Four Hurricanes Named to Preseason Wallace Award List
Dec. 7, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – – University of Miami junior first baseman Yonder Alonso, sophomore left-handed pitcher Eric Erickson, sophomore third baseman Mark Sobolewski and junior second baseman Jemile Weeks have been named to the preseason watch list for the 2008 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award, given to the nation’s top collegiate player by the College Baseball Foundation. Miami was one of four schools (Arizona State, Miami, North Carolina, Vanderbilt) with at least four players named to the preseason watch list.
Alonso earned second team All-ACC honors, second team All-America honors from Baseball America and Louisville Slugger third-team All-America honors by Collegiate Baseball in 2007. He led the team hitting .376 with an ACC-best 18 home runs and 74 RBIs. He had a good summer playing with the Brewster Whitecaps in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League and is rated as the fifth best college prospect in the 2008 Major League Baseball amateur draft by Baseball America.
Erickson is coming off a good freshman campaign in 2007. He was selected first team All-ACC after going 10-4 with a 2.50 ERA. He had 63 strikeouts in 90 innings pitched. Opponents hit .243 against him. He went 6-2 with a 1.93 ERA in ACC games. He also earned Freshman All-America honors from Baseball America and Louisville Slugger.
Sobolewski, who split time in left field and at third base as a freshman in 2007, earned freshman All-America honors from Baseball America and Louisville Slugger. He was the Hurricanes’ second-leading hitter batting .345 with a team-high 88 hits. He had 16 doubles, eight home runs and 54 RBIs.
Weeks played in only 50 games for the Hurricanes due to injury, but hit .298 with 56 hits, 20 extra-base hits and 27 RBI. He had an ACC-best six triples and hit five home runs. He was named preseason All-American in 2007 and was on the 2007 Preseason Wallace Watch List. He was named second team All-ACC following his freshman season in 2006 and earned Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors. He is rated as the 19th best college prospect in the 2008 MLB amateur draft by Baseball America.
The Wallace Award is presented to the nation’s top collegiate baseball player in conjunction with the College Baseball Hall of Fame’s annual induction festivities. The 2008 award banquet will be held Thursday, July 3, in the United Spirit Arena on the campus of Texas Tech University.
The Wallace Award is a dedication to the memory of the former Texas Tech player and assistant coach Brooks Wallace. Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A four-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District his senior year. He led the Red Raiders to their first-ever appearance in the Southwest Conference Tournament in 1980. After playing two years in the Texas Rangers organization, he returned to Texas Tech and served as a graduate assistant and later as an assistant coach. In the summer of 1984, he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27. The Plano, TX, native was married to the former Sandy Arnold and they had one daughter, Lindsay Ryan.
