Baseball's Figueroa Named To Wallace Watch List
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 | Baseball
Sophomore shortstop Cole Figueroa (Tallahassee, Fla.) of the Gator baseball team was named to the 2008 Wallace Watch List released on Tuesday by the College Baseball Foundation in Lubbock, Texas. The Brooks Wallace Award is presented annually to the National College Baseball Player of the Year. Figueroa's former teammate, Matt LaPorta, the seventh overall pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft, was one of three finalists for the accolade last season. Pitcher David Price of Vanderbilt, the top overall pick by the Tampa Bay Rays, took home the prize.
As a rookie, Figueroa was named a first-team Freshman All-American by Baseball America and Rivals.com and was also named to Louisville Slugger's Freshman All-American Team by Collegiate Baseball. He was one of three Gators on the SEC All-Freshman Team, joining outfielders Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Jonathan Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.). Figueroa sported a .332 batting average with 50 RBI, 48 runs and belted 11 homers, seven of which were solo shots.
He held the team lead with 30 multiple-hit games and matched All-American LaPorta with 13 multiple-RBI games. Figueroa started the first 17 games of the year at second base and shifted to shortstop for game three at Texas A&M, a spot he held for the final 41 games. He was third on Florida with a .338 SEC average, driving in 29 runs and scoring 26 times against league foes. Figueroa powered the Gators at the SEC Tourney with a sizzling .538 (7-for-13) performance and three-consecutive multi-hit outings.
Before returning to Gainesville, Figueroa played in the Cape Cod League for the Harwich Mariners. He earned the starting nod at second base for the East in the league's All-Star game but played shortstop throughout the summer. He led the team's starters with a .281 average and was among the club leaders in total bases (49), hits (41), walks (18), runs (14) and RBI (13).
The Brooks Wallace Award is presented to the nation's top collegiate baseball player in conjunction with the College Baseball Hall of Fame's annual induction festivities. The 2008 award banquet will be held Thursday, July 3, in the United Spirit Arena on the campus of Texas Tech University.
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, prior to the College World Series. 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 the Fox Sports Network and Fox College Sports.
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 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.
2008 Wallace Watch List
| Name | School | Class | Position |
| Dustin Ackley | North Carolina | So. | 1B |
| Cody Adams | Southern Illinois | Jr. | P |
| David Adams | Virginia | Jr. | IF |
| Brian Alas | Richmond | Sr. | SP/RP |
| Tim Alberts | Niagara | Sr. | OF |
| Anthony Aliotti | St. Mary's | So. | UT |
| Peter Allen | Fairfield | Sr. | OF |
| Clayton Allison | Fresno State | Sr. | P |
| John Allman | Kansas | Sr. | OF |
