WICHITA, Kan. – For the second-consecutive season, Seattle U baseball's Justin Mazzone was named to the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Watch List, as announced by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission.
The Buster Posey Award, formerly known as the Johnny Bench Award, is annually presented to the top Division I collegiate catcher in the nation. With no award being presented last season, the 2021 watch list included 69 names, with Mazzone being just one of three catchers to represent the Western Athletic Conference and only one of two from a university located in Washington.
Mazzone has been a fixture in the Seattle U lineup, starting 105 of 126 games since his freshman season in 2018. The native of Huntington Beach, Calif., has started nine of the Redhawks 10 games in 2021 and is batting .286 with seven RBI, five doubles. As result, Mazzone is listed 32nd among Division I hitters in double and a co-leader within the WAC, while ranking 20th among league leaders in batting average and 13th in RBI. In a Redhawks jersey, the senior backstop is hitting .276 all-time with 109 hits, 71 RBI and is fielding at a .979-clip.
The watch list will be narrowed down to the semifinalists, whom will be announced May 20. Ballots will be sent to the national voting committee at the end of May for a vote to determine the three finalists. The finalists will be announced June 7, 2021. 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 a date that is yet to be determined.
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