Utah Valley University’s Chipper Beck has been named to the 2026 Brooks Wallace Award watch list, according to an announcement made Wednesday by the College Baseball Foundation. The award recognizes the top shortstop in college baseball each year.
“Our staff is excited to get another year started looking for that special player to represent Brooks’ Award,” said Larry Wallace, co-chair of the Brooks Wallace Award. “We will dig deep to find the personal qualities as well as the physical attributes that best exemplify what we look for in the Brooks Wallace Award winner. It’s early, but this list is already shaping up to be a competitive race with some big numbers from some new guys and some familiar faces on the list as well.”
Beck joined Utah Valley this season after transferring from Brigham Young University in Provo. Since his arrival, he has become a key part of the team’s lineup and currently leads the Wolverines with a .423 batting average. He has recorded four extra-base hits so far: two doubles, one triple, and one home run.
The watch list includes 100 players nationwide. Roch Cholowsky of UCLA, who won last year’s award, is among those named. Beck is the only shortstop from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) on this year’s list. During their 2026 campaign, Utah Valley will compete against other nominees such as Charlie Bates from Stanford and Elijah Pelayo from Cal State Bakersfield.
The Brooks Wallace Award is given out annually and also features weekly honors for outstanding performances at shortstop across college baseball. It commemorates Brooks Wallace, a former Texas Tech player who played for the Red Raiders between 1977 and 1980 before passing away at age 27 due to leukemia.
Past recipients of this award include notable names like Alex Bregman, Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson, Sheldon Neuse, Cadyn Greiner, Brooks Lee, and Matt Shaw.