| Yonder Alonso | Miami (Fla.) | Jr. | 1B |
| Pedro Alvarez | Vanderbilt | Jr. | 3B |
| Luke Anders | Texas A&M | Jr. | DH/1B |
| Mike Armstrong | Mercer | Sr. | 1B |
| Ben Austin | Wofford | Sr. | OF |
| Alex Avila | Alabama | Jr. | C |
| Aaron Baker | Oklahoma | So. | C/INF |
| Tommy Baldridge | Coastal Carolina | Sr. | OF |
| Rhett Ballard | Virginia Tech | Sr. | RP |
| Sean Barksdale | Temple | Jr. | OF |
| Stephen Batts | East Carolina | Jr. | INF |
| Gordon Beckham | Georgia | Jr. | SS |
| Kyle Bellows | San Jose State | So. | 3B |
| Ryan Berry | Rice | So. | P |
| Mike Bianucci | Auburn | Jr. | IF/OF |
| Evan Bigley | Dallas Baptist | Jr. | OF |
| Matt Bischoff | Purdue | So. | P |
| Rawley Bishop | Middle Tennessee | Jr. | INF |
| Ryan Blair | Sacramento State | Sr. | OF |
| William Block | Florida Atlantic | Jr. | INF |
| Jared Bolden | VCU | Jr. | 1B |
| Michael Bowman | VMI | Jr. | SP |
| Jared Bradford | LSU | Sr. | P |
| Matt Browning | James Madison | So. | 3B/OF |
| Ryan Buch | Monmouth | So. | P |
| Alex Buchholz | Delaware | Jr. | INF |
| Luke Burnett | Louisiana Tech | Jr. | P |
| David Cales Ill. | Chicago | Jr. | INF/P |
| Tony Campana | Cincinnati | Sr. | OF |
| Eric Campbell | Boston College | Jr. | 3B |
| Anthony Capra | Wichita State | Jr. | P |
| Sawyer Carroll | Kentucky | Sr. | INF |
| AJ Casario | Maryland | So. | C/OF |
| Nick Cassavechia | Baylor | Sr. | P |
| Jimmy Cesario | Houston | Jr. | OF |
| K.K. Chalmers | Memphis | Sr. | OF |
| Gabe Cohen | UCLA | So. | OF |
| Casey Coon | Arkansas | Sr. | INF |
| David Cooper | California | Jr. | INF |
| Collin Cowgill | Kentucky | Jr. | CF |
| Steve Crnkovich | Tennessee | So. | INF/RP |
| Aaron Crow | Missouri | Jr. | SP |
| Kevin Crum | VMI | Jr. | RP |
| Steve Daniels | Brown | Jr. | OF |
| Jordan Danks | Texas | So. | OF |
| James Darnell | South Carolina | Jr. | INF |
| Jared Davis | IPFW | Sr. | OF |
| Jeff Davis | Eastern Michigan | Sr. | OF |
| Dominic de la Osa | Vanderbilt | Sr. | OF |
| Andy Deain | Northern Illinois | Jr. | P |
| Jeff Dennis | Binghamton | Jr. | P |
| Chris Dominguez | Louisville | So. | DH |
| Johnny Dorn | Nebraska | Sr. | P |
| Chris Dove | Elon | Jr. | OF |
| Terry Doyle | Boston College | Sr. | P |
| Allan Dykstra | Wake Forest | Jr. | 1B |
| Daniel Edwards | Kansas State | Sr. | P |
| Robbie Elsemiller | Stetson | Sr. | P |
| Eric Erickson | Miami (Fla.) | So. | P |
| Tim Erickson | Lamar | Sr. | SP/RP |
| Danny Espinosa | Long Beach State | Jr. | INF |
| Danny Farquhar | UL-Lafayette | Jr. | SP/RP |
| Tim Federowicz | North Carolina | Jr. | C/RHP/1B |
| Tim Fedroff | North Carolina | So. | OF |
| Cole Figueroa | Florida | So. | SS |
| Ryan Flaherty | Vanderbilt | Jr. | INF |
| Jordan Flasher | George Mason | Jr. | RP |
| Logan Forsythe | Arkansas | So. | INF/OF |
| Andrew Franco | Appalachian State | Sr. | C |
| Nate Freiman | Duke | Jr. | 1B/C |
| Christian Friedrich | Eastern Kentucky | Sr. | P |
| Bobby Gagg | Coastal Carolina | Jr. | SP |
| Anthony Gallas | Kent State | So. | OF |
| Seth Garrison | TCU | Sr. | RHP |
| Jon Gaston | Arizona | Jr. | OF |
