Ethyn Barnitz receives Johnny Bench Award
Jun. 28—CINCINNATI, Ohio — A big award with a big name attached to it.
Wahama senior Ethyn Barnitz was one of 10 honorees to win the 2022 Johnny Bench Award.
Presented by MSA Sport and named for the Hall of Famer catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, the award is given to the top baseball and softball catchers in Division I of the NCAA, along with the top-2 high school catchers in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Barnitz was also named the Class A player of the year by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
"Reds Country has a rich history of baseball and softball excellence at every level," Reds president and chief operating officer Phil Castellini told MLB.com. "We are very grateful to Johnny for recognizing these individual athletes with this prestigious award bearing his name, the greatest catcher of all time."
The top softball catcher in West Virginia was won by Josie Bird of Lincoln County.
Kevin Parada of Georgia Tech and Jordyn Rudd of Northwestern took the NCAA spots.
In Ohio, the award went to Myaih Cloud of Hayes and Jimmy Nugent of Badin.
Kayley Batts of Oldham County and Brody Williams of Lyon County took the top spots in Kentucky.
The 10 winners will be honored in a pregame ceremony at 6:40 p.m. July 26 at Great American Ballpark before the Reds' game against the Miami Marlins.
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Colton Jeffries can be reached at 740-446-2342, ext. 2100
