Finnegan, Morrison named 2014 Collegiate Baseball Players of Year by SABR Dallas-Fort Worth chapter
DALLAS, Texas (August 27, 2014) — Brandon Finnegan and Preston Morrison of Texas Christian University have been selected for the 22nd annual Howard Green Metroplex Collegiate Player of the Year Award, presented by the DFW Ernie Banks-Bobby Bragan Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research. It is just the third time, and first since 2010, that two players have shared the award.
Texas Wesleyan’s Jake Howeth, the school’s leader in virtually every category on offense, was selected for the third annual 2014 Carroll Beringer SABR Metroplex Collegiate Small College Division Player of the Year.
The honorees celebrate the memories of the late SABR Metroplex chapter original president Green, who was a legend in Texas professional and college baseball circles for more than six decades and also served in several elected capacities in Tarrant County; and Fort Worth Cats standout and longtime SABR member Beringer, who pitched in professional baseball for 14 years, was 1959 Texas League Player of the Year with the Fort Worth Cats and served as a coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1961-72) and Philadelphia Phillies (1973-78).
Finnegan and Morrison join Jon Browder and Pat Hannon (2000) and Michael Choice and Matt Purke (2010) as the only co-recipients of the SABR Green Award, as it was a single honor for all Metroplex divisions from 1993-2011. All three will be presented their awards at upcoming campus events by SABR Chapter President Paul Rogers and awards committee members.
Finnegan, a 5-foot-11, 184-pound junior from Fort Worth via Southwest High School, joined Morrison in leading the Horned Frogs to their second College World Series appearance in school history in Omaha, Nebraska.
The standout left-hander became one of TCU’s highest Major League Baseball amateur draft selections when he was chosen No. 17 overall in the first round by the Kansas City Royals and signed earlier this summer. In 2014, Finnegan racked up second-team All-America honors, finishing with a 9-3 record with 134 strikeouts and 11.4 strikeouts every nine innings (third in the nation), a 2.04 ERA, and he had seven games with at least 10 whiffs of opposing batsmen. He also limited opponents to a .204 batting average while posting 11 quality starts and first-team All-Big 12 Conference honors. The ABCA first team All-Midwest Region pitcher also helped the team to a 13-4 mark in his 17 starts and was 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA in his seven Big 12 regular-season starts.
Morrison, a junior right-hander from Waxhaw, North Carolina, and Cuthbertson High School, will remain at TCU for his senior season in 2015. Last season, the 6-foot-2, 195-pounder was a consensus second-team All-America as a junior and 2014 Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year. The first-team ABCA All-Midwest Region pitcher also was first-team Academic All-Big 12 and a three-time Phillips 66 Big 12 Pitcher of the Week.
His 1.32 ERA was ninth nationally as he registered a school-season-record 129 2/3 innings pitched while striking out 95 hitters and allowing just 21 walks. Morrison was 9-4 overall after working 7 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts in his College World Series debut against Texas Tech in June. He also led the Horned Frogs in complete games with five and was the starter in five of TCU’s Big 12-record and nation-leading 14 team shutouts last season. The North Carolina resident had 15 quality starts in 18 outings and worked into the seventh inning on 13 occasions (72 percent of his starting assignments).
Howeth, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound junior right fielder from Dallas and Highland Park High School, helped coach Mike Jeffcoat’s Rams make a late surge into tournament contention in their first season in the Sooner Athletic Conference. The All-SAC outfielder batted .411 with six home runs, 11 stolen bases and 39 RBI — all team-leading figures. He was third in the conference and 29th nationally in individual batting average, and the Dallas resident paced the Rams with 22 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games. He had a team-longest 13-game hitting streak and reached base in each of his last 29 games to assist Wesleyan to finish tied for fifth in SAC standings and to enter the league’s postseason tournament.
Others nominated from area universities for the 2014 honors were Dallas Baptist pitcher Brandon Koch (Green Award) along with Northwood catcher Carlos Contreras, LeTourneau first baseman Garrett Methvin and Texas Wesleyan pitcher Sam Martin (Beringer Award).
They join the likes of previous SABR awardees such as San Francisco Giants star Hunter Pence and top prospects such as Michael Choice of UTA, TCU’s Scott Malone and Lance Broadway of the Chicago White Sox, as well as DBU’s Drew Holder, Brandon Harper, Evan Bigley, and Jason Krizan, and Boomer Collins, among others.
Previous winners of the Howard Green SABR Metroplex College Baseball Player of the Year are: Scott Malone, TCU, 1993; Jason Parsons, Dallas Baptist, 1994; Johnny Issom, Texas Wesleyan, 1995; Karl Chatman, Dallas Baptist, 1996; Brandon Harper, Dallas Baptist, 1997; Royce Huffman, TCU, 1998; Cody Sundbeck, Dallas Baptist, 1999; (co) Jon Browder, Dallas Baptist; Pat Hannon, Texas Wesleyan, 2000; Mike Hall, Texas Wesleyan, 2001; Terry Trofholz, TCU, 2002; Clayton Jerome, TCU, 2003; Hunter Pence, Texas-Arlington, 2004; Lance Broadway, TCU, 2005; Drew Holder, Dallas Baptist, 2006; Sam Demel, TCU, 2007; Evan Bigley, Dallas Baptist, 2008; Matt Otteman, Texas-Arlington, 2009; (co) Michael Choice, Texas-Arlington; Matt Purke, TCU, 2010; Jason Krizan, Dallas Baptist, 2011; Boomer Collins, Dallas Baptist, 2012; and Duncan McAlpine, Dallas Baptist, 2013.
Previous winners of the Carroll Beringer Award are: Chase Brown, UT-Dallas, 2012; Elvin Rodriguez, Northwood, 2013; Jake Howeth, Texas Wesleyan, 2014.
For more information, please contact Bo Carter at bcarter@footballfoundation.com or (214) 418-6132.
Originally published: August 27, 2014. Last Updated: August 27, 2014.