UF's LaPorta Named To Wallace Watch List
Thursday, December 1, 2005 | Baseball
Junior first baseman Matt LaPorta (Port Charlotte, Fla.) of the Gator baseball team was named to the 2006 Wallace Watch List released by the College Baseball Foundation in Lubbock, Texas. The Brooks Wallace Award is presented annually to the National College Baseball Player of the Year. The 2005 winner, third baseman Alex Gordon of Nebraska, has signed to play professionally for the Kansas City Royals.
As a sophomore, LaPorta became the first individual from Florida to be chosen as the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year. Recognized as a first-team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Louisville Slugger, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), and USA Today/Sports Weekly, the first-team All-SEC pick also secured all-tournament honors at both the NCAA Gainesville Regional and the SEC Tournament.
In helping UF to a runner-up performance at the College World Series, LaPorta established a Gator record by being named as the SEC Player of the Week on three occasions (Feb. 21, April 25, May 23). The slugger led Division I with 26 home runs, setting a single-season school record, was second on the team with a .328 batting average. LaPorta ranked first in the SEC in slugging percentage (.698), runs batted in (79) and homers, while his RBI total was one shy of Ryan Shealy's UF standard established in 2002. He will enter the season tied for second on the Gators' career HR list with Ben Harrison (40) and is pursuing Brad Wilkerson's mark of 55 round-trippers. He joined classmates Adam Davis (Fort Myers, Fla.) and Brian Jeroloman (Wellington, Fla.) on the 2005 USA National Team last summer and led the club with four round-trippers as it finished 16-4 on the tour.
LaPorta is among seven returning members of last season's College Baseball Foundation National Honors Team who appear on the 2006 Wallace Watch List. Last spring, Florida State outfielder Shane Robinson was the only college player ranked in the top five in the offensive categories of runs scored, hits, doubles, average and on-base percentage. Second baseman Chris Campbell from the College of Charleston set a school record for RBI in a season with 85 and added 102 hits. Lamar catcher Michael Ambort was named Southland Conference Hitter of the Year after batting .338, with his 16 home runs tying the single-season school record. First baseman Adam Carr of Oklahoma State batted .336 and led the Big 12 Conference with 22 homers and 86 RBI, while dual-threat Joe Savery of Rice was named first team all-conference as both a first baseman and pitcher.
The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semifinalists by late May. The selection committee will then narrow the list to three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals at a press conference in Omaha. The finalists, their head coaches, and their parents will be invited to Lubbock, Texas, for a schedule of special events tied to the award banquet, which will again be nationally televised by Fox Sports Network.
Dedicated to the memory of former Texas Tech shortstop and assistant coach, Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A four-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District Six during his senior year, when he led the Red Raiders to their first-ever appearance in the Southwest Conference Tournament. After playing two years in the Texas Rangers' organization, he returned to Texas Tech and served as a graduate assistant and later as an assistant coach. In the summer of 1984, he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27. The Plano, Texas, native was married to the former Sandy Arnold and they had one daughter, Lindsay Ryan.
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