UF Baseball Names 2005 Award Recipients
Wednesday, September 21, 2005 | Baseball
The Gator Dugout Club, supporters of the University of Florida baseball program, recently announced its award winners from the historic 2005 season. Under the direction of head coach Pat McMahon, the Gators enjoyed a tremendous campaign in which they advanced to the NCAA College World Series for the first time since 1998 and claimed their 10th Southeastern Conference championship. UF finished 48-23 overall, 20-10 in league play and was ranked second by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America (NCBWA) and Sports Weekly/ESPN.
"I really appreciate the Gator Dugout Club and all that they do for our program and players," said McMahon. "These are special awards because our members vote on performances throughout the year and are able to reward several individuals. All of our players appreciate the outstanding support provided to them by the Gator Dugout Club."
Jeff Corsaletti (Port Charlotte, Fla.), a sixth-round pick by the World Champion Boston Red Sox in June's Major League Baseball Draft, collected the Mr. Gator Baseball Award, symbolic of the player who most personifies the spirit of Gator Baseball. He was chosen as a third-team All-American by NCBWA and earned both second-team All-South Region and second-team All-SEC recognition. He was selected to the Watch Lists for the Golden Spikes Award, Xanthus-Dick Howser Trophy and the Brooks Wallace Award and was a member of both the SEC Tourney and NCAA Gainesville Regional all-tournament squads.
In his final season, Corsaletti paced the club for most of the year in batting average (.358), on-base percentage (.454) and hits (100). He hit safely in 56 of the Gators' 71 games, with 28 multiple-hit efforts and 12 multiple-RBI games. The center fielder became only the fifth player in Florida history to tally 100 or more hits in a season on June 23 with a single in the fifth inning against Arizona State.
Corsaletti ranks fourth on the school's all-time list for games played (239) and games started (207) and finished with a career batting average of .331 after hitting above .310 all four seasons as a Gator. He now occupies third place with 273 career hits, trailing only Mark Ellis (319) and David Eckstein (276) and is also third in doubles (56), behind Ellis (61) and Mario Linares (60). Corsaletti is currently fifth with 159 runs batted in and rates eighth in runs scored (180). With 29 stolen bases, he fell one theft shy of joining the elite club of Florida players who have notched 20-plus home runs, 100-plus RBI and 30-plus SB.
The 2005 SEC Player of the Year, current junior Matt LaPorta (Port Charlotte, Fla.), earned the Dave Fuller Award, presented annually to the year's most timely hitter. Fuller guided the Florida's program from 1948-75 and compiled an overall mark of 557-354-6 (.610) over his 28 seasons at the helm.
A member of the 2005 USA Baseball National Team, LaPorta was the first baseball player from Florida to be chosen as the SEC Player of the Year. He was recognized as a first-team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Louisville Slugger, the 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. LaPorta was named the SEC Player of the Week on three occasions (Feb. 21, April 25, May 23) and led the NCAA with 26 home runs, setting a single-season school record. Second on the team behind Corsaletti with a .328 batting average, he ranked first in the SEC in slugging percentage (.698), runs batted in (79) and homers. LaPorta's RBI total was one shy of Ryan Shealy's UF standard established in 2002. He enters his junior season currently tied for second on the Gators' career HR list with Ben Harrison (40) and is pursuing Brad Wilkerson's mark of 55 round-trippers.
Justin Tordi (Orlando, Fla.) was voted as the recipient of the P.A. Lee Memorial Award, presented to the Gator baseball player who best exemplifies P.A. Lee's positive and enthusiastic attitude. Lee was an assistant coach at UF from 1962-72. A 41st-round pick by the Cincinnati Reds, Tordi elected to forego his senior season at Florida to test the professional waters. One of the top fielding shortstops in the SEC, Tordi earned second-team All-South Region and second-team All-SEC honors in 2005. He led the league at his position with a .973 fielding percentage (365 chances, 240 assists, 115 putouts, 10 errors), hitting .238 overall and .220 in league play. Tordi started 70 of 71 games, scored 43 runs and had 10 doubles. He delivered a team-high 10 sacrifice hits and was hit by a pitch 11 times.
Established in the memory of Steve Georgiadis, who died March 17, 1990, current sophomore Brandon McArthur (Seffner, Fla.) was recognized as the Steve Georgiadis Award recipient as the Gator baseball player who has most overcome adversity. After enduring three different brain surgeries that caused him to miss his true freshman season in 2004, McArthur played in 64 games for UF and made 60 starts at third base. He batted .268 overall with 30 RBI and was the lone Gator chosen to the SEC's All-Freshman squad after batting .286 in 28 league outings. He was also named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll for the first time.
UF is continuing its 4-on-1 individual workouts at McKethan Stadium at Perry Field in anticipation of the start of fall practice. The team's workout schedule will be posted on www.GatorZone.com once it is available.
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