Florida sophomore Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) was named as one of the three finalists for the 2011 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award announced on Monday. The first Gator ever to become a finalist, he joins Jake Lowery of James Madison and Chris O’Brien of Wichita State vying for the prize presented to the nation’s top catcher.
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 14th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 30.
The 2011 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and already tabbed as an All-American, Zunino is a member of the 2011 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and was also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy. The first-team All-SEC selection leads the top-ranked Gators and is among the league leaders in batting average (.371), total bases (155), hits (86), runs (68), doubles (21), homers (16), slugging percentage (.668) and on-base percentage (.442). He has registered a .996 fielding percentage, with two errors in 503 chances, and has thrown out almost a third of the runners who have attempted to steal on him.
Zunino batted .422 in conference games, second behind LSU’s Mikie Mahtook (.425), and had 36 runs, 33 RBI, 14 doubles and eight homers in the 30 league outings. He became the first Florida catcher to earn first-team All-SEC since Mario Linares in 1991 and was a two-time SEC Player of the Week recipient. Last weekend, Zunino was voted to the NCAA Gainesville Regional All-Tournament Team at catcher after batting .455 (5-for-11) with five runs, two double and a homer.
Johnny 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.
Statistics as of June 6, 2011
Statistics as of June 6, 2011
| Player | AVG | GP-GS | AB | R | H |
| Lowery | .359 | 61-60 | 251 | 80 | 90 |
| O’Brien | .410 | 65-64 | 244 | 56 | 100 |
| Zunino | .371 | 64-62 | 232 | 68 | 86 |
| Player | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | TB |
| Lowery | 22 | 8 | 24 | 91 | 200 |
| O’Brien | 25 | 1 | 10 | 70 | 157 |
| Zunino | 21 | 0 | 16 | 62 | 155 |
| Player | SLG% | BB | HBP | SO | OB% |
| Lowery | .797 | 38 | 2 | 47 | .442 |
| O’Brien | .643 | 40 | 5 | 18 | .495 |
| Zunino | .668 | 28 | 3 | 45 | .442 |
| Player | PO | A | E | FLD% | |
| Lowery | 397 | 80 | 3 | .994 | |
| O’Brien | 463 | 49 | 4 | .992 | |
| Zunino | 468 | 33 | 2 | .996 | |
| Player | SBA-ATT | CSB% | PB | C | |
| Lowery | 45-79 | 43.03 | 6 | 0 | |
| O’Brien | 60-77 | 22.07 | 9 | 0 | |
| Zunino | 27-37 | 27.02 | 6 | 1 |
