Delta State junior slugger Zack Shannon has been named the recipient of the 2017 Tino Martinez Award, honoring DII baseball’s most outstanding player.
Shannon transferred to Delta State from Wabash Valley Community College in Mount Carmel, Illinois and made an immediate impact fro the Gulf South stalwart. The 6-foot-3 first baseman mashed 19 home runs while maintaining a seventh-in-the-nation .434 batting average season. He also topped D-II with 88 RBI. His Herculean bat was a huge part of why the Fighting Okra made their 12th appearance D-II CWS appearance as he concluded the year in the midst of a 22 game hitting streak.
In addition to being name the Tino Martinez Award winner, Shannon has also earned Gulf South Conference Player of the Year, NCBWA and D2CAA National Player of the Year and First-Team All-American, NCBWA, ABCA and D2CCA South Region Player of the Year, First Team All-GSC and NCBWA, ABCA, and D2CCA First-Team All-South Region. Shannon was selected the GSC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, NCAA Division II South Region All-Tournament and was a finalist for the C-Spire Ferriss Trophy.
J.D. Osborne of Tampa finished second and Trevor Rucker of Southern Arkansas finished third
- The other finalists for the award included:
- Nick Beinlich, Belmont Abbey
- Brandon Benson, Georgia College
- Justin Childers, Ohio Dominican
- Ryan Colombo, Drury
- Tyler Curtis, Lynn
- Connor Hoover, North Georgia
- Bligh Madris, Colorado Mesa
- Pablo O’Connor, Azusa Pacific
- David Vinsky, Northwood