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UNC Baseball: Two Tar Heels named award finalists

By Zack Pearson

May 8, 2017; Baltimore, MD, USA; A Rawlings baseball, the Official Ball of Major League Baseball, sits on the field before a game between Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Patrick McDermott-USA TODAY Sports
May 8, 2017; Baltimore, MD, USA; A Rawlings baseball, the Official Ball of Major League Baseball, sits on the field before a game between Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Patrick McDermott-USA TODAY Sports /
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Two players from the Diamond Heels were named as finalists for 2017 awards

The North Carolina Tar Heels baseball team is prepping for their first game of the 2017 NCAA Baseball Tournament in Chapel Hill this Friday.

As they do so, two players were named finalists for awards by the NCAA.

The Diamond Heels announced that shortstop Logan Warmoth was named a Brooks Wallace Award Finalist.

The award is given annually to the best shortstop in college baseball by the College Baseball Foundation.

Warmoth joins Devin Hairston (Louisville), Jeremy Eierman (Missouri State), Orlando Garcia (Texas Tech), and Zach Rutherford (Old Dominion) as finalists.

Co-chair Larry Wallace released a statement via a release on the finalists:

"“We feel the young men who remain on this list are very deserving of the award this year,” said award co-chair Larry Wallace. “All have had exceptional years and must be recognized as the best shortstops in the country. We will have to go that extra inning to determine which one will represent the Brooks Wallace Award for 2017.”"

Warmoth hit .336 with nine home runs and 45 RBI’s while recording a .969 fielding position, helping UNC earn the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The award will be given out by the College Baseball Foundation this Summer.

The shortstop wasn’t the only UNC player named to a finalist list. UNC ace J.B. Bukauskas was named a finalist for CBF Pitcher of the Year Award.

Bukauskas finished 9-0 on the year with a 2.02 ERA and struck out 111 batters in 89 innings pitched. He is the ace of the Tar Heels staff which was fantastic all season long.

Here’s what Wallace said on the pitchers award:

"“We really think this may be the strongest class of finalists that we have had in the history of this award,” said award co-chair Chris Snead. “Each of these young men brings a unique quality to this award and each would make a tremendous recipient of the Pitcher of the Year.”"

Joining Bukauskas on the list is Luke Heimlich (Oregon State), Sean Mooney (St. John’s), Cory Abbott (Loyola Marymount) and Steven Gingery (Texas Tech).

Related Story: UNC vs. Davidson preview

Like the shortstop award, this award will be given out at a special presentation over the summer.

UNC will take on Davidson this Friday in the first game of the Chapel Hill regional.

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