UF's Mike Zunino Named Johnny Bench Award Semifinalist
Thursday, May 19, 2011 | Baseball
University of Florida sophomore catcher Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) was named as one of the 13 semifinalists for the 2011 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award delivered by Papa John's Pizza announced by The Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission on Thursday.
Zunino is enjoying a tremendous campaign for fourth-ranked Florida (39-14/20-7 SEC) and paces the club in nine different offensive categories: batting average (.368), total bases (127), hits (70), runs scored (56), RBI (53), doubles (18), homers (13), slugging percentage (.668) and on-base percentage (.440). Defensively, he has thrown out nine runners attempting to steal and has registered a .998 fielding percentage with one error in 423 chances.
According to the most recent SEC statistics for overall games, Zunino is first in both runs scored and RBI, second in slugging percentage, total bases and round-trippers and rates third in batting average and doubles. His .400 average in league action ranks third and he is among the top five in seven other categories: slugging percentage (.695, first), total bases (73, first), doubles (13, first), runs scored (30, second), RBI (27, second), homers (six, third), hits (42, fourth).
The Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award semifinalists are (in alphabetical order):
• Tony Caldwell, Auburn University
• Curt Casali, Vanderbilt University
• John Hicks, University of Virginia
• Tyler Jones, Long Island University
• Jake Lowery, James Madison University
• James McCann, University of Arkansas
• Chris O'Brien, Wichita State University
• Tyler Ogle, University of Oklahoma
• Kevin Plawecki, Purdue University
• Matt Rice, Western Kentucky University
• Nick Rickles, Stetson University
• Derek Trent, East Tennessee State University
• Mike Zunino, University of Florida
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 on June 6. A final vote among the national committee will occur during the NCAA College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and Johnny Bench will present the award at the 14th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 30.
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.
For all of the latest information on Florida baseball, log on to http://www.gatorzone.com/baseball/ or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account @GatorZoneBB at www.twitter.com/GatorZoneBB.
