Texas A&M sophomores Hunter Coleman and Braden Shewmake were named to the preseason watch list for the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award, the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation announced this week.
The Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award, in its second year, honors Texas’ NCAA Division I slugger who excels on the field, in the dugout and in the classroom. Shewmake was a finalist in the inaugural year of the award with Texas Tech’s Hunter Hargrove claiming the award.
Coleman earned Freshman All-SEC recognition in 2017. He played in 48 games for the Aggies, including 42 starts. Coleman batted .283 (43-for-152) with 29 runs, seven doubles, one triple, five home runs and 22 RBI. He boasted a .441 slugging percentage and .380 on-base percentage.
As a freshman, Shewmake filled up his trophy case. In addition to earning the Aggies' first SEC Freshman of the Year honor, he was named All-America First Team by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and All-America Second Team by the American Baseball Coaches Association and D1Baseball.com. Collegiate Baseball named him National Freshman of the Year and the NCBWA christened Shewmake the District VII Player of the Year.
Shewmake was the only Aggie start all 64 games in 2017. As a rookie, he batted .328 with 90 hits, 47 runs, 18 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs, 69 RBI and 11 stolen bases. Shewmake logged a .529 slugging percentage. His 34 RBI in SEC play ranked third in the league. He hit .307 with 15 runs, five doubles and seven home runs in conference action.
The BBCSA will announce semifinalists for the award in May. The winner of the second annual Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award will be announced in June and honored at a gala in the fall.
For over 25 years the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation has had two elements at its core, a passion for baseball and providing kids with the incentive and opportunity to pursue a college education. From Bobby Bragan’s 60-year involvement with professional baseball to the foundation’s signature scholarship program, The Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation has embraced these connections and sought to make an impact on the DFW Metroplex. The Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award is the combination of these two areas that will drive the foundation for the future.
The Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award is based on the time tested and proven tenets of the foundation’s scholarship program that takes into account not only athletic performance, but academics and integrity/community service as well. To date, the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation has awarded over 730 scholarships worth more than $1.8 million, not to high school seniors, but to middle school 8th graders covering 144 middle schools in 22 independent school districts in Dallas/Ft. Worth. The Foundation has documented that 98% of the 8th graders receiving the promise of a scholarship have enrolled in college, many as the first in their family to do so.
The Maroon & White commence the 2018 season on February 16-18 when they host the Rhode Island Rams in a three-game series on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
