Sports

Bravo, Buster

• In a sign of great things to come for former Lee County baseball star Buster Posey, the current FSU standout catcher is named the NCAA Division I National Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year.

Danny Aller

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— Here’s the latest challenge for FSU star catcher Buster Posey: Find a national award he doesn’t win.

On Thursday, the Collegiate Baseball newspaper announced the Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I All-America baseball teams and honored Posey, a Leesburg native, asthe NCAA Division I National Player of the Year, as he also earned first-team All-America honors.

“Wow,” said Lee County baseball coach Rob Williams, who coached Posey during his four years with the Trojans. “Did I know he was going to be a great player at Florida State? Certainly. But Player of the Year? I mean, that’s pretty amazing.”

Posey was unavailable for comment Thursday (he was visiting his ailing grandfather back in Leesburg) as his Seminoles prepare for the first round of the NCAA Regionals today in Tallahassee against Bucknell. He currently leads the nation in three offensive statistical categories, including batting average (.467), on-base percentage (.567) and slugging percentage (.864). He also ranks in the top 10 in total bases (3rd), hits (3rd), runs (6th) and runs per game (8th). In the Atlantic Coast Conference, the junior catcher leads in seven categories while ranking in the top 10 in four others. He finished the regular season batting .479 in 30 league games as he led the Seminoles to their second straight Atlantic Division title and the number two overall seed in the ACC Baseball Championship.

And all of Posey’s continued accolades seem to point to one thing: The No. 1 pick June 5 in the first-year Major League Baseball Draft, which would make him the first Georgia native to go No. 1 overall since Ron Blomberg in 1967 (Druid Hills High School).

“You never think when a kid leaves your program he’ll be a No. 1 overall pick some day in the draft,” Williams said. “We know we’ve had a lot of talented players over the years — Buster being the most talented — and if it happens, it’ll not only be great for Lee County and Lee County High School, but for all of Southwest Georgia.”

Posey also has had a stellar season on the defensive end, posting a .981 fielding percentage with 53 starts behind the plate. He is throwing out 41.5 percent of runners, while registering six pick offs. The right hander has also made eight appearances on the mound and is a perfect 6-for-6 in save opportunities. Posey has struck out 10 batters and has not allowed a run in 7.1 innings of work.

Posey becomes the fourth Seminole to garner National Player of the Year accolades from Collegiate Baseball, joining J.D. Drew in 1997, Shane Robinson in 2005 and Tony Thomas, Jr. in 2007. This is also the second consecutive year that Posey as a first team All-American catcher.

Posey has also been named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, Johnny Bench Award and Dick Howser Trophy, while also being named to the Brooks Wallace Award Revised Watch List. He added ACC Player of the Year accolades last week.

FSU baseball sports information director Jason Leturmy contributed to this report.

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