| Bryant George | Southern Illinois | So. | P |
| Johnny Giavotella | New Orleans | Jr. | INF |
| Joel Gonzalez | Md. East Shore | Sr. | OF |
| Joey Gonzalez | UC Riverside | So. | OF |
| Matt Gorgen | California | Jr. | P |
| Scott Gorgen | UC Irvine | Jr. | P |
| Garrett Green | San Diego State | Sr | INF |
| Grant Green | Southern California | So. | INF |
| Scott Green | Kentucky | Jr. | RHP |
| Alex Gregory | Radford | Jr. | INF |
| Luke Greinke | Auburn | Jr. | Util/RHP |
| A.J. Griffin | San Diego | So. | P |
| Josh Groves | UW-Milwaukee | Jr. | C |
| Preston Guilmet | Arizona | Jr. | P |
| Nick Hagadone | Washington | Sr. | RP |
| Jeremy Hamilton | Wright State | Jr. | 1B |
| Nate Hanson | Minnesota | Jr. | 3B |
| Michael Harrington | Col. Of Charleston | Sr. | OF |
| Mitch Harris | Navy | Sr. | P |
| James Hayes | Rider | Jr. | INF |
| LaDale Hayes | Alabama A&M | Jr. | OF |
| Jordan Henry | Ole Miss | So. | OF |
| Steven Hensley | Elon | Jr. | P |
| Ryan Hinson | Clemson | Jr. | SP |
| Ethan Hollingswort | Western Michigan | Sr. | P |
| T.J. Hose | East Carolina | Sr. | P |
| Jacob Howard | Sam Houston State | Jr. | SP/RP |
| Dan Hudson | Old Dominion | Jr. | P |
| Ross Humes | Washington State | Jr. | SP/RP |
| Shooter Hunt | Tulane | Jr. | P |
| Brett Hunter | Pepperdine | So. | RHP |
| Gabe Jacobo | Sacramento State | Jr. | INF |
| Jason Jarvis | Arizona State | So. | P |
| Richard Jones | The Citadel | So. | C |
| Caleb Joseph | Lipscomb | Jr. | C |
| Jeff Kaplan | Cal State Fullerton | Sr. | RHP |
| Matt Karl | Connecticut | Sr. | INF |
| Joe Kelly | UC-Riverside | So. | P |
| Justin Kelly | Grambling | Jr. | INF |
| Mark Kelly | Southern Illinois | Jr. | C |
| Brian Kemp | St. John's (N.Y.) | So. | OF |
| Roger Kieschnick | Texas Tech | Jr. | OF |
| John Koehniein | Youngstown State | Jr. | INF |
| Shaun Kort | Nevada | So. | INF |
| Scott Krieger | George Mason | Jr. | OF |
| Tyler Kuhn | West Virginia | Sr. | SS |
| Bobby LaFromboise | New Mexico | Sr. | P |
| Matt Langwell | Rice | Sr. | P |
| Ryan Lavarnway | Yale | Jr. | C |
| Mike Leake | Arizona State | So. | P |
| Ollie Linton | UC Irvine | Jr. | OF |
| Jeff Lockwood | Tennessee | So. | UT |
| Trent Lockwood | UTSA | So. | C |
| Colin Lynch | St. John's (N.Y.) | Jr. | SP/RP |
| Lance Lynn | Ole Miss | Jr. | SP |
| Ben Mancuso | Creighton | Sr. | SP/RP |
| Chris Manning | Belmont | Sr. | RP |
| Deric Manrique | Northern Iowa | Jr. | OF |
| Justin Marks | Louisville | So. | P |
| Kevin Mattison | UNC Asheville | Sr. | OF |
| Brian Matusz | San Diego | Jr. | SP |
| Eryk McConnell | N.C. State | Sr. | P |
| Brad McElroy | Charlotte | Sr. | OF |
| Joe McIntyre | N.C. A&T | Sr. | DH |
| Mike McKenna | Florida Atlantic | Jr. | OF |
| Sonny Meade | Citadel | Jr. | OF |
| Tommy Medica | Santa Clara | So. | C |
| Jordy Mercer | Oklahoma State | So. | SS/RHP |
| Andrew Meyers | Monmouth | Sr. | INF |
| Justin Miller | Ohio State | Jr. | C/INF |
| Zach Miller | Ole Miss | So. | 2B |
| Mike Minor | Vanderbilt | So. | SP |
| Blake Murphy | Western Carolina | Sr. | C |
