CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball today named the midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award presented by Chinook Seedery, continuing the process of identifying the best amateur baseball player in the country for the 2025 season. The list features 45 of the nation’s top athletes from college and high school baseball.
The Golden Spikes Award Advisory Board will continue maintaining a rolling list of athletes throughout the season, allowing players to play themselves into consideration for the award before the announcement of the semifinalists on May 18.
“We are honored to acknowledge the top forty-five amateur players in the nation for their stellar performances so far this season,” said USA Baseball CEO/Executive Director Paul Seiler. “There is unbelievable talent up and down the entire amateur baseball landscape, and the players on this list represent the best of the best. We look forward to watching the rest of the season unfold as we move closer to naming the 47th winner of the prestigious Golden Spikes Award.”
Twenty-six athletes have played their way onto the list since the announcement of the preseason watch list on February 7, while 19 players who were on the preseason list made the midseason watch list. Jamie Arnold (Florida State), Drew Burress (Georgia Tech), and Jace LaViolette (Texas A&M), who were named semifinalists last year, along with Ryan Prager (Texas A&M), all appear on the midseason watch list for the second consecutive year after being named to last year’s list.
Thirty-five different schools have at least one player on the midseason watch list. Florida State, Tennessee, and Wake Forest lead the way with three athletes each on the list, while Clemson, Indiana, LSU, and Texas A&M boast two players each. This is the second consecutive year that Florida State has three players on the midseason watch list, while this is the first time that Tennessee has since 2022 and first time that Wake Forest has since 2023.
Additionally, 11 NCAA conferences are represented on the list. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) leads all conferences with 14 players, followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with 12 and Big Ten with six. Seven other Division I conferences have a combined 10 players on the list.
Three non-Division I players, Seth Hernandez, Ethan Holliday, and Adam Paniagua**,** are on the list which marks the sixth time since 2011 that three or more non-Division I athletes have been featured. Hernandez (Corona HS) and Holliday (Stillwater HS) are two of the top-rated prep prospects ahead of the 2025 MLB Draft, while Paniagua leads all Division II players in home runs (21) and RBIs (66) at Regis University.
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 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 45-player 2025 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List is as follows:
Name - Year - Position - School - Conference
- Wehiwa Aloy - JR - SS - Arkansas - SEC
- Kade Anderson - SO - LHP - LSU - SEC
- Jamie Arnold - JR - LHP - Florida State - ACC
- Aiva Arquette - JR - SS - Oregon State - Pac-12
- Max Bayles - JR - RHP - Santa Clara - WCC
- Trey Beard - SO - LHP - Florida Atlantic - American
- Tyler Bremner - JR - RHP - UC Santa Barbara - Big West
- Drew Burress - SO - OF - Georgia Tech - ACC
- Alex Calarco - SR - C - Maryland - Big Ten
- Cam Cannarella - JR - OF - Clemson - ACC
- Roch Cholowsky - SO - SS - UCLA - Big Ten
- Ethan Conrad - JR - OF - Wake Forest - ACC
- Korbyn Dickerson - SO - CF - Indiana - Big Ten
- Liam Doyle - JR - RHP - Tennessee - SEC
- Joseph Dzierwa - JR - LHP - Michigan State - Big Ten
- Hunter Elliott - R-JR - LHP - Ole Miss - SEC
- Patrick Forbes - JR - RHP - Louisville - ACC
- Dominic Fritton - JR - LHP - NC State - ACC
- Seth Hernandez - SR - RHP/INF - Corona HS (CA)
- Ethan Holliday - SR - INF - Stillwater HS (OK)
- Marek Houston - JR - SS - Wake Forest - ACC
- Grant Jay - JR - CF - Dallas Baptist - C-USA
- Jared Jones - JR - 1B - LSU - SEC
- Gavin Kilen - JR - 2B - Tennessee - SEC
- Aidan Knaak - SO - RHP - Clemson - ACC
- Jace LaViolette - JR - OF - Texas A&M - SEC
- Justin Lebron - SO - SS - Alabama - SEC
- Logan Lunceford - JR - RHP - Wake Forest - ACC
- Maximus Martin - JR - SS - Kansas State - Big 12
- Wes Mendes - SO - LHP - Florida State - ACC
- Mason Neville - JR - CF - Oregon - Big Ten
- Adam Paniagua - SR - C - Regis University (DII) - RMAC
- Liam Peterson - SO - RHP - Florida - SEC
- Ethan Petry - JR - 1B - South Carolina - SEC
- Marcus Phillips - JR - RHP - Tennessee - SEC
- Ryan Prager - R-JR - LHP - Texas A&M - SEC
- James Quinn-Irons - JR - CF - George Mason - Atlantic 10
- Nolan Schubart - JR - OF - Oklahoma State - Big 12
- Luke Stevenson - SO - C - North Carolina - ACC
- Brendan Summerhill - JR - OF - Arizona - Big 12
- Devin Taylor - JR - OF - Indiana - Big Ten
- Joey Volini - R-JR - LHP - Florida State - ACC
- Ryan Wideman - JR - CF - Western Kentucky - C-USA
- Kyson Witherspoon - JR - RHP - Oklahoma - SEC
- Ryland Zaborowski - GR - 1B - Georgia - SEC
