Former Florida catcher Mike Zunino made it a clean sweep of the
major college baseball postseason honors Friday by being named the
Golden Spikes Award winner.
Zunino, who led the
Gators to their third straight College World Series last month and was
the third overall pick of the Major League Baseball draft by the Seattle
Mariners, beat out pitchers Mark Appel of Stanford and Carlos Rodon of
North Carolina State for the award that recognizes the nation’s top
amateur player.
“USA
Baseball could not be more proud of the three Golden Spikes Award
finalists, Mike Zunino, Mark Appel and Carlos Rodon,” said Paul Seiler,
USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO. “Each athlete authored an
incredible season on the diamond this year, and they carried themselves
with class off the field as well. Mike’s performance in 2012 stood above
the rest, however, and we are honored to present such a deserving
player with the award.”
The
prestigious award, now in its 35th year, was presented on MLB Network
live from Secaucus, N.J. Zunino joined fellow catcher Buster Posey
(2008) as the only player to collect the Golden Spikes Award, the Dick
Howser Trophy and the Johnny Bench Award in the same season.
Zunino
becomes the third catcher in five years to win the GSA, joining 2010
and 2008 recipients, Bryce Harper and Posey (Florida State),
respectively. Jason Varitek (Georgia Tech, 1994) is the only other
catcher to have won the award.
Zunino
is the Florida baseball program’s first winner of the Golden Spikes
Award, and the first finalist since Matt LaPorta in 2007.
Zunino
already had been named a first-team Louisville Slugger All-American by
Collegiate Baseball to go along with his other honors.
He
will start his professional career in Everett, Wash., where he will
play for Seattle’s Single A Everett AquaSox club of the Northwest
League.
Zunino concluded the college season hitting .322 with 19 homers and 67 RBIs.
