April 14, 2021

Official USC Upstate Athletics News Release

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USA Baseball unveiled its 2021 Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list, moving closer to naming the top amateur player in the country.

The winner of the 43rd Golden Spikes Award will be announced in June, and USC Upstate right-handed pitcher Jordan Marks (Bright’s Grove, Ont.) is in contention for the award as he was named to the midseason watch list.

Marks becomes the first-ever Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list honouree in USC Upstate's program history since the inception of the award in 2013. Additionally, he is just the fourth-ever member of the Big South Conference to make the list, and first since 2014.

The midseason watch list features 45 of the nation's top amateur players from the high school and college ranks and includes 34 athletes who have played their way onto the watch list since the preseason list was announced on February 18. The Golden Spikes Award Advisory Board will continue to maintain a rolling list of athletes, allowing players to play themselves into consideration for the award before announcing the semifinalists on June 8.

"We are happy to recognize 45 amateur athletes on the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list who put together stellar performances throughout the first half of the season," said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball's Executive Director and CEO. "Each of these athletes have proven themselves worthy of consideration for this prestigious award and we cannot wait to watch the rest of this exciting season unfold before announcing our semifinalists in June."

As Upstate's Friday night ace, Marks is 5-1 on the season and ranks in the top-10 in the Big South Conference in nearly every major pitching statistical category. The Bright's Grove, Ont., native leads the conference in strikeouts (61), innings pitched (52), and wins. He also ranks second in the league with a 1.90 ERA and eighth with an opposing batting average of .218.

Vanderbilt University leads all 40 schools represented with three athletes on the 2021 midseason watch list while Arizona, Mississippi State, and Texas Tech each placed two athletes on the list.

In total, 17 different NCAA conferences have at least one athlete on the list. The Southeastern Conference leads all conferences represented on the midseason watch list with nine athletes, while seven players represent the Atlantic Coast Conference and five hail from the Big 12 Conference.

One National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and two high school athletes are on the midseason watch list in 2021 and will look to join Alex Fernandez (1990) and Bryce Harper (2010) as a Golden Spikes Award winner who claimed their respective trophies as a non-NCAA Division I athlete. Luis Vargas (Wayland Baptist) represents the NAIA on the list while Brady House (Winder-Barrow High School) and Jordan Lawlar (Dallas Jesuit High School) are the only high school baseball players recognized by the advisory board on the midseason watch list in 2021.

Oregon State's Adley Rutschman took home the prestigious award most recently in 2019, joining a group of recent winners that include Andrew Vaughn (2018), Brendan McKay (2017), Kyle Lewis (2016), Andrew Benintendi (2015), A.J. Reed (2014), Kris Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Trevor Bauer (2011), Bryce Harper (2010), Stephen Strasburg (2009), Buster Posey (2008), and David Price (2007).

On Tuesday, June 8, USA Baseball will announce the semifinalists for the 2021 Golden Spikes Award. The list of semifinalists will then be sent to a voting body consisting of baseball media members, select professional baseball personnel, current USA Baseball staff and 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 June 24, 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 2021. 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 43rd Golden Spikes Award will be named in July. To stay up-to-date on the 2021 Golden Spikes Award visit GoldenSpikesAward.com and follow @USAGoldenSpikes on Twitter and Instagram.

The 2021 Golden Spikes Award timeline:

June 8: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists announced, voting begins

June 15: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists voting ends

June 24: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists announced, voting begins

July 2: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists voting ends

July: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award trophy presentation

A complete list of the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list is as follows:

Name, Position, School, Conference

Luke Albright; RHP; Kent State; MAC

Spencer Arrighetti; RHP; Louisiana; Sun Belt

Sam Bachman; RHP; Miami (OH); Mid-American

Dru Baker; UTL; Texas Tech; Big 12

Will Bednar; RHP; Mississippi State; Southeastern

Jacob Berry; INF; Arizona; Pac-12

Mason Black; RHP; Lehigh; Patriot

Branden Boissiere; OF; Arizona; Pac-12

Rodney Boone; RHP; UC Santa Barbara; Big West

Justin Campbell; RHP/1B; Oklahoma State; Big 12

Wes Clarke; 1B; South Carolina; Southeastern

Dylan Crews; OF; LSU; Southeastern

Henry Davis; C; Louisville; Atlantic Coast

Adrian Del Castillo; C; Miami; Atlantic Coast

Jaden Fein; OF; San Diego State; Mountain West

Sal Frelick; OF; Boston College; Atlantic Coast

Colton Gordon; LHP; UCF; American

Caden Grice; 1B; Clemson; Atlantic Coast

Geremy Guerrero; LHP; Indiana State; Missouri Valley

Steve Hajjar; LHP; Michigan; Big 10

Dominic Hamel; RHP; Dallas Baptist; Missouri Valley

Tyler Hardman; INF; Oklahoma; Big 12

Brady House; SS; Winder-Barrow

Jace Jung; INF; Texas Tech; Big 12

Niko Kavadas; INF; Notre Dame; Atlantic Coast

Dominic Keegan; UTL; Vanderbilt; Southeastern

Austin Knight; INF; Charlotte; C-USA

Jordan Lawlar; SS; Dallas Jesuit

Brooks Lee; SS; Cal Poly; Big West

Jack Leiter; RHP; Vanderbilt; Southeastern

Tommy Mace; RHP; Florida; Southeastern

Ty Madden; RHP; Texas; Big 12

Jordan Marks; RHP; USC Upstate; Big South

Parker Messick; LHP; Florida State; Atlantic Coast

Matt Mikulski; LHP; Fordham; Atlantic 10

Connor Norby; INF; ECU; American

Kevin Parada; C; Georgia Tech; Atlantic Coast

Zack Raabe; 2B; Minnesota; Big 10

Kumar Rocker; RHP; Vanderbilt; Southeastern

Landon Sims; RHP; Mississippi State; Southeastern

Nick Sinacola; RHP; Maine; Colonial Athletic

Liam Spence; INF; Tennessee; Southeastern

Andrew Taylor; RHP; Central Michigan; MAC

Luis Vargas; OF; Wayland Baptist; Sooner Athletic

About Golden Spikes Award

Since 1978, USA Baseball has honored the top amateur baseball player in the country with the Golden Spikes Award. Following the first-ever presentation of the Award to Bob Horner of Arizona State, the Golden Spikes Award has been presented each year to the player who exhibits exceptional athletic ability and exemplary sportsmanship. The 2018 Golden Spikes Award winner was Andrew Vaughn from the University of California Berkeley. Past winners of this prestigious award include current Major League Baseball players such as Brendan McKay ('17), Kyle Lewis ('16), Andrew Benintendi ('15), Kris Bryant ('13), Mike Zunino ('12), Trevor Bauer ('11), Bryce Harper ('10), Stephen Strasburg ('09), Buster Posey ('08), David Price ('07) and Alex Gordon ('05). Former Major League stars that have captured the award include Tim Lincecum ('06), Pat Burrell ('98), Mark Kotsay ('95), Robin Ventura ('88), Jim Abbott ('87), Will Clark ('85), Dave Magadan ('83), Terry Francona ('80), Tim Wallach ('79), and Horner ('78). For more information, please visit GoldenSpikesAward.com. Fans can follow the Golden Spikes Award on Twitter @USAGoldenSpikes.