Baseball's Messina Named a Buster Posey Award Semifinalist
WICHITA – University of South Carolina junior catcher Cole Messina has been named a Buster Posey Award semifinalist, the Wichita Sports Commission announced this morning (Wednesday, May 22).
Messina, who was an All-SEC second team selection, leads the Gamecocks with a .320 batting average to go along with 19 doubles, which is tied for third in the SEC, 18 home runs and 56 RBI. He is slugging .675 this season and has a .451 on-base percentage. Messina also leads the team with 56 runs scored. He was the SEC Player of the Week after going 9-for-14 with two home runs and seven runs scored in a series win over Missouri. In SEC play, Messina hit .330 with 12 doubles and 28 RBI.
The 16 finalists for the Buster Posey Award will be announced June 6. Those three catchers will be invited to Wichita, KS with the winner being announced June 26th during the Greater Wichita Sports Banquet and Buster Posey Award presentation. The National Collegiate Catcher of Year Award was established in 2000.
Carolina faces Arkansas on day two of the 2024 SEC Tournament Wednesday afternoon (May 22) at approximately 2 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. CDT).
BUSTER POSEY AWARD SEMIFINALISTS
Ethan Anderson, Junior, University of Virginia
Ariel Armas, Junior, San Diego University
Burke Camper, Senior, Utah Valley State
Ryan Campos, Junior, Arizona State University
Josh Caron, Junior, University of Nebraska
Connor Caskenette, Senior, Purdue University
Jacob Cozart, Junior, North Carolina State
Mac Guscette, Senior, University of Alabama
Brandon Heidal, Senior, Oakland University
Ike Irish, Sophomore, Auburn University
Walker Janek, Junior, Sam Houston State
Caleb Lomavita, Junior, California-Berkeley
Cole Messina, Junior, University of South Carolina
Malcolm Moore, Sophomore, Stanford University
Ryan Stafford, Junior, Cal Poly
Alex Stone, Senior, Duke University
