Mississippi State star outfielder tops four other finalists; becomes first freshman to claim honor in award’s history
Cleveland, Miss., (May 23, 2016) – Mississippi State's Jake Mangum became the first freshman to win the C Spire Ferriss Trophy by claiming the annual award Monday as Mississippi’s best college baseball player.
Mangum, who led the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in hitting with a .427 batting average for the SEC Champion Bulldogs, edged out teammates Dakota Hudson and Reid Humphreys, J.B. Woodman of Ole Miss and Will Robertson of Delta State to win the 2016 award.
The players and coaches were honored at a special awards luncheon co-hosted by C Spire and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum at the Cleveland Country Club in Cleveland, the hometown of award namesake and 94-year-old Mississippi baseball legend Dave “Boo” Ferriss.
Mangum, a Pearl, Miss., native who played high school baseball at Jackson Prep, began the season as a part-time player but became a freshman sensation, making dazzling plays in the outfield and thrilling fans with his hustling style of play.
The 6 foot, 185 pound switch-hitting leadoff hitter swatted nine doubles, three triples and a home run and reached base on nearly half his at bats for the No. 4 Bulldogs. He struck out just 12 times in 179 at bats and stole six bases in seven attempts.
Voters for the C Spire Ferriss Trophy included Major League Baseball scouts who cover Mississippi in their territory and Mississippi's college baseball coaches. For the third time in the award’s history, a weighted 10 percent of the final vote came from fan voting conducted by C Spire.
Mangum also finished first in the fan voting with 5,528 votes, slightly ahead of Woodman, who received 5,305 votes. Robertson finished third with 3.057 votes. A total of 15,497 votes were cast online, via Twitter and text messaging for the five finalists during the week-long fan voting.
Mangum, who just last year was playing high school ball at Prep, becomes the 13th winner of the Ferrisss Trophy, which is named for Ferriss, who played at Mississippi State and for the Boston Red Sox and then was the long-time, highly successful coach at Delta State.
Robertson, the Delta State finalist, did not attend Monday’s presentation. He was playing for the Statesmen in the NCAA Division II Tournament regional in Tampa, Fla. Southern Miss pitcher James McMahon won the 2015 C Spire Ferriss Trophy.
2016 marks the 21st anniversary of the Outstanding Player Awards program. C Spire has served as title sponsor for 19 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.
“This was one of the best years ever for college baseball in Mississippi with several of our top teams ranked for most of the year and a number of them in post-season play. For its size, Mississippi has some of the best baseball talent in the world and today’s award finalists drove that reality home once again,” said Jim Richmond, vice president of Corporate Communications for C Spire. “Our congratulations go out to all the players, their families, the schools and teams who were honored today.”
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