By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

During the spring they are separated by three time zones.

And when they are at home the difference is greater ... four time zones.

Yet, on Wednesday despite their different locales both Vauxhall and Nanaimo Pirates grad RHP Josh Burgmann and Dartmouth Moosehead Dry’s OF Jake Sanford were named to the Golden Spikes Award mid-season watch list by USA Baseball.

Burgmann (Nanaimo, BC) of the Washington Huskies and Sanford (Dartmouth, NS) of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers were among the 40 players that move closer to being named the top amateur player in the country.

Burgmann has developed into one of the nation’s premier pitchers in 2019. The right-hander leads the Pac-12 with 62 strikeouts, which ranks 26th nationally.

For the year, Burgmann is 3-1 with a 2.29 ERA in eight games. Of his eight starts on the season, six have been quality starts. He is holding opponents to a .228 batting average and has recorded double-digit strikeouts three times.

He is a red-shirt sophomore which means he is eligible for the June draft.

Meanwhile, Sanford continues to put his name among the best in the country. He becomes the third WKU player in program history to earn this specific distinction, following 3B Danny Hudzina in 2016 and C Matt Rice in 2011.

Sanford boasts a .395/.472/.871 slash line through his first 31 games with 49 hits — including 27 of the extra-base variety — 38 runs scored and 46 driven in. He has added 18 walks and two stolen bases, while playing every inning for WKU in right field.

In terms of Division I ranks, Sanford’s 15 home runs rank third, 46 RBIs are sixth, 38 runs scored are 23rd, 49 hits are 28th and .395 batting average ranks 45th, while his 108 total bases and .871 slugging percentage both stand third overall.

On April 3, Sanford was listed as a Perfect Game Midseason First Team All-American, becoming the first Hilltopper All-American of any kind since 2016, when Danny Hudzina was named a Third Team ABCA member at the conclusion of the season.

Sanford was the first Canadian Perfect Game Midseason All-American since Pitt SS Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.) was a Second-Teamer in 2016.

Sanford was named only the third back-to-back Conference USA Hitter of the Week _ and first since 2006 _ in league history, which dates back to 1996. On April 2, he was honored by Perfect Game as the National Player of the Week and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association as the National Hitter of the Week.

In addition, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper listed Sanford as one of seven Players of the Week, while College Sports Madness tabbed him as the National Player of the Week on April 1.

In D1 Baseball’s Week 6 Power Rankings (published on March 28) Sanford jumped from unranked to No. 46 among the nation’s outfielders.

On May 15, USA Baseball will determine its semifinalists for the 2019 Golden Spikes Award. The list of semifinalists will then be sent to a voting body consisting of media members, select professional baseball personnel, current USA Baseball staff and 40 of the previous winners of the award, representing a group of more than 200 voters.

As part of this selection process, all voters will be asked to choose three players from the list of semifinalists. On May 29, USA Baseball will announce the finalists, and voting for the winner will begin that same day.

Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2019. Beginning with the semifinalist announcement and continuing through the finalist round voting deadline, fans from across the country will be able to vote for their favorite player on GoldenSpikesAward.com.

The winner of the 42nd Golden Spikes Award will be named on Friday, June 14.

The complete list

Name, Class, Position, School, Conference

Jake Agnos, Jr., ECU, American Athletic Conference

Logan Allen, So., FIU, Conference USA

Patrick Bailey, So., NC State, Atlantic Coast Conference

Brett Baty, Sr., Lake Travis High School

Hunter Bishop, Jr., Arizona State, Pac-12 Conference

J.J. Bleday, Jr., Vanderbilt, Southeastern Conference

Josh Burgmann, RS So., Washington, Pac-12 Conference

Tanner Burns, So., Auburn, Southeastern Conference

Isaiah Campbell, RS Jr., Arkansas, Southeastern Conference

Matt Canterino, Jr., Rice, Conference USA

Logan Davidson, Jr., Clemson, Atlantic Coast Conference

Reid Detmers, So., Louisville, Atlantic Coast Conference

Brandon Eisert, Jr., Oregon State, Pac-12 Conference

Nick Gonzales, So., New Mexico State, Western Athletic Conference

Emerson Hancock, So., Georgia, Southeastern Conference

Tommy Henry, Jr., Michigan, Big Ten Conference

Connor Hinchliffe, Sr., La Salle, Atlantic 10 Conference

Kody Hoese, Jr., Tulane, American Athletic Conference

Nick Kahle, Jr., Washington, Pac-12 Conference

George Kirby, Jr., Elon, Colonial Athletic Association

Asa Lacy, So., Texas A&M, Southeastern Conference

Brandon Lewis, Jr., UC Irvine, Big West Conference

Nick Lodolo, Jr., TCU, Big 12 Conference

Jake Mangum, Sr., Mississippi State, Southeastern Conference

Alek Manoah, Jr., West Virginia, Big 12 Conference

Alec Marsh, Jr., Arizona State, Pac-12 Conference

Austin Martin, So., Vanderbilt, Southeastern Conference

Kyle McCann, Jr., Georgia Tech, Atlantic Coast Conference

Max Meyer, So., Minnesota, Big 10 Conference

Adley Rutschman, Jr., Oregon State, Pac-12 Conference

Jake Sanford, Jr., Western Kentucky, Conference USA

Braden Shewmake, Jr., Texas A&M, Southeastern Conference

Ethan Small, RS Jr., Mississippi State, Southeastern Conference

Austin Sojka, Sr., Oklahoma Wesleyan (NAIA), Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference

Noah Song, Sr., Navy, Patriot League

Bryson Stott, Jr., UNLV, Mountain West Conference

Zack Thompson, Jr., Kentucky, Southeastern Conference

Spencer Torkelson, So., Arizona State, Pac-12 Conference

Andrew Vaughn, Jr., California, Pac-12 Conference

Will Wilson, Jr., NC State, Atlantic Coast Conference

Bobby Witt Jr., Sr., Colleyville Heritage High School, District 8-5A