| Ryan Murphy | Brown | Sr. | OF |
| Rob Musgrave | Wichita State | Sr. | P |
| Matt Nohelty | Minnesota | Jr. | OF |
| Sean O'Brien | Virginia Tech | Sr. | 1B |
| Drew O'Neil | Penn State | Jr. | P |
| Jake Owens | Northwestern | Sr. | 2B |
| Preston Paramore | Arizona State | Jr. | C |
| Tim Park | William & Mary | Sr. | C |
| Justin Parker | Wright State | Jr. | INF |
| Kyle Paul | Missouri State | Sr. | C |
| David Phelps | Notre Dame | Jr. | RP |
| Zack Pitts | Louisville | Sr. | RP |
| Buster Posey | Florida State | Jr. | C/RHP |
| Dallas Poulk | N.C. State | So. | INF |
| Matt Prokopowicz | Hofstra | So. | INF |
| Zach Putnam | Michigan | Jr. | P/OF/1B |
| Sean Ratliff | Stanford | Jr. | OF |
| Dustin Renfrow | Southeast Mo. St. | Sr. | P |
| John Rickards | La Salle | Sr. | 2B |
| Rebel Ridling | Oklahoma State | Sr. | 1B |
| Jean-Michel Rochon-Salvas | Georgia State | Sr. | 3B |
| Josh Romanski | San Diego | So. | LHP/OF |
| Tyson Ross | California | Jr. | P |
| Todd Roth | Penn | So. | P |
| David Rubinstein | Appalachian State | Jr. | OF |
| Kyle Russell | Texas | Jr. | OF |
| Tony Sanchez | Boston College | So. | C |
| Shawn Sanford | USF | So. | P |
| Nick Santomauro | Dartmouth | So. | OF |
| Josh Satow | Arizona State | Sr. | RP |
| Cody Satterwhite | Ole Miss | So. | RHP |
| Joseph Scaperotta | New Mexico State | Sr. | OF |
| Aaron Shafer | Wichita State | Jr. | P |
| Barrett Shaft | Western Carolina | Sr. | OF |
| Billy Shaughnessy | Mercer | Sr. | SS |
| Bryan Shaw | Long Beach State | Jr. | P |
| Anthony Shawler | Old Dominion | Jr. | OF |
| Garrett Sherrill | Appalachian State | Jr. | SP/RP |
| Corey Shimada | Utah | Jr. | INF |
| Matt Shoemaker | Eastern Michigan | Sr. | P |
| Brian Sisk | Lamar | Sr. | P |
| David Slovak | Delaware | Sr. | P |
| Justin Smoak | South Carolina | Jr. | 1B |
| Mark Sobolewski | Miami (Fla.) | So. | INF |
| Keith Stein | Sam Houston State | Sr. | OF |
| Jason Stidham | Florida State | So. | 3B/2B |
| Matt Stiffler | Ohio | Sr. | OF |
| Blake Stouffer | Texas A&M | Sr. | 3B |
| Tyler Stovall | Central Mich. | Sr. | C |
| Stephen Strasburg | San Diego State | So. | RHP |
| Ryan Strauss | Florida State | Sr. | RHP |
| Mike Stutes | Oregon State | Sr. | P |
| Steve Susdorf | Fresno State | Sr. | OF |
| Trey Sutton | Southern Miss | Sr. | 2B |
| Chris Taylor | Charlotte | Sr. | C |
| Jacob Thompson | Virginia | Jr. | SP |
| Nate Toth | Radford | Sr. | C |
| Brandon Turner | Mississippi State | Jr. | INF |
| Derek VanBuskirk | Michigan | Sr. | 1B/OF |
| Pat Venditte | Creighton | Sr. | RP |
| Bobby Verbick | Sam Houston State | Sr. | OF |
| Brett Wallace | Arizona State | Jr. | 1B |
| Adam Warren | North Carolina | Jr. | P |
| Aaron Weatherford | Mississippi State | Jr. | RHP |
| Jemile Weeks | Miami (Fla.) | Jr. | INF |
| Cole White | Army | Sr. | OF |
| Ryne White | Purdue | Jr. | 1B/OF |
| Clay Whittemore | Jacksonville State | Sr. | OF |
| Justin Wilson | Fresno State | Jr. | RP |
| Matthew Wilson | Bucknell | Sr. | P |
| Garrett Young | Liberty | Sr. | OF |
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