May 7, 2008

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--Yale junior catcher Ryan Lavarnway is among 100 candidates on the "Watch List" for the Brooks Wallace College Player of the Year Award. Last season, Lavarnway was a semifinalist for the award, which is presented annually by the Collegiate Baseball Foundation. He is the only Ivy Leaguer still in contention.

Despite missing the last 11 games with an injury, Lavarnway put up impressive offensive numbers in 2008. He led the Bulldogs with a .398 average and belted a league-leading 13 home runs, one shy of his own school record set last season. Lavarnway is the Ivy League's all-time leader with 33 career homers. He also led the Ivy League in RBIs (42), slugging percentage (.824), on base percentage (.541) and walks (29) and was named Ivy League Player of the Week three times in the first four weeks of the season.

The committee will continue to narrow the field throughout May until choosing three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals the first weekend in June. Those three players, along with their head coaches and parents, will be invited to Lubbock, Texas, for the award banquet on July 2.

The Wallace Award was first presented in 2004 in memory of Brooks Wallace, a former player and assistant coach at Texas Tech who died of cancer at age 27 on March 24, 1985. Previous winners include Cal State Fullerton's Kurt Suzuki (2004), Alex Gordon of Nebraska (2005) and Houston's Brad Lincoln (2006). Last year's recipient was Vanderbilt pitcher David Price, who was the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Tampa Bay Rays last June.

Yale finished 20-24-1 in 2008 and was second in the Red Rolfe Division with a 9-10-1 Ivy League record.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity