Nation’s Top Five Shortstops Named Brooks Wallace Award Finalists

OVERLAND PARK, Kansas – The nation’s top five shortstops have been named finalists for the 2025 Brooks Wallace Award, it was announced by the College Baseball Foundation on Wednesday.

The 2025 finalists include junior Wehiwa Aloy (Arkansas), junior Aiva Arquette (Oregon State), sophomore Roch Cholowsky (UCLA), senior Matt King (Arizona State) and junior Alex Lodise (Florida State).

The award honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation 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 of leukemia at the age of 27.

Finalists were identified based on their combined offensive and defensive performances from this season. The 2025 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year will be announced on Friday, June 13. Griff O’Ferrall of the University of Virginia was the 2024 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year.

“The finalist list is always the most difficult as there are so many deserving players and this year is no different,” said Larry Wallace, co-chair of the Brooks Wallace Award. “All these young men bring the leather and show off their skills with the stick as well. The offensive numbers seem to go up every year with the gloves staying consistent. My brother meant so much more to those who knew him off the field and that's what we try to capture with our pick to represent his legacy.”

Aloy was named SEC Player of the Year after his outstanding season for the Razorbacks. The junior has started all 59 games this season and is hitting .355 while sporting a .686 slugging percentage. Aloy has 18 doubles, one triple and 20 home runs while tallying 64 RBIs and 77 runs scored. He has stolen eight bases on 11 attempts. In the field, Aloy has handled 205 chances, earning 132 assists and 68 putouts, while committing only five errors. He has a .976 fielding percentage and has helped turn 28 double plays. Arkansas, the No. 3 national seed, has advanced to the NCAA Super Regional round and will host Tennessee in Fayetteville this weekend.

Arquette has been sensational for the Oregon State Beavers this season, leading them to the NCAA Super Regional round. The junior is hitting .352 and has a .670 slugging percentage. Arquette has scored 66 times this season and boasts 18 home runs and 65 RBIs. In addition, he has racked up 16 doubles and six stolen bases (on seven attempts). He has been near flawless in the field, posting a .982 fielding percentage after committing only four errors on 220 chances. Arquette has racked up 140 assists and 76 putouts, while helping turn 37 double plays. Oregon State will host Florida State in an NCAA Super Regional this weekend.

The Big 10 Player of the Year and Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year, Cholowsky has been a mainstay for the Bruins this season. Entering NCAA Super Regional play, he is hitting .370 with 23 home runs and 72 RBIs. Cholowsky is slugging at a rate of .761 and has scored 78 runs. He has 19 doubles and is a perfect 7-for-7 on stolen base attempts this season. In the field, he has committed only seven errors on 289 chances, racking up 166 assists and 11 putouts in posting a .976 fielding percentage. He has been a part of 46 double plays. UCLA will host UTSA in an NCAA Super Regional this weekend.

King was a Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Year after a standout season for the Sun Devils. The senior posted a .396 batting average with seven home runs and 54 RBIs, 18 doubles and 47 runs scored. He scored 47 runs and had a slugging percentage of .590. King was also 8-of-10 in stolen base attempts. Defensively, he handled 155 chances, earning 94 assists and 57 putouts while only committing four errors. He earned a .974 fielding percentage and contributed to 16 double plays.

Lodise earned both ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors while starring for the Florida State Seminoles this season. The junior is hitting .404 with 17 home runs and 67 RBI. In addition, he has 18 doubles, has scored 60 runs and has earned a .738 slugging percentage. Lodise is a perfect 6-for-6 on stolen base attempts. At shortstop, Lodise has made only five errors on 202 chances for a fielding percentage of .975. He has 132 assists and 65 putouts while helping turn 31 double plays. Lodise and the Seminoles will travel to Corvallis, Oregon this weekend to take on the Oregon State Beavers in NCAA Super Regional action.

The Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award was first awarded in 2004. Prior to 2009, the award recognized the National Player of the Year.

Previous winners of the award are Kurt Suzuki, C, Cal State Fullerton, 2004; Alex Gordon, 3B, Nebraska, 2005; Brad Lincoln, SP/DH, Houston, 2006; David Price, SP, Vanderbilt, 2007; Buster Posey, C, Florida State, 2008; Ben Orloff, SS, UC Irvine, 2009; Jedd Gyorko, SS, West Virginia, 2010; Brad Miller, SS, Clemson, 2011; Zach Vincej, SS, Pepperdine, 2012; Alex Bregman, SS, LSU, 2013; Trea Turner, SS, NC State, 2014; Dansby Swanson, SS, Vanderbilt, 2015; Sheldon Neuse, SS, Oklahoma, 2016; Logan Warmoth, SS, North Carolina, 2017; Cadyn Grenier, SS, Oregon State, 2018; Grae Kessinger, SS, Ole Miss, 2019; Cal Conley, SS, Texas Tech, 2021; Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly, 2022; Matt Shaw, SS, Maryland 2023; and Griff O’Ferrall, SS, Virginia, 2024.

For more information on the Brooks Wallace Award, visit the College Baseball Foundation website at www.collegebaseballhall.org.

2025 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Finalists

Name, Class, School, Hometown, Conference

· Wehiwa Aloy, Junior, Arkansas, Wailuku, Hawai'i , SEC

· Aiva Arquette, Junior, Oregon State, Kailua, Hawai'i, Independent

· Roch Cholowsky, Sophomore, UCLA, Chandler, Arizona, Big Ten

· Matt King, Senior, Arizona State, Houston, Texas, Big 12

· Alex Lodise, Junior, Florida State, St. Augustine, Florida, ACC