Baseball's LaPorta & Davis Each Earn More Preseason Recognition
Tuesday, January 3, 2006 | Baseball
Juniors Matt LaPorta (Port Charlotte, Fla.) and Adam Davis (Fort Myers, Fla.) of the Gator baseball team were named to the preseason Division I All-America baseball team released by RosenblattReport.com on Monday night. The 2005 SEC Player of the Year and NCAA Division I home run champion, LaPorta was selected to the first team, while Davis was chosen to the third team. LaPorta has also achieved preseason first-team All-American status from Louisville Slugger and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America (NCBWA).
LaPorta batted .328 and led the SEC in slugging percentage (.698), runs batted in (79) and round-trippers (26) as a sophomore. The slugger established a school record by being named the league's Player of the Week three times and later joined the USA National Team for its summer tour, where he belted a team-high four homers.
A third-team All-American in 2005, Davis collected first-team All-SEC recognition and achieved second-team All-South Region status last season. The infielder finished third on the Gators with a .306 average and was second on the club with 63 RBI. He stole a career-high 24 bases in 31 attempts to lead the squad for the second-straight year and registered six RBI in College World Series play. Also a member of Team USA, Davis Davis ranked fourth on the team with a .313 (21-for-67) batting average and tied for second by scoring 13 runs.
In coordination with RosenblattReport.com's All-American teams, the publication selected Florida State outfielder Shane Robinson as its Preseason Player of the Year and Missouri right-hander Max Scherzer as its Pitcher of the Year.
Robinson became a household name last season when he pieced together a 40-game hitting streak, while finishing the year hitting .427 with 49 stolen bases. Scherzer heads into the spring as one of the most dominant pitchers in college baseball, finishing last season with a 9-4 record, while also limiting opponents to a .163 batting average. The Gators will face both players this season, taking on the Seminoles on Feb. 28 and April 19 and hosting the Tigers during The Pepsi Baseball Classic on Feb. 24.
2006 RosenblattReport.com Preseason All-America Team
FIRST TEAM
Pos., Name, School
C Chad Tracy (Pepperdine) - .367, 22 2B, 12 HR, 61 RBI
1B Matt LaPorta (FLORIDA) - .328, 16 2B, 26 HR, 79 RBI
2B Chris Campbell (College of Charleston) - .379, 21 2B, 15 HR, 87 RBI
SS Josh Rodriguez (Rice) - .345, 11 2B, 11 HR, 54 RBI
3B Wes Hodges (Georgia Tech) - .397, 18 2B, 9 HR, 51 RBI
OF Shane Robinson (Florida State) - .427, 25 2B, 6 HR, 43 RBI, 49 SB
OF Drew Stubbs (Texas) - .311, 20 2B, 11 HR, 46 RBI, 32 SB
OF Nathan Southard (Tulane) - .341, 24 2B, 12 HR, 53 RBI, 16 SB
UT Joe Savery (Rice) - .382, 17 2B, 5 HR, 43 RBI, 2.43 ERA, 129 K, 37 BB
SP Ian Kennedy (Southern California) - 12-3, 2.54 ERA, 158 K, 38 BB
SP Dallas Buck (Oregon State) - 12-1, 2.09 ERA, 118 K, 51 BB
SP Max Scherzer (Missouri) - 9-4, 1.86 ERA, 131 K, 41 BB
SP Joba Chamberlain (Nebraska) - 10-2, 2.81 ERA, 130 K, 33 BB
SP Kyle McCulloch (Texas) - 12-4, 2.92 ERA, 99 K, 45 BB
RP Kevin Gunderson (Oregon State) - 6-4, 2.76 ERA, 14 SV, 62 K, 14 BB
RP Brett Jensen (Nebraska) - 3-5, 1.96 ERA, 16 SV, 46 K, 9 BB
SECOND TEAM
Pos., Name, School
C Michael Ambort (Lamar)
1B Aaron Bates (N.C. State)
2B Taylor Harbin (Clemson)
SS Mitch Hilligoss (Purdue)
3B Jay Heafner (Davidson)
OF Jon Jay (Miami, Fla.)
OF John Raynor (UNC Wilmington)
OF Brennan Boesch (California)
UT Matt Wieters (Georgia Tech)
SP Jonah Nickerson (Oregon State)
SP Andrew Miller (North Carolina)
SP Johnny Dorn (Nebraska)
SP Mickey Storey (Florida Atlantic)
SP Nick Hill (Army)
RP Scott Reese (Creighton)
RP Vinnie Pestano (Cal State Fullerton)
THIRD TEAM
Pos., Name, School
C J.P Arencibia (Tennessee)
C Jeff Kunkel (Michigan)
1B Marc Maddox (Southern Mississippi)
1B Danny Hamblin (Arkansas)
2B Jim Negrych (Pittsburgh)
2B Scott Sizemore (VCU)
SS Blake Davis (Cal State Fullerton)
SS Adam Davis (FLORIDA)
3B Chris Coghlan (Ole Miss)
3B Brad Emaus (Tulane)
OF Jeff Kindel (Georgia Tech)
OF Colin Curtis (Arizona State)
OF Mark Wright (Mississippi)
OF Mike McBryde (Florida Atlantic)
UT Heath Rollins (Winthrop)
UT Chad Huffman (TCU)
SP Robert Woodard (North Carolina)
SP Adrian Alaniz (Texas)
SP James Adkins (Tennessee)
SP Tim Lincecum (Washington)
SP Tim Bascom (UCF)
SP Nick Schmidt (Arkansas)
RP Daniel Best (Southern Mississippi)
RP Blair Erickson (UC-Irvine)
RP Chris Perez (Miami, Fla.)
--UF--
