Baseball fans will help decide who will be the next C Spire Ferriss Trophy winner honoring Mississippi's top college baseball player

C Spire, along with the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum (MSHOF), announced today that fan voting will count for a weighted 10 percent of the 2018 Ferriss Trophy award.  A panel of Major League Baseball scouts and Mississippi college baseball coaches will comprise the remaining 90 percent of the voting. This is the fifth year fans get to participate.

"This gives fans a chance to play a part in helping identify our state's best college baseball players," said Bill Blackwell, executive director of the MSHOF and co-sponsor of the award along with C Spire.  "Major League Baseball and players and coaches have used fan voting to determine who plays in the All-Star game for many years so it makes sense for us to involve fans in this way."

Chosen by Major League Baseball scouts and college baseball coaches in Mississippi, the five finalists include two Southern Miss players and one each from Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Delta State. Finalists are two-time nominee Zach Shannon of Delta State, Mississippi State's Jake Mangum, Nick Sandlin and Luke Reynolds of Southern Miss and Ryan Olenek of Ole Miss.

The winner will be announced during a May 21 luncheon program at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Jackson.  Mississippi State outfielder Brent Rooker won the 2017 award, which is named after the late Dave "Boo" Ferriss, a Magnolia State baseball legend, Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer and former Delta State coach.

"College baseball fans across Mississippi are very passionate about their schools and the star players in their respective programs," said Jim Richmond, vice president of Marketing for C Spire.  "Several schools are having outstanding seasons and we're excited about continuing to give fans new opportunities to support their favorite players for the C Spire Ferriss Trophy."

Fan voting begins today at 5 p.m. CT and concludes on Saturday, May 19 at noon CT.  By visiting C Spire's fan voting website, www.csopavoting.com, fans can vote for their favorite college baseball player by simply providing an email address and name, or connecting through Facebook or Twitter.   Once an account is created, fans can vote up to three times daily by selecting their first, second and third place winners via Facebook, Twitter and text messaging.

2018 marks the 23^rd anniversary of the Outstanding Player Awards presentation.  C Spire has served as title sponsor for 21 of those years since 1998.  The Conerly Trophy in college football, the Howell Trophy in men's college basketball, the Gillom Trophy in women's college basketball and the Ferriss Trophy in college baseball comprise the four elements of the C Spire Outstanding Player Award series.

Advance tickets are on sale, including full tables seating 8 persons for $350 each along with reserved seating, half tables and individual tickets. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the MSHOF offices at 601.982.8264, stop by at 1152 Lakeland Drive in Jackson or go online at http://msfame.com/c-spire-ferriss-trophy/.

About C Spire
C Spire is a diversified telecommunications and technology services company that provides world-class service and a superior, comprehensive suite of customer-inspired wireless communications, ultra high speed Internet access and a range of other telecommunications products and services to consumers and businesses.  This news release and other announcements are available at www.cspire.com/news. For more information about C Spire, visit www.cspire.com or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cspire or Twitter at www.twitter.com/cspire.

SOURCE C Spire

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