Wise a Johnny Bench Semifinalist

May 14, 2009

NORMAN, Okla. -- OU senior J.T. Wise was one of 13 semifinalists named on May 14 for the 2009 Coleman Company - Johnny Bench Award by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission.

Wise is one of two Sooners up for national awards as he joins junior Bryant Hernandez, who was named a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award on Thursday (top shortstop).

Wise has proven to be one of the best catchers both offensively and defensively in the Big 12 Conference and the country in 2009.

He currently leads the Big 12 in slugging pct. (.711) and ranks second in batting average (.376) and homers (16). In addition, Wise is third in the league in total bases (123) and seventh in RBIs (52).

Wise has thrown out 27 potential base runners this year (over 50 percent) and committed just two errors, good for a .994 fielding percentage.

The Apopka, Fla., native is one of two Big 12 catchers on the list, joining Buck Afenir from Kansas. The conference has one Johnny Bench Award winner after Kelly Shoppach (Baylor), now with the Cleveland Indians, won the accolade in 2001.

The Johnny Bench award has been given out since 2000 to the nation's top catcher. Johnny Bench presented Florida State catcher, Buster Posey, with the award last June in Wichita, Kansas.

Nomination forms were emailed to all division one baseball programs in January. Catchers that were nominated by their schools were on the watch list. A selection committee of twenty individuals narrowed the watch list down to the semifinalists.

Statistics will now be compiled on each of the semifinalists and sent to the national voting panel at the end of May for a vote to determine the three finalists. The finalists will be announced June 3, 2009 prior to the NCAA Super Regionals and Major League Baseball Draft.

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 12th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 26, 2009.
Bench's career honors include: National League Rookie of the Year (1968); National League Most Valuable Player (1970, 1972); World Series Most Valuable Player (1976); 14-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner. In 1980, he set an endurance record by catching 100+ games for 13 consecutive seasons. Bench was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in January 1989 with the fourth highest percentage of total votes cast.

The Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award semifinalists are (in alphabetical order):
Buck Afenir, University of Kansas;
Billy Alvino, High Point University;
Griffin Benedict, Georgia Southern University;
Dave Burkhart, Ohio State University;
Jeffrey Farnham, New Mexico State University;
Mark Fleury, University of North Carolina;
Chris Henderson, George Mason University;
Greg Lagreid, Washington State University;
Francis Larson; University of California - Irvine;
Josh Phegley, University of Indiana;
Tony Sanchez, Boston College;
Matt Williams, Duke University; and
J.T. Wise, University of Oklahoma.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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