A pair of former VBL players are on the Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list released by USA Baseball.
A total of 55 players are on the list including former Charlottesville Tom Sox player Henry Ford of U.Va. and former Purcellville Cannons player Kyle Johnson of Duke.
Ford will move to the outfield this season after a stellar first year at Virginia where he set several freshman hitting records. A 2025 second-team preseason All-American pick by D1baseball.com, Ford hit .336 in his first season at U.Va. and set Cavaliers freshman records for homers with 17 and RBIs with 69.
In his rookie campaign, Johnson became the first two-way player since Marcus Stroman for Duke to earn Freshman All-American honors as a utility player. He was also selected to the All-ACC Freshman team and earned a spot on the Collegiate National Team Summer Ball roster at USA Baseball. On the mound, the Leesburg, Va., native appeared in 15 games, making 12 starts and posting a 4-1 record in 49.1 innings. He tallied 53 strikeouts and held opponents to a .237 batting average.
The Golden Spikes Award identifies the top amateur baseball player in the country.