Brooks Lee Named Recipient of 2022 Brooks Wallace Award

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Brooks Lee hit .342 in 2021, his first full season at Cal Poly. This spring he hit .357.

Lee broke the school single-season record for doubles with 27 a year ago. He added 25 more in 2022.

Ten home runs as a freshman, 15 during his sophomore campaign. Fifty-seven RBIs followed by 55 more.

The shortstop banged out 76 hits in 2021 and 84 more this spring. He compiled a .626 slugging percentage his first year, .664 this season. A .384 on-base percentage followed by a .462 mark and Lee stole three of four bases each year.

No shortstop in the country has been as consistent while putting up impressive numbers as Brooks Lee.

One of the top players in the country coming out of San Luis Obispo High School in 2019, Lee fought through a hamstring injury that required surgery and limited him to just two pinch-hitting appearances in 2020 before the season was shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It appeared as though his decision to turn down the MLB draft coming out of high school and attend Cal Poly might have backfired.

Instead, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound redshirt sophomore put together back-to-back Big West Conference Field Player of the Year-caliber seasons for his hometown college, which just happened to be coached by his father, Larry. He also put together an impressive set of number that now has him positioned to potentially be drafted within the top 10 picks of the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft in July.

Those numbers, that consistency and that belief in himself makes Lee the 2022 winner of the Brooks Wallace Award, presented by the College Baseball Foundation to honor the nation's top collegiate shortstop.

"The Wallace family is honored and delighted to have Brooks represent the Brooks Wallace Award," said Larry Wallace, co-chair of the Brooks Wallace Award committee. "His hard work, dedication and perseverance through injury to become the player that he is today shows he is a fantastic choice for this award. I know that Brooks would be proud of this young man as the choice for this year."

The award, which will be presented later this year, is named for former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died of leukemia in 1985 at the age of 27.

"I am very thankful to receive this prestigious award," said Lee. "It's an honor to represent Cal Poly through this award and I look forward to speaking with the committee and family in the coming days."

"It's a great achievement for Brooks to win the Brooks Wallace Award as the best college baseball shortstop in 2022," added Mustang head coach Larry Lee. "The award not only is based on his on-field accomplishments, but how he carries himself on and off the field as well. It is a great honor for him to win this award and be a part of the list of esteemed past winners in honor of Brooks Wallace."

Lee led the Mustangs to a second-place finish in the Big West, Cal Poly's fourth in the last five full seasons. He walked 46 times and struck out only 28 times. Most importantly, he was a master in the field, finishing with a .951 fielding percentage while turning 25 double plays and recording 144 assists and 68 putouts.

A finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award in 2021, this year Lee led the Big West in hits, walks, doubles, home runs, runs scored (56), RBIs, slugging percentage and total bases (156) and he was second in batting average and on-base percentage. He produced hitting streaks of 19 and 12 games and led the Mustangs with 26 multiple-hit games and 16 multiple-RBI contests.

Lee was twice named Big West Field Player of the Week, giving him five such awards in his Mustang career, en route to winning his second straight Big West Conference Field Player of the Year honor. Only one other player in the Big West earned the award twice -- Cal State Fullerton's Mark Kotsay.

In addition to his conference honors, Lee was a five-time All-American honoree a year ago and has already been named to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's first-team All-American team in 2022. He also was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy.

"I'm not sure we have had a more decorated player for this award than Brooks Lee," said Tom Quigley, co-chair of the Brooks Wallace Award committee. "His accomplishments from all around the NCAA, from his own university, conference and the entire Division I level speak for themselves. All indications are he will have a promising future as well."

For more information on the Brooks Wallace Award, visit the College Baseball Foundation website at www.collegebaseballhall.org.

Calendar

Brooks Lee Named Recipient of 2022 Brooks Wallace Award

Players Mentioned

Brooks Lee

Footer

Upcoming Events