University at Buffalo junior catcher Tom Murphy (Oneonta 2010) has been named to the preseason watch list for the 2012 Golden Spikes Award. The award, presented by USA Baseball and sponsored by Major League Baseball, is given to the top amateur baseball player in the country. Murphy is one of 50 NCAA Division I players on the watch list. To read the full release from USA Baseball, click here.

Murphy was an all-star catcher on the very first Oneonta Outlaws squad in 2010. The University at Buffalo backstop batted .287 over 34 games with three home runs and 19 RBI. He cracked 35 hits, scored 23 runs and drilled 10 doubles which tied for a team high. Murphy smashed a first-inning home run in the 2010 All-Star Game and he was later selected as the All-Star Game Offensive Most Valuable Player. The Outlaws went 26-16 in their first season in Oneonta and finished second in their division behind eventual league champion Amsterdam.

The West Monroe, N.Y., native was the 2011 Mid-American Conference’s Player of the Year as a sophomore.  Murphy won the MAC batting championship with a .384 batting average. He belted 10 home runs, drove in 44 and amassed a .626 slugging percentage. The sophomore reached base safely in all but four games and he topped the Bulls with 22 multi-hit games. Murphy also set a school single-game record with three clouts in a single contest against North Carolina Central.

Last summer, Murphy played for the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s Holyoke Blue Sox. He clobbered nine home runs in 35 games and compiled a .291 batting average. He was an NECBL all-star and was tabbed as the top professional prospect in the NECBL by Baseball America. Murphy added to his resume with a four-game stint for Team USA’s summer national collegiate team.

USA Baseball will release a 60-player Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list on May 1 which will be shaped by USA Baseball officials and advisors. Thirty semifinalists will be announced on May 29 and that will be pared down to a short list of three finalists which will be made public on June 5. The 2012 Golden Spikes Award will be presented at the MLB Network Studios during the week of June 9 – June 13.