OTTAWA- USA Baseball has named two Canadians enjoying spectacular NCAA seasons in 2019 to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list.
Nanaimo, BC product Josh Burgmann, a right-handed pitcher currently in his sophomore campaign at the University of Washington, and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia’s Jake Sanford, an outfielder in his junior season at Western Kentucky University, were among 40 names revealed today by USA Baseball.
The Golden Spikes Award is presented annually to the top amateur baseball player in the United States with former winners including current big leaguers Andrew Benintendi (’15), Kris Bryant (’13), Mike Zunino (’12), Trevor Bauer (’11), Bryce Harper (’10), Stephen Strasburg ('09), Buster Posey ('08) and David Price (’07).
The 42nd Golden Spikes Award winner will be announced on June 14.
Burgmann currently leads the Pac-12 conference with 59 strikeouts and carries a 2.29 ERA and 3-1 record over eight starts on the mound with the Huskies. The 21-year-old spent two years (2015, 2016) with the Junior National Team program and represented Canada at the 2015 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in Osaka, Japan where he recorded wins over Chinese Taipei and Australia.
Sanford, 21, leads the Hilltoppers in most offensive categories including home runs (15), RBI (46), hits (49) and OPS (1.343) and sports a .395 batting average in 124 at-bats. The McCook (NE) Community College transfer represented his home province of Nova Scotia at the 2014 Baseball Canada Cup in Saskatoon.
The 2019 Golden Spikes Award timeline:
•May 15: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists announced, voting begins
•May 26: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists voting ends
•May 29: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists announced, voting begins
•June 10: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists voting ends
•June 14: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award trophy presentation
To view the complete list of 40 players named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list, please click here.
