Jennings, Baylor, 1999; Mark Teixeira, Georgia Tech, 2000; Mark Prior, P, USC, 2001, Khalil Greene, SS, Clemson, 2002; Rickie Weeks, 2B, Southern U., 2003; Jered Weaver, P, Long Beach State, 2004; Alex Gordon, 3B, Nebraska, 2005; Brad Lincoln, P/DH, Houston, 2006; David Price, P, Vanderbilt, 2007; Buster Posey, C, Florida State, 2008; Stephen Strasburg, P, San Diego State, 2009; Anthony Rendon, 3B, Rice, 2010; Taylor Jungmann, P, Texas, 2011; Mike Zunino, C, Florida, 2012; Kris Bryant, 3B, San Diego, 2013; A.J. Reed, P/1B, Kentucky, 2014; Andrew Benintendi, OF, Arkansas, 2015; Seth Beer, OF, Clemson, 2016, Brendan McKay, P/1B, Louisville, 2017, Brady Singer, SP, Florida, 2018, Adley Rutschman, C, Oregon 2019; Kevin Kopps, RP, Arkansas, 2021; Ivan Melendez, 1B, Texas, 2022 and Paul Skenes, P, LSU, 2023.

2024 Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalists
Position, Name, School
Christian Almanza, 1B, Saint Mary's
Edgar Alvarez, 1B, Nicholls
Billy Amick, 3B, Tennessee
John Anderson, 2B, Samford
Jamie Arnold, SP, Florida State
Evan Aschenbek, RP, Texas A&M
Ethan Bates, RP, Louisiana Tech
Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
Chris Beilenson, RP, Duke
Carson Benge, UTIL, Oklahoma State
Brooks Bryan, C, Troy
Chase Burns, SP, Wake Forest
Mason Burns, RP, Western Kentucky
Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech
Blake Burke, 1B, Tennessee
Ryan Campos, C, Arizona State
Jac Caglianone, UTIL, Florida
Jakob Christian, OF, San Diego
Charlie Condon, 3B, Georgia
Caleb Cozart, DH, UNC Greensboro
Carter Cunningham, 1B, East Carolina
Kyle DeBarge, SS, Louisiana
Edwin DeLaCruz, C, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Daniel Dickinson, 2B, Utah Valley
Jalin Flores, SS, Texas
Carter Gaston, SP, Portland
Lawson Harrill, OF, Campbell
Luke Holman, SP, LSU
Bridger Holmes, RP, Oregon State
Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
Walter Janek, C, Sam Houston State
Ryan Johnson, SP, DBU
Dakota Jordan, OF, Mississippi State
Keith Jones, OF, New Mexico State
Caden Kendle, OF, UC Irvine
Seaver King, 2B, Wake Forest
Josh Kuroda-Grauer, SS, Rutgers
Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
Alec Makarewicz, 3B, NC State
T.J. McCants, OF, Alabama
Cole McConell, OF, Louisiana Tech
Liam McFadden-Ackman, 1B, Northern Kentucky
LP Langevin, RP, Louisiana
Jace LaViolette, OF, Texas A&M
Caleb Lomavita, C, California
Izaak Martinez, RP, UC San Diego
Matthew Matthjis, SP, North Carolina
Lyle Miller-Green, OF, Austin Peay
Ben Miller, 3B, Duke
Gage Miller, 3B, Alabama
Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M
Christian Moore, 2B, Tennessee
Ryan Prager, SP, Texas A&M
Jake Reinisch, DH, Wake Forest
Michael Ross, SP, Samford
Brett Sears, SP, Nebraska
Austin Smith, UTIL, San Diego
Cam Smith, 3B, Florida State
Hagen Smith, SP, Arkansas
James Tibbs III, OF, Florida State
Payton Tolle, SP, TCU
JJ Wetherholt, SS, West Virginia
Mason White, SS, Arizona
Tommy White, 3B, LSU
Nick Wissman, RP, Dayton
Jakob Wright, SP, Cal Poly
Blake Wright, 3B, Clemson
Trey Yesavage, SP, East Carolina

Cunningham And Yesavage Selected Semifinalists For NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy

Players Mentioned

Carter Cunningham

Alec Makarewicz

Trey Yesavage

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