Baseball's Clarke Named to Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List

DURHAM, N.C. – Junior Wes Clarke of the University of South Carolina baseball team has been added to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, USA Baseball announced this afternoon (Wednesday, April 14).
 
Clarke is hitting .291 with 15 home runs, 36 runs scored, 34 RBI, 29 walks and a .727 slugging percentage. Clarke is tied for the national lead in home runs and leads the SEC in home runs and is tied for the lead in runs scored while coming in second in slugging percentage and tied for second in total bases (80).
 
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.
 
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.
 
Clarke and the Gamecocks are at LSU starting Thursday night (April 15) at 6:30 p.m. CT (7:30 p.m. ET) at Alex Box Stadium.