OMAHA, Neb. - The 30 semifinalists for the inaugural Brett Tomko Award presented by Inside Pitch Magazine have been determined and two from the Great American Conference - Ouachita Baptist's Davis Ward and Arkansas Tech's Randy Vallejo.
The GAC joined the Gulf South, Northeast-10, Pacific West, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and the Sunshine State Conference as the only six leagues with multiple semifinalists.
Ward finished 2014 with a record of 10-4 with seven complete games and four shutouts. He struck out a career-high 87 batters in 110.2 innings pitched. In six starts against nationally-ranked teams, he posted a 5-1 record with a 1.55 ERA. He struck out 44 against only six walks in 46.1 innings. He finished his senior season at Ouachita Baptist with 26 career wins, tying him with Steve Smith (2005-08) for the most career victories by a Tiger pitcher. He earned First-Team All-Region honors from Daktronics and the NCBWA.
Vallejo leads Arkansas Tech, the GAC, and Division II in saves with 18. He has appeared in 27 games and pitched 28.2 innings. Vallejo has held his opponents to a .243 batting average. Vallejo has earned two Pitcher of the Week honors this season on the way to a first team All-GAC selection. He recently Second-Team All-Region honors from NCBWA.
2014 BRETT TOMKO AWARD SEMIFINALISTS
The Brett Tomko Award is an honor to be presented to DII baseball's pitcher of the year. The annual award will be given to a college baseball pitcher whose on the field performance is deemed the most outstanding at the Division II level.
The winner of the inaugural Brett Tomko Award will be named Monday, June 2nd following the Division II Championships which will held May 24th-31st in Cary, NC. The finalists will be revealed prior to the beginning of the DII finals.
In 1995, Brett Tomko had a spectacular season pitching for the Florida Southern College Moccasins which was full of both incredible individual and team success. Tomko compiled an incredible 15-2 record with a 1.35 ERA and amassed 154 strikeouts in just 126.3 innings. He also threw seven complete games, three of which were shutouts, and also added a pair of saves.
Tomko led the Mocs to the Division II Championship and threw a complete-game shutout to give FSC its eighth national title. He was named the outstanding player of the Division II Championship and was the Sunshine State Conference Pitcher of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year. Tomko earned the distinct recognition of being the first athlete ever to be awarded both the NCAA Division II Player and Pitcher of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Following Tomko's historic season in Lakeland, the Cincinnati Reds drafted him in the second round of the Major League Amateur Draft. He made his big league debut with the Reds two years later and went on to win one hundred MLB games in 14 seasons. Five times Tomko reached the double-digit win plateau while pitching in the big leagues and he was also able to accrue over 190 innings on the mound five times as well.