Aggies Shortstop Hunter Haas Named Brooks Wallace Award Semifinalist
Hunter Hass is making an impact for Texas A&M baseball both on and off the diamond.
Haas, a first-year transfer from Arizona State, has been named one of 25 semifinalists for the Brooks Wallace Award, per a release from the College Baseball Foundation. The Wallace Award is given out to the nation’s top shortstop and will be presented later this year.
It is named for former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died from leukemia at the age of 27. In his honor, the award has been given out to a player every year since 2004 and a shortstop since 2009.
Haas was one of seven Southeastern shortstops selected for the distinguished honor. Other SEC high-profile players include Ole Miss' Jacob Gonzalez, Auburn's Cole Foster, Alabama's Jim Jarvus, Florida's Josh Rivera, South Carolina's Braylen Wimmer and Vanderbilt's Jonathan Vastine.
Haas was named to the midseason watch list for the award last month, with the list narrowed down to 25 for the final week of the regular season.
"It's crunch time in college baseball as teams head to their respective conference tournaments and look ahead to the playoffs," Wallace Award co-chair Larry Wallace said in a statement. "The cream of the crop rises, and it is no different with this field of shortstops in this year's semifinalists list. More importantly, we look for leaders as well as big character guys to represent our Brooks Wallace Award each year and expect to find that young man in the weeks to come."
A junior Phoenix, Haas is putting together an excellent first season in College Station, hitting .340 with a .525 slugging percentage and a .455 on-base percentage. He ranks second on the roster in both batting average and on-base percentage, trailing only first baseman Jack Moss.
Production-wise, Haas has been one of A&M's more consistent hitters. In addition to his averages, Haas has added eight home runs, 32 RBI, and 11 doubles. Over his past 10 games, he's registered three home runs and nine RBI.
In the field, Haas has been one of the better defenders at the position, posting a .978 fielding percentage with only four errors in 178 chances. He has been error-free in 48 of 51 games played in 2023, including in 26 of the Aggies' 29 conference matchups.
Haas and the Aggies will close out the regular season on the road with a three-game series against Mississippi State starting Thursday night. A&M will then travel to Hoover, Ala., to open the SEC Tournament on Tuesday, with seeding still to be determined by play in the final weekend of the regular season.
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