Shaver named to college homerun derby

DC Grays’ COLTON SHAVER SELECTED TO
2015 TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby ROSTER

First Pitch 7:30 p.m. CDT, Thursday, July 2, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
Event to air LIVE on ESPN

The DC Grays of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League are pleased to announce C/1B Colton Shaver of Brigham Young University will participate in the sixth annual TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby<http://www.omaha.com/article/20110702/SPORTS/707029809>. The event will be shown live from TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha on ESPN on July 2 at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Playing primarily catcher and first base for the Grays, Shaver is hitting .310 in the Ripken thus far this summer. He is coming off a tremendous freshman season at BYU, where he was one of the most feared sluggers in the West Coast Conference. Shaver was named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America team by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and to the West Coast Conference All-Freshman Team. He finished 2015 as the NCAA’s third-leading freshman home run hitter, leading the Cougars with 13 homers. He hit pair of homers twice against Utah, and once at Utah Valley University, Saint Mary’s College and the University of San Francisco (USF).

Playing for BYU this spring, Shaver compiled a .314 batting average and a .598 slugging percentage. He was second on the team with a 31-game on-base streak and was the Rawlings WCC Player of the Week for his play against USF. The six-foot freshman from Riverton, Utah, saw the bulk of playing time as BYU’s starting DH in 53 games, batting in the 5th spot behind cleanup hitter Dillon Robinson. Shaver, the Utah High School Gatorade Player of the Year in 2014, is currently playing summer ball for the DC Grays in Washington D.C.

“Colton is a tremendous hitter with great power,” said DC Grays manager Reggie Terry. “More importantly, he is a fine young man who represents his family, BYU and the DC Grays in a first-class manner. We are proud of him and will be rooting for him on July 2.”

Joining Shaver in the 2015 College Home Run Derby to date are:
* Eric Gutierrez, Texas Tech University (2014 runner-up): Gutierrez, who broke the College Home Run Derby record a year ago with 52 home runs, earned All-Big 12 first team honors this season after hitting .315 with four home runs, 14 doubles and a team-leading 46 RBI and earned the ABCA Rawlings Gold Glove as top defensive first baseman in college baseball.

* Will Craig, Wake Forest University: A consensus All-American, Craig put together one of the best offensive seasons in program history. The sophomore hit .382 with 13 homers and 58 RBIs, starting all 53 games for the Demon Deacons. The ACC Player of the Year led the nation in RBIs, home runs, slugging percentage and total bases at different parts of the season.

* Jeff Campbell, University of North Dakota: Campbell recently finished an impressive collegiate career in which he slugged 32 career round-trippers – third-most in school history – including a Western Athletic Conference-leading 11 homers this season. He hit .365 with 48 RBI in his final campaign and was a First Team All-WAC selection in 2015.

Individual tickets for the 2015 TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby & Omaha World-Herald Fireworks are $8 for children (ages 3-12), $12 for adults, or a ‘Family Four-Pack’ for $36. Tickets may be purchased in-person from the CenturyLink Center<http://www.centurylinkcenter.com/> Omaha box office, by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000, or online at Ticketmaster.com. Service fees will apply to those tickets purchased over the phone or online, but not to those purchased in-person. For groups of 20 or more, visit www.collegehomerunderby.com<http://www.collegehomerunderby.com>.

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