WICHITA, Kan. ? South Alabama junior catcher Joel Collins has been selected as one of the top 10 Division I catchers in the nation, as the semi finalists for the 2007 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award delivered by AT&T were announced in Wichita, Kan. late last week.
A three-year Jag starter, Collins, a Richmond Hill, Ont. native has become the face of the Jag program, playing all but six games in his college career. Up until a bout with strep throat cost him two mid-week games two weeks ago, Collins had started every game in 2007.
Hitting .339 with 10 doubles and 10 home runs, Collins has moved up the Jag batting order this season and has settled into the number five spot in Head Coach Steve Kittrell’s lineup. Recently Collins has led the way as the Jags won six of their final nine games to qualify for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. In those nine games, Collins hit .421 with three doubles and four home runs. His 13 RBIs led the team in that stretch and included a go-ahead grand slam versus Western Kentucky May 13th.
Defensively, Collins is one of the best catchers in the country. He leads all nominated catchers in caught stealing percentage. Along with controlling the pitching staff, Collins has made a career out of throwing out base stealers. This season, Collins is 26-52 in throwing out runners. Only one catcher in Major League Baseball, Ivan Rodriguez (52%) threw out a higher percentage during the 2006 season. In his career he has thrown out 45.8% of base stealers.
A quintessential team player, Collins will help the club anyway possible. In his career he has been hit 47 times, setting a new South Alabama school record. He was hit seven times in 2005, 19 times in 2006 and 21 times this season to break a record previously held by Harold Dueitt. The 21 hit-by-pitches this season are tied for the single season record at USA. Collins shares that record with I.B. Stacey.
Collins and the Jags will be back in action this week, as USA meets No. 1 seeded Louisiana-Lafayette in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Stanky Field.
Mitch Canham Oregon State University
Joel Collins University of South Alabama
Lars Davis University of Illinois
Edward Easley Mississippi State University
Alex Garabedian College of Charleston
Chris Gradoville Creighton University
Trent Kline University of South Carolina
Buster Posey Florida State University
Tyler Weber Wichita State University
Matt Wieters Georgia Tech
The three finalists will be announced June 5th, 2007.
