JACKSON, Miss. – Cellular South, a leader in helping consumers get the most out of their wireless devices, is once again giving Mississippi baseball fans the chance to weigh in on who they believe to be the best college baseball player in the state as voting begins for the Cellular South Fans’ Choice Award.

The Cellular South Fans’ Choice Award features the top three Mississippi baseball superstars who are finalists for the Cellular South Ferriss Trophy, Mississippi college baseball’s highest honor. While a panel of Major League baseball scouts, college coaches and a media representative have the final say in which player receives the Cellular South Ferriss Trophy, college baseball fans across the state can vote to determine which finalist is the fan-favorite and should win the Cellular South Fans’ Choice Award. 

From May 11 through May 18, Cellular South customers can vote as many times as they wish for the following finalists by text messaging the identification number for their favorite player to “BUNT” (2868).   Standard text messaging rates apply.

• Scott Bittle, Pitcher, Ole Miss: ID# 1
• Brian Dozier, Infielder, Southern Miss: ID# 2
• Craig Westcott, Pitcher, Belhaven: ID# 3

The winner of the Cellular South Fans’ Choice Award will be announced during the Cellular South Outstanding Player Awards ceremony, which will take place on Monday, May 18 at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum, 1152 Lakeland Drive in Jackson.   A 5:30 p.m. reception will precede the formal awards program, which begins at 6:30 p.m.

For ticket information, contact the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum at 1-800-280-FAME (3263), 601-982-8264 or generalinfo@msfame.com.  All proceeds benefit the non-profit Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum.

The Cellular South Fans’ Choice Award winner will receive a $2,500 contribution to their school’s college athletic department.

“College baseball fans can vote for their favorite players as many times as they want via text messaging on their Cellular South phone,” said Orien Watson, sports marketing manager for Cellular South. “The popularity of the Cellular South Fans’ Choice Award has grown over the past few years and we expect a record number of people to vote in this year’s competition.”

HOW TO VOTE

The voting lines are now open and Cellular South customers with text messaging features can follow these simple steps to lock in their top pick for the Cellular South Fans’ Choice Award:

• Between 7 p.m. on Monday, May 11 and 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 18, fans can text message a player identification number to “BUNT” (2868) for their favorite player.
• Replay: Fans can vote as often as they like to advance their choice for the best Mississippi college baseball player.
• Standard text messaging fees apply to all text message voting.

The Cellular South FerrissTrophy and Cellular South Fans’ Choice Awards are part of Cellular South’s Outstanding Player Awards, administered by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum. The award series also includes the Cellular South Howell Trophy, honoring Mississippi’s best collegiate men’s basketball player of the year, Cellular South Gillom Trophy, honoring the best collegiate women’s basketball player, and the Cellular South Conerly  Trophy, honoring Mississippi’s best collegiate football player.

The award is named after Shaw, Mississippi native Dave “Boo” Ferriss, a former Mississippi State All-American player and long-time Delta State head coach who is an inductee in the Boston Red Sox and Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

The Cellular South Fans’ Choice Award is managed by Cellular South as a separate program and has no bearing on the official judging of the Cellular South Ferriss Trophy Award.

For more information on the Cellular South Fans’ Choice Award and the Cellular South Outstanding Player Awards series, log on at http://www.cellularsouth.com/csopa.

A 2008 First Team All-American, Bittle is also a finalist for the Lowe's Senior Class Award, which fans can vote on until May 31 by clicking here.