Note: This article was first published on usabaseball.com
CARY, N.C. — USA Baseball announced the preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award presented by Chinook Seedery, beginning the process of identifying the best amateur baseball player in the nation for the 2025 season.
The preseason list includes 55 players across high school and college baseball. 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.
“We are excited to kick off the amateur baseball season with the announcement of the fifty-five-player Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List,” said USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO Paul Seiler. “The student-athletes on this list are some of the nation’s best and brightest, both on and off the field. We look forward to watching these fifty-five players and many more compete in what will surely be another thrilling baseball season.”
The list features four players who were named Golden Spikes Award semifinalists in 2024: Jamie Arnold (Florida State), Brooks Bryan (Troy), Drew Burress (Georgia Tech), and Jace LaViolette (Texas A&M). LaViolette, along with Wehiwa Aloy (Arkansas), Cam Cannarella (Clemson), Ethan Petry (South Carolina), Nolan Schubart (Oklahoma State), and Devin Taylor (Indiana), are making an appearance on the preseason list for a second consecutive year.
Arizona State (Brandon Compton, Ben Jacobs, and Kyle Walker), Texas A&M (Gavin Grahovac, LaViolette, and Ryan Prager), and Virginia (Evan Blanco, Harrison Didawick, and Henry Ford) lead the list with three players apiece, while Arkansas, Duke, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Texas, and Wake Forest each have two players represented on the list.
Additionally, five players on this year’s preseason watch list will look to join Alex Fernandez (1990) and Bryce Harper (2010) as the only players from a non-NCAA Division I school to win the Golden Spikes Award. Eric Colaco (Denison), Kayson Cunningham (Johnson High School), Seth Hernandez (Corona High School), Ethan Holliday (Stillwater High School), and Dennis Pierce (East Stroudsburg) also earned their spot on the list.
Overall, 41 schools and 12 conferences are represented on the 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.
⚾️ MORE: Top 30 starting pitchers to watch ahead of the 2025 season, according to D1Baseball
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), Adley Rutschman (2019), Andrew Vaughn (2018), Brendan McKay (2017), Kyle Lewis (2016), Andrew Benintendi (2015), A.J. Reed (2014), Kris Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Trevor Bauer (2011), Bryce Harper (2010), Stephen Strasburg (2009), Buster Posey (2008), and David Price (2007).
Fan voting will again play a part in the Golden Spikes Award in 2025. Following the midseason watch list announcement on April 3 and the semifinalist announcement on May 18, baseball fans can vote for their favorite players on GoldenSpikesAward.com to help determine the finalists and winner. 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 and follow @USAGoldenSpikes on Instagram and Twitter/X.
A complete list of the 55-player 2025 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List is as follows:
- Ben Abeldt – TCU – JR – LHP – Big 12
- Wehiwa Aloy – Arkansas – JR – SS – SEC
- Jamie Arnold – Florida State – JR – LHP – ACC
- Aiva Arquette – Oregon State – JR – SS – Pac 12
- RJ Austin – Vanderbilt – JR – UTL – SEC
- Max Belyeu – Texas – JR – OF – SEC
- Evan Blanco – Virginia – JR – LHP – ACC
- Caden Bodine – Coastal Carolina – JR – C – Sun Belt
- Tyler Bremner – UC Santa Barbara – JR – RHP – Big West
- Brooks Bryan – Troy – JR – C – Sun Belt
- Drew Burress – Georgia Tech – SO – OF – ACC
- Easton Carmichael – Oklahoma – JR – C – SEC
- Eric Colaco – Denison (DIII) – SR – OF – NCAC
- Brandon Compton – Arizona State – R-SO – OF – Big 12
- Cam Cannarella – Clemson – JR – OF – ACC
- Ethan Conrad – Wake Forest -JR – OF – ACC
- Kayson Cunningham – Johnson HS (TX) – SR – SS
- Dean Curley – Tennessee – SO – SS – SEC
- Daniel Cuvet – Miami – SO – 3B – ACC
- Jason DeCaro – North Carolina – SO – RHP – ACC
- Harrison Didawick – Virginia – JR – OF – ACC
- Nick Dumesnil – Cal Baptist – JR – OF – WAC
- Jalin Flores – Texas – JR – INF – SEC
- Henry Ford – Virginia – SO – 1B – ACC
- Gabe Gaeckle – Arkansas – SO – RHP – SEC
- AJ Gracia – Duke – SO – OF – ACC
- Gavin Grahovac – Texas A&M – SO – UTL – SEC
- Grayson Grinsell – Oregon – JR – LHP – Big Ten
- Seth Hernandez – Corona HS (CA) – SR – RHP/INF
- Ethan Holliday – Stillwater HS (OK) – SR – INF
- Marek Houston – Wake Forest – JR – SS – ACC
- Ike Irish – Auburn – JR – C – SEC
- Ben Jacobs – Arizona State – JR – LHP – Big 12
- Kyle Johnson – Duke – SO – UTL – ACC
- Jared Jones – LSU – JR – 1B – SEC
- Alex Lane – Northeastern – GR – 1B/OF – CAA
- Jace LaViolette – Texas A&M – JR – OF – SEC
- Justin Lebron – Alabama – SO – SS – SEC
- Anthony Martinez – UC Irvine – JR – 1B – Big West
- Mason McConnaughey – Nebraska – JR – RHP – Big Ten
- Ethan Petry – South Carolina – JR – OF – SEC
- Tre Phelps – Georgia – SO – INF – SEC
- Dennis Pierce – East Stroudsburg (DII) – S-SR – UTL – PSAC
- Ryan Prager – Texas A&M – R-JR – LHP – SEC
- Zion Rose – Louisville – SO – OF – ACC
- Nolan Schubart – Oklahoma State – JR – OF – Big 12
- Austin Smith – San Diego – SR – LHP/OF/DH – West Coast
- Kolten Smith – Georgia – JR – RHP – SEC
- Luke Stevenson – North Carolina – SO – C – ACC
- Brendan Summerhill – Arizona – JR – OF – Big 12
- Devin Taylor – Indiana – JR – OF – Big Ten
- Tanner Thach – UNCW – JR – 1B – CAA
- Gavin Turley – Oregon State – JR – OF – Pac 12
- Kyle Walker – Arizona State – R-JR – 2B – Big 12
- Kyson Witherspoon – Oklahoma – JR – RHP – SEC
