The College Baseball Foundation announced that voting is underway for the 2009 class of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock, Texas. The ballot to select this year's inductees features 51 players and 18 coaches.

"We're looking forward to seeing who the voters will elect to this year's Hall of Fame class," said Mike Gustafson, co-chair of the College Baseball Hall of Fame and Board of Trustee member for the College Baseball Foundation. "Each person on the ballot was a truly exceptional college baseball player."

In addition, 2009 will mark the first year for a "small school" category. It is made up of coaches and players from junior college, NAIA, and NCAA Division II and Division III. Inluded in the The "small school" category are two-time Player of the year Tim Jorgensen, UW-Oshkosh and the 1989 player of the year and three-time first team All-American John Deutsch, Montclair State. Legendary coach John Winkin and Ohio Wesleyan grad, Branch Rickey are also included on this year's ballot.

"The decision to incorporate the additional levels of college baseball was a long time coming, relatively speaking," Gustafson said. "The ballot now includes players and coaches who have never before been considered, and that creates a new level of intrigue."

The members of the 2009 College Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced in late February or early March once all the ballots have been tallied and the results verified.

"As the ballots come in, we get to watch the class unfold before our eyes," said Jeff Chase, co-chair of the College Baseball Hall of Fame. "The voting panel does a great job of choosing the class each year."

To be eligible for the College Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, players must have completed one year of competition at a two-year or four-year institution and/or earned verifiable national acclaim.

"As always, we have worked closely with schools across the country to select the best candidates for this year's ballot," Chase said.

The 2009 inductees will be honored on July 3 as part of the College Baseball Foundation's annual celebration of both the past and present of college baseball from July 2-4 in Lubbock.