Georgia Tech catcher Kevin Parada’s superior season has been recognized by one of the game’s all-time greats. On Tuesday, Parada was named the winner of the Johnny Bench Award, which is selected by the Hall of Fame catcher himself.

Parada, already a unanimous first-team All-American, Parada finished his sophomore season at Tech with a school-record 26 home runs and completed the regular season in the top five nationally in total bases, RBIs and runs. He was a finalist for two national player-of-the-year awards (the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy) that went to Texas’ Ivan Melendez. He is a finalist for another national catcher-of-the-year honor, the Buster Posey Award, that will be announced Wednesday.

Bench annually selects the top Division I catchers in baseball and softball, as well as the best high-school catchers for softball and baseball in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia. The Division I softball catcher was Jordyn Rudd of Northwestern.

Parada is widely expected to be a top-10 selection in the MLB draft July 17-19.

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Halloween decorations sit in Georgia Tech football coach Brent Key’s yard in Atlanta on Thursday, October 16, 2025. (Abbey Cutrer / AJC)

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

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