West Virginia University sophomore Gavin Kelly has been named to the Buster Posey Award midseason watch list, according to an April 1 announcement. The award is given each year by the Wichita Sports Commission to the nation’s most outstanding catcher.
The recognition highlights Kelly as one of only 50 catchers in Division I baseball selected for this honor. The award, originally known as the Johnny Bench Award, was renamed in 2019 after former Florida State catcher and Major League Baseball veteran Buster Posey.
Kelly’s performance this season includes a .415 batting average over 25 games, with four home runs, 26 runs batted in, and 30 runs scored. He leads the Big 12 Conference and ranks seventh nationally with 13 doubles. His offensive statistics also include two triples, a .716 slugging percentage, and a 1.193 on-base plus slugging (OPS). Defensively, Kelly has thrown out five of twelve attempted base stealers for a caught-stealing rate of forty-two percent.
He becomes only the fifth West Virginia University catcher ever named to this watch list. Previous WVU catchers recognized include Alan Filauro (2013), Ray Guerrini (2016), Ivan Gonzalez (2017), and Logan Sauve (2025). This season, Kelly is one of just two Big 12 Conference catchers on the list along with Cincinnati’s Jack Natili.
The Mountaineers are scheduled to play at home from April 3-5 against No.23 UCF, with Friday’s first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.
