Notre Dame Catcher named Semifinalist for Buster Posey Award

Tinney leads all 13 semifinalists with a 1.251 OPS and .753 slugging percentage, is one of two semifinalists who lead their team in batting average and the only semifinalist to throw out 40% of base stealers and have an OPS over 1.000. The Castle Planes, Colo., native also led the Irish offense in runs scored, home runs, total bases, walks and on-base percentage.

Tinney had a solid freshman season last year -- slashing .268/.411/.422 in 15 games and posting a perfect fielding percentage behind the plate -- but few expected Tinney to post a season like this. Tinney was hands down Notre Dame's best position player, not something many sophomores do.

The sad thing is most of the times awards like these go to upperclassmen or guys on teams that made the NCAA Tournament, and not always the most deserving. The three finalists for the award will be announced on June 5th, and we expect Tinney to be one of the three, but don't be surprised if he doesn't win it.

Dallas Baptist's Grant Jay is who we expect to win. Jay slashed .322/.451/.688/1.138 with 19 home runs, 59 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 56 games for the NCAA Tourney bound Patriots. Jay has also thrown out nearly 35% of base stealers this season and even though he's not as good as Tinney statistically behind the plate, voters seem to care more about offense and team success than defense. Regardless of if Tinney wins or not, he was still one of the best catchers in all of college baseball this season and has a bright future ahead of him.