Vermont's Duffy Up For National Shortstop of the Year

Vermont's Duffy Up For National Shortstop of the Year

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Courtesy of Vermont Athletic Communications

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Sophomore Matt Duffy (Milton, Mass.) of the University of Vermont has been selected to the 2009 Brooks Wallace National Shortstop of the Year Award Watch List. The College Baseball Foundation announced the 38 finalists for the inaugural edition of the award that will be presented at the College Baseball Awards Show on July 2 in Lubbock, Texas.

For the first time since its creation in 2004, the Wallace Award will honor the country’s finest shortstop. Previously, the Wallace Award was given to the national player of the year. The change was made following the creation of the College Baseball Awards Show, in collaboration with the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the Dick Howser Trophy Committee. The Howser Trophy has recognized the best overall player in the country for 23 years and will continue to do so.

Duffy is the lone player from America East and one of two shortstops from New England on the initial watch list. He heads into the weekend leading the America East in several offensive categories including batting average (.448), slugging (.819) and on base percentage (.549), is tied for the home run lead with 11 and is tied for second in RBI (35). He began the week ranked fifth in the nation in batting average, second among all shortstops, fourth in on base percentage and sixth in slugging percentage. Duffy, who will play this summer for Chatham in the prestigious Cape Cod League, is second among the nation's shortstops in home runs.