OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Maryland Eastern Shore baseball senior Mike Escanilla (Waldorf, Maryland) was named as one of 30 national candidates for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award from Premier Sports Management. The award honors senior student-athletes who are exemplary in four general areas: community, classroom, character and competition.

The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists in the middle of the regular season and those 10 players will make up the official ballot. Media, coaches and fans will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite. The winner will be announced at the College World Series in June.

Escanilla certainly meets the criteria in all four categories. His furious level of competiveness is proven by his numerous MEAC preseason and postseason awards as well as countless weekly awards and honors over the past four years. In the classroom, Escanilla is a biology major and a perennial Dean’s List honoree. His character is also well known and identifiable as one of three Hawks who don the captain’s “C” on their jersey. Additionally the Hawks’ second baseman helps out in various community events, many of them with his teammates on the Shore.

A second MEAC player, Norfolk State’s Matt Outman, was also listed as a candidate. The other 28 candidates come from schools all over the United States, including Arizona State, Clemson, Oklahoma State, Louisville, among others.