Baseball: Gelof, Teel added to Golden Spikes watch list

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Juniors Jake Gelof and Kyle Teel were included on the preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, an honor annually given to the nation’s top amateur baseball player by USA Baseball. UVA was one of 10 programs nationally and one of two in the ACC with multiple student-athletes on the watch list.

Gelof played his way on to the watch list last season and ended up as one of 31 semifinalists for the award, UVA’s first semifinalist since 2014. Gelof is one of 10 semifinalists from last season to return to college baseball in 2023. This marks the second-straight season Teel has been named to the preseason watch list. Only Teel and UVA baseball Hall of Famer Danny Hultzen have been named to two preseason GSA watch lists.

Virginia has had a representative on the GSA preseason watch list three-straight seasons and 12 times since 2008, tied for the sixth most of any program in all of college baseball.

Gelof has earned preseason All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (first team), NCBWA (first team), Perfect Game (first team) and D1Baseball (second team). The Cavalier third baseman started all 58 games and batted .377 with 15 doubles, 21 home runs and a school-record 81 RBI. He ranked in the top-10 nationally in RBI (6th – 81), RBI per game (4th – 1.40) and slugging percentage (10th – .764).

Teel completed his second stint this past summer with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, only the second Cavalier ever (Sean Doolittle) to play back-to-back summers with Team USA. Teel has been named a First Team Preseason All-American by Baseball America and was a Third Team honoree by D1Baseball. He started all 58 games behind the plate in 2022 for UVA, the second most starts in a single season at catcher in program history. He batted .276 (61-for-221) with 12 doubles, three triples, six homers and 45 RBI. His 41 walks led the team and were the tied for the 12th-most in the ACC. His three grand slams last spring were the most by any Cavalier since 2000.

The 2023 Golden Spikes Award timeline is as follows:

• April 5: Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List announced
• May 22: Golden Spikes Award semifinalists announced and fan voting begins
• June 5: Golden Spikes Award semifinalists fan voting ends
• June 7: Golden Spikes Award finalists announced and fan voting begins
• June 21: Golden Spikes Award finalists’ fan voting ends
• June 25: Golden Spikes Award winner announced

Fan voting will again play a part in the Golden Spikes Award in 2023. Amateur baseball fans can vote for their favorite players on GoldenSpikesAward.com, beginning on May 22 with the naming of the semifinalists. USA Baseball will announce the finalists for the award on June 7, and fan voting will once again open at GoldenSpikesAward.com before closing on June 21.

To stay up to date on the 2023 Golden Spikes Award, visit GoldenSpikesAward.com and follow @USAGoldenSpikes on Instagram and Twitter.

✌️ Hoos on the @USAGoldenSpikes Award Preseason Watch List! 👀 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/mKfCFMySlt

— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) February 10, 2023