University of Richmond Athletics
Mahoney Listed On Initial 2007 Wallace Watch List
11/21/2006 | Baseball
Nov. 21, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond Spider junior first baseman Joe Mahoney was part of the College Baseball Foundation's 2007 Brooks Wallace Award Watch list, as announced by the organization Tuesday. Mahoney joins 147 players from the around the country who will be considered for the National Player of the Year honor presented in mid-June 2007.
Mahoney, one of four student-athletes from the Atlantic 10 on the watch list, ranked second on the team last season with an average of .356. The Troy, N.Y., native led the squad with 49 RBI, and had the second-best slugging percentage on the team with a .495 mark. The All-Atlantic 10 second team selection in 2006, hit .336 against the conference, while three of his five total homeruns came against squads in the A-10.
"It is a tremendous honor to be listed with some of the best college baseball players in the country," Mahoney said. "I am sure some these guys will go on to have successful professional careers."
Mahoney had a successful summer in 2006 as a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League's Orleans Cardinals. Mahoney hit .233 in 39 games for the Cardinals including 10 RBI and two homeruns. The junior had a slugging percentage of .318, going against some of the top draft-eligible pitchers in the country in an all wood-bat league.
"I now have to focus on the upcoming season," Mahoney added. "My hope is that we are successful in the Atlantic 10. I feel for us to be successful I, along with a number of other players on the team, have to perform at the level we know we are capable of."
The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semi-finalists by late May. Then the selection committee will narrow the list to three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals, prior to the College World Series. The finalists, their head coaches and parents will be invited to Lubbock, Texas, for a schedule of special events tied to the award banquet, which will be nationally televised by Fox Sports Network and Fox College Sports.
Dedicated to the memory of former Texas Tech shortstop and assistant coach, Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977-80. 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 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 selection committee for the Wallace Award is comprised of a national panel of preeminent coaches, sports information directors, former winners and beat media who most closely follow the sport. Screening Committee members will evaluate the candidates and will continue their review throughout the entire baseball season. The list will expand and contract during the regular season and additional Wallace Watch candidates may be added as the season progresses. Voting for the three finalists and the Wallace Award winner will be conducted by confidential balloting, with totals tabulated by the J.W. Anderson & Associates accounting firm in Lubbock, Texas.
Be sure to logon to Richmond's official athletics website -- RichmondSpiders.com for all the latest information on Spider baseball as the 2007 roster and schedule are due to be released in the coming weeks.
