Wednesday, May 18, 2005
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (May 18, 2005) - East Tennessee State senior catcher Caleb Moore (Knoxville, Tenn.) was announced Wednesday as one of ten semifinalists for the 2005 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award. This award is presented annually at the Greater Wichita Sports Banquet to the nation's top collegiate catcher, as voted on by a national voting committee which is comprised of sportswriters, sportscasters, Division I coaches and scouts.
Moore earned second-team Louisville Slugger All-American honors last season after leading the nation with a .455 batting average and .60 doubles per game. He was a first-team preseason selection this year and has continued his stellar play, hitting .363 with 14 home runs and 64 RBIs through 46 games. He leads the Southern Conference in homers and is seventh in the nation in runs batted in. Caleb is also ETSU's closer, going 6-2 with 10 saves and a 3.13 ERA in 23 appearances this season.
Caleb became the second player in ETSU history to record 200 career hits on Apr. 15 against Wofford and set the school career RBI record (currently 161) on Apr. 13 against Tennessee Tech.
Three finalists will be announced on June 1 and a final vote among the national selection committee will occur during the College World Series. All three finalists and their coaches will be invited to Wichita for the 8th annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 29 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Wichita. Johnny Bench will then present the award to the recipient.
The Coleman Company Johnny Bench Award Semifinalists
Andrew Butera, University of Central Florida
Jeff Clement, University of Southern California
Greg Dini, Tulane University
Tuffy Gosewisch, Arizona State University
Brett Hayes, University of Nevada
Nick Hundley, University of Arizona
Jeff Kunkel, University of Michigan
Caleb Moore, East Tennessee State University
Taylor Teagarden, University of Texas
Sean Richardson, University of Kansas
