Photo by: Kari Hodges/UGAAA
Phelps And Smith Named To Golden Spikes Award Watch List
February 11, 2025 | Baseball
ATHENS, Ga.-----Georgia's preseason All-Americans Tre Phelps and Kolten Smith have been named to the 2025 Golden Spikes Award watch list, USA Baseball announced recently.
The two Bulldogs were among 55 of the top amateur baseball players on the initial list for the upcoming season. The Golden Spikes Advisory Board will maintain the award's watch list on a rolling basis, allowing athletes to play themselves into consideration for the award based on in-season performance.
Phelps, a 6-2, 202-pound native of Atlanta, was a consensus Freshman All-America in 2024 after batting .353 with 11 doubles, 12 home runs and 40 RBI for the Bulldogs. He appeared in 42 games with 34 starts at five different positions. In 2024, Smith, a 6-3, 208-pound native of Ocala, Fla., led the Bulldogs with a 9-3 mark, 105 strikeouts and only 20 walks in 69.2 innings as a sophomore. Overall, 41 schools and 12 conferences are represented on the 2025 preseason watch list. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) leads all conferences with 17 players, followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with 14 and the Big 12 Conference with six.
"The student-athletes on this list are some of the nation's best and brightest, both on and off the field," said USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO Paul Seiler. "We look forward to watching these fifty-five players and many more compete in what will surely be another thrilling baseball season."
Georgia's Charlie Condon is the most recent winner of the Golden Spikes Award, earning the prestigious honor after a record-setting season in 2024. He joins an elite group of recent winners including Dylan Crews (2023), Ivan Melendez (2022), Kevin Kopps (2021) and Adley Rutschman (2019).
Fan voting will again play a part in the Golden Spikes Award. Following the midseason watch list announcement on April 3, baseball fans can vote for their favorite players on GoldenSpikesAward.com with the naming of the semifinalists and finalists. The 2025 Golden Spikes Award winner will be announced in late June in conjunction with the end of the amateur baseball season. To stay up to date on the 2025 Golden Spikes Award, visit GoldenSpikesAward.com.
The Bulldogs, preseason ranked as high as No. 4, will open the 2025 season this Friday against Quinnipiac in Wilmington, N.C. The Bulldogs will play two games against the Bobcats and two games against host UNC-Wilmington during a weekend trip to the Seahawks campus. Georgia's home opener at Foley Field will be Feb. 20 against the University of Illinois Chicago. Georgia's Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson enters his second year. In 2024, the Bulldogs posted their finest season since 2008, finishing in the top 10 with a 43-17 record and advancing to an NCAA Super Regional.
Information on single-game non-conference tickets for the action at Foley Field can be found at this link: https://georgiadogs.evenue.net/events/BBSINGLE
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS: For the latest Georgia baseball news, visit www.georgiadogs.com and follow the Bulldogs on X (@BaseballUGA), Facebook (@GeorgiaBaseball) and Instagram (@baseballuga).
The two Bulldogs were among 55 of the top amateur baseball players on the initial list for the upcoming season. The Golden Spikes Advisory Board will maintain the award's watch list on a rolling basis, allowing athletes to play themselves into consideration for the award based on in-season performance.
Phelps, a 6-2, 202-pound native of Atlanta, was a consensus Freshman All-America in 2024 after batting .353 with 11 doubles, 12 home runs and 40 RBI for the Bulldogs. He appeared in 42 games with 34 starts at five different positions. In 2024, Smith, a 6-3, 208-pound native of Ocala, Fla., led the Bulldogs with a 9-3 mark, 105 strikeouts and only 20 walks in 69.2 innings as a sophomore. Overall, 41 schools and 12 conferences are represented on the 2025 preseason watch list. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) leads all conferences with 17 players, followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with 14 and the Big 12 Conference with six.
"The student-athletes on this list are some of the nation's best and brightest, both on and off the field," said USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO Paul Seiler. "We look forward to watching these fifty-five players and many more compete in what will surely be another thrilling baseball season."
Georgia's Charlie Condon is the most recent winner of the Golden Spikes Award, earning the prestigious honor after a record-setting season in 2024. He joins an elite group of recent winners including Dylan Crews (2023), Ivan Melendez (2022), Kevin Kopps (2021) and Adley Rutschman (2019).
Fan voting will again play a part in the Golden Spikes Award. Following the midseason watch list announcement on April 3, baseball fans can vote for their favorite players on GoldenSpikesAward.com with the naming of the semifinalists and finalists. The 2025 Golden Spikes Award winner will be announced in late June in conjunction with the end of the amateur baseball season. To stay up to date on the 2025 Golden Spikes Award, visit GoldenSpikesAward.com.
The Bulldogs, preseason ranked as high as No. 4, will open the 2025 season this Friday against Quinnipiac in Wilmington, N.C. The Bulldogs will play two games against the Bobcats and two games against host UNC-Wilmington during a weekend trip to the Seahawks campus. Georgia's home opener at Foley Field will be Feb. 20 against the University of Illinois Chicago. Georgia's Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson enters his second year. In 2024, the Bulldogs posted their finest season since 2008, finishing in the top 10 with a 43-17 record and advancing to an NCAA Super Regional.
Information on single-game non-conference tickets for the action at Foley Field can be found at this link: https://georgiadogs.evenue.net/events/BBSINGLE
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS: For the latest Georgia baseball news, visit www.georgiadogs.com and follow the Bulldogs on X (@BaseballUGA), Facebook (@GeorgiaBaseball) and Instagram (@baseballuga).
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