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Players from five different schools bid to be Magnolia State’s top college baseball player; winner will be announced at May 18 awards luncheon at Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame

Jackson, Miss., (May 11, 2015) – Two pitchers, two sluggers and one player who does both are the five finalists for the 2015 C Spire Ferriss Trophy, which annually goes to Mississippi’s top college baseball player.

The winner of the award, named after Mississippi baseball legend Boo Ferriss, will be announced during a May 18 luncheon at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.

2015 finalists, as determined by professional baseball scouts who cover Mississippi and college coaches, (in alphabetical order):

• James McMahon, University of Southern Mississippi. McMahon, a senior pitcher from Oak Grove, has a 10-1 record with a 1.73 earned run average (ERA). He has struck out 48, while walking 10 and opponents are hitting .200 against him.
• Wes Rea, Mississippi State University. A senior first baseman-designated hitter and team captain from Gulfport, Rea hit .308 with five home runs and 35 runs batted in (RBI).
• Melvin Rodriguez, Jackson State University. A senior infielder from Manati, Puerto Rico, Rodriguez hit .4290 with seven home runs, 20 doubles and 64 RBIs.
• Keith Shumaker, Millsaps College. A senior pitcher-infielder from Brandon and a Jackson Academy graduate, Shumaker won Southern Athletic Association Player of the Year for the second time in three years. He hit .417 and post an 8-1 pitching record with a 2.13 ERA.
• Scott Weathersby, University of Mississippi. A senior pitcher from Oak Grove, Ole Miss’ Weathersby compiled a 4-1 record with a 2.39 ERA and three saves. He struck out 48 while walking 12 and opponents hit .209 against him.

For the second time in the award’s history, fan voting will count for 10 percent of the 2015 Ferriss Trophy. A 24-member panel of the state’s college baseball coaches and Major League baseball scouts whose territory includes Mississippi will comprise the remaining 90 percent of the voting.

The C Spire Ferriss Trophy will be awarded during a May 18 luncheon program at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Jackson. All five finalists and their coaches are expected to attend the program.

Tickets are $40 each and available by calling the MSHOF offices at 601.982.8264 or by going online at http://msfame.com/c-spire-ferriss-trophy/.

The Ferriss Trophy presented by C Spire is named after Mississippi baseball legend Dave “Boo” Ferriss, who played for Mississippi State and the Boston Red Sox and was the long-time head baseball coach at Delta State University.

2015 marks the 20th anniversary of the Outstanding Player Awards program. C Spire has served as title sponsor for 18 of those years since 1998. The Conerly Trophy in college football, the Howell Trophy in men’s college basketball, the Gillom Trophy in women’s college basketball and the Ferriss Trophy in college baseball comprise the four elements of the C Spire Outstanding Player Award series.

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C Spire is a diversified telecommunications and technology services company that provides world-class, customer-inspired wireless communications, 1 Gigabit consumer Internet access as well as a full suite of dedicated Internet, wireless, IP Voice, data and cloud services for businesses. This news release and other announcements are available at www.cspire.com/news. For more information about C Spire, visit www.cspire.com or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cspire or Twitter at www.twitter.com/cspire.