OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Navy baseball outfielder Stephen Born (Strafford, Pa.) has been named as one of the 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. Originally one of 30 national candidates, the field has been narrowed down and Born is left standing amongst the likes of players from Florida, Oregon and Kentucky to name a few. The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the initial list of candidates that was announced in March. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner.

Fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through May 28. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner. This year's Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2018 College World Series in June.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in the areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

A two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American (3rd Team-2016 & 3rd Team-2017), Born has a cumulative GPA of 3.81 through seven semesters at the Naval Academy. Following graduation, the operations research major will be commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy's submarine division. One of the more highly regarded and selective fields of service for USNA grads, Born's grades and propensity for technological learning allowed him to select submarines. He will attend Nuclear Power School in Charleston before going to Prototype School. Following that post-grad schooling, Born will be assigned a submarine for his duty in the fleet.

A high achieving Midshipmen in Bancroft Hall, Born is ranked eighth overall in Military Order of Merit and 100th in Overall Order of Merit in the Class of 2018. During the Fall of 2017, Born was selected as a Platoon Commander and was in charge of the wellness and development of 30 Midshipmen in the hall. He has provided leadership and helped develop other Mids morally and mentally in the hall and physically on the field with baseball.

Born is active on the team in charitable causes such as visiting veterans' homes and children's hospitals, as well as helping with youth baseball clinics in the area. Away from the team, he had the opportunity this past summer to travel to Vietnam with a group of Midshipmen to volunteer at an orphanage. Born and his group helped with repairs to the orphanage building and other improvements to the orphanage property. Born and his fellow Midshipmen on the trip also spent time inside playing with and teaching the children.

A four-year starter for the Mids, Born has a career stat line of a .317 batting average, 135 runs scored, 208 hits, 40 doubles, 12 triples, five home runs, 123 RBIs and 34 stolen bases over 186 games played. All-time, Born has recorded the sixth-most career RBIs, seventh-most runs, seventh-most doubles and eighth-most hits in Navy program history.  

After injuries slightly shortened his freshman season in 2015, Born became the Mids' starting DH in 2016 and was subsequently selected as a member of the All-Patriot League First Team at the end of the year after ranking top-10 in the league in hits, runs, RBIs, doubles and walks. As a junior in 2017, Born moved to the outfield and became the Mids' starting LF. He posted a nearly identical stat line to his previous campaign and once again was among the Patriot League's top-10 in runs, RBIs, stolen bases and doubles. The Pennsylvania has kept that consistent pace during his senior campaign and currently ranks second in the Patriot League in runs (37), second in hits (55), second in RBIs (34), second in triples (5), seventh in batting average (.325) and seventh in doubles (9). 

The 2018 finalists alongside Born are: Nick Horvath (Florida), Kyle Kasser (Oregon), Seth Kinker (Ohio State), Mark Osis (George Washington), Jordan Powell (Rhode Island), Scott Schreiber (Nebraska), Troy Squires (Kentucky), John Valente (St. John's) and Brooks Wilson (Stetson).