WICHITA, Kan. - Fresno State junior catcher Tyler Davis has been named to the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Watch List, the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission announced on Friday.
Through eight games, Davis had made seven starts behind the plate, thrown out five would-be base stealers and has a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
At the plate, the Fresno native is hitting .208 tallying five hits, including a double, scored three runs, drawn four walks and added a sacrifice fly.
Davis is one of two catchers from the Mountain West on the initial watch list joined by Pancho Ruiz from San Diego State.
A 2020 graduate of San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, Davis saw limited action in his first two seasons as a Bulldog playing in two games in 2021 and 13 in 2022. He hit .556 from the plate a year ago with 10 hits in 18 at-bats and drilled a home run in his first at-bat of the season with a three-run shot against UC Riverside.
Former Bulldog backstop Zach Morgan was one of three finalists for the 2022 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year which was won by Kevin Parada of Georgia Tech.
Sixty-five catchers were nominated for the award by their schools which is given annually to the top division one collegiate catcher. The list will be updated to include other candidates until May 8. Semifinalists will be announced on May 22 with the three finalists named on June 6 and winner announced on June 29.
2023 Buster Posey Award Watch List
Diego Altamirano, JR South Alabama
Cole Andrews, SR Ohio State
Tate Ballestero, SR St. John's
Blake Barton, SO Belmont
Derek Berg, JR Army West Point
Gray Betts, SR Liberty
Julian Brock, JR Louisiana
Bryan Broecker, SO Michigan State
Devin Burkes, SO Kentucky
Connor Burns, JR Long Beach State
Michael Campagna, SR San Francisco
Burke Camper, JR Utah Valley
Michael Carico, JR Davidson
Owen Carapellotti, SO Georgetown
Josh Caron, SO Nebraska
John Cristino, SR Towson
Tyler Davis, JR Fresno State
Matt DePrey, JR Xavier
Dallas Duarte, SR Hawai'i
Matthew Ellis, SR Indiana
Cole Elvis, SR Kansas
Tomas Frick, JR North Carolina
Fernando Gonzalez, JR Georgia
Luke Hancock, SR Mississippi State
Calvin Harris, JR Ole Miss
Nick Hassan, JR Kennesaw State
Brandon Heidal, JR Oakland
McGwire Holbrook, JR Florida State
Henry Hunter, SO UAB
Cooper Ingle, JR Clemson
Adam Juran, JR Western Illinois
Cody Kelly, JR Missouri State
Will King, JR Eastern Kentucky
Tony Krueger, SR UMBC
Nate LaRue, SR Auburn
Bennett Lee, JR Wake Forest
Dayne Leonard, SR West Virginia
Luke Longo, SR NJIT
Travis Lott, JR The Citadel
JT Marr, SR College of Charleston
Ryan McCrystal, SO East Carolina
David Melfi, SR Wagner
Gustavo Nava Sanchez, SR Southern
Shane Paradine, SR Stony Brook
Jack Payton, JR Louisville
Ryan Proto, JR UMass Lowell
Nelson Rivera, JR South Florida
Julian Rojas, SR Radford
Eduardo Rosario, SR Nebraska-Omaha
Poncho Ruiz, JR San Diego State
Angel Saldivar, JR Cal State Bakersfield
Jason Schiavone, SO James Madison
Alex Smith, SR US Naval Academy
Ryan Snell, SR Lamar
Ryan Stafford, SO Cal Poly
Alex Stone, JR Duke
Evin Sullivan, SO Binghamton
Blake Sutton, R-JR High Point
Kyle Teel, JR Virginia
Jared Thomas, SR LMU
Anthony Tulimero, JR Houston
Tanner Tweedt, SR Abilene Christian
Nathan Waugh, JR Cornell
Jake Wright, SR Arkansas-Little Rock
Hernan Yanez, SR Incarnate Word