Troy University Athletics
Chase Smartt Named to Johnny Bench Watch List
3/10/2017 4:37:00 PM | Baseball
TROY, Alabama – Troy sophomore catcher Chase Smartt has been named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List, the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission announced Friday. The award is presented annually to the nation's top NCAA Division I catcher.
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Smartt enters Troy's weekend series against Hofstra on a modest six-game hitting streak and is batting .317 on the season. He leads the Trojans with two home runs and seven RBIs, and the Troy, Ala., native is batting .419 (13-for-31) over Troy's past eight games.
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As a freshman, Smartt threw out 40.5 percent of potential base stealers and struck out just once every 10.1 at-bats. He ended his rookie campaign batting .328 with 11 RBIs over Troy's final 18 games of the 2016 season.
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The initial watch list will be updated to include other candidates until May 1. The watch list is then narrowed down to a group of semifinalists, which will be announced May 17. From there, ballots will be sent to a national voting panel to determine the three finalists (announced June 5). A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced at the 19th Annual Great Wichita Sports Banquet on June 29.
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Smartt enters Troy's weekend series against Hofstra on a modest six-game hitting streak and is batting .317 on the season. He leads the Trojans with two home runs and seven RBIs, and the Troy, Ala., native is batting .419 (13-for-31) over Troy's past eight games.
Â
As a freshman, Smartt threw out 40.5 percent of potential base stealers and struck out just once every 10.1 at-bats. He ended his rookie campaign batting .328 with 11 RBIs over Troy's final 18 games of the 2016 season.
Â
The initial watch list will be updated to include other candidates until May 1. The watch list is then narrowed down to a group of semifinalists, which will be announced May 17. From there, ballots will be sent to a national voting panel to determine the three finalists (announced June 5). A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced at the 19th Annual Great Wichita Sports Banquet on June 29.
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