Former Empire baseball stars Spencer Torkelson, Andrew Vaughn in running for top college baseball award

Local baseball standouts Andrew Vaughn and Spencer Torkelson continue to shine on the Division I college baseball stage as both players made the semifinal list of contenders for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation’s top amateur baseball player.

Vaughn, who graduated from Maria Carrillo in 2016 and was The Press Democrat All-Empire Baseball Player of the Year before heading to Cal - where he was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year - is leading the Pac-12 in batting average with .414.

Arizona State’s Torkelson, a 2017 Casa Grande grad, is hitting .323, good enough for ?20th in the conference.

Torkelson is tops in the conference in home runs with 25, just ahead of Vaughn with 23.

Torkelson is the only freshman on the 25-player watch list.

Finalists will be announced June 6 and the award will be presented June 28 in Los Angeles.

Vaughn and Torkelson are also semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, given to the top college baseball player.

The two Sonoma County men will face off starting Thursday when Arizona State hosts a three-day homestand against the Golden Bears.

BIG GAME ?FOR ANDREWS

Maria Carrillo class of 2015 grad Clayton Andrews threw a one-hitter in Long Beach State’s 8-0 win against the University of Hawaii on Saturday.

He also went 2 for 5 at the plate.

On Monday, Andrews was named Big West Pitcher of the Week - for the third week in a row and the fourth time this season. Andrews, a junior, is the first Long Beach State player to win the award three consecutive times and the first Big West pitcher to do so in 18 years.

Kerry Benefield is at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com.