Max Pentecost (left, Holyoke ’12), Nathan Kirby (right, Keene ’13) up for top DI baseball award

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DALLAS – Two recent New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) alumni have been named Semifinalists for the 2014 Dick Howser Trophy, bestowed annually to the student-athlete voted as best all of Division I collegiate baseball.

The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released the list of semifinalists last week, which included 2012 Holyoke Blue Sox (now Valley Blue Sox) alum Max Pentecost, who hit an incredible .422 this year on a nation-leading 97 hits, including 21 doubles and eight home runs alongside a .626 slugging percentage. He also stole 15 bases on 17 attempts, showing unusual speed for a catcher.

Pentecost was one of the key players on the 2012 Blue Sox, batting .303 and leading the team with 27 runs scored in 37 games played. His stellar bat got him named the 18th-best prospect in the NECBL by summer’s end and is projected to be a top-20 pick in this summer’s MLB Draft.

Kirby, the winner of last summer’s NECBL Rookie of the Year and Top Prospect Award, was named the ACC’s Co-Pitcher of the Year earlier this week in the midst of an incredible sophomore campaign. The southpaw finished the regular season 8-1 in 13 starts, posting a miniscule 1.58 ERA, fanning 91 while walking only 20 and limiting the opposition to a .180 average against.

A 2013 NECBL All-Star, Kirby was one of the key cogs in helping orchestrate one of the most memorable in-season turnarounds in NECBL history, helping Keene go from worst place to first over the span of a month en route to their league crown. He finished the summer with a 3-0 record in eight games with a 1.67 ERA (5th/NECBL) with 60 strikeouts (3rd/NECBL) in 43 innings of work.

This is the 28th year of the Dick Howser Trophy presented by Easton Foundations. The finalists will be announced on Thursday, June 5. The 2014 award will be presented at TD Ameritrade Stadium in downtown Omaha, the home of the College World Series for the fourth year. The winner will be unveiled on Saturday, June 14 at 10 a.m. CT, the opening day of the 2014 CWS.

The candidates hail from 17 different conferences and 28 different schools. The Southeastern Conference leads the way with six semifinalists, followed by the Big West with five, Atlantic Coast, Ohio Valley and Pac-12 with three and Missouri Valley, Sun Belt and West Coast Conferences with two. Every position on the diamond is represented, including 10 starting pitchers, five second basemen, four outfielders, three catchers, three relief pitchers, three utility players, two third basemen, three shortstops and two designated hitters, among this diversified group.

2014 Dick Howser Trophy Timeline:
• Thu., May 15: Dick Howser Trophy semifinalists announced
• Thu., June 5: Dick Howser Trophy finalists announced
• Sat., June 14: Dick Howser Trophy winner announced

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