UF Baseball Names 2007 Award Recipients
Monday, July 23, 2007 | Baseball
The Gator Dugout Club, supporters of the University of Florida baseball program, recently announced its award winners from the 2007 season. First baseman Matt LaPorta (Port Charlotte, Fla.) took home three of the four awards after the ballots were counted, with right fielder Brian Leclerc (Clearwater, Fla.) collecting the other prize.
"I want to thank the Gator Dugout Club for what they do for our program," said first-year head coach Kevin O'Sullivan. "I am looking forward to meeting the club members very soon and seeing everyone at McKethan Stadium next spring."
LaPorta, a first-round pick by Milwaukee in June's Major League Baseball Draft who signed with the Brewers, collected the Mr. Gator Baseball Award, symbolic of the player who most personifies the spirit of Gator Baseball. He also earned both the Dave Fuller Award, presented annually to the year's most timely hitter, and the Steve Georgiadis Award, presented to the Gator baseball player who has most overcome adversity. 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. The Georgiadis Award is given in memory of former Gator pitcher Steve Georgiadis, who passed away on March 17, 1990.
LaPorta was a consensus All-American for the second time in the past three years following a spectacular close to his collegiate career. During his time as a Gator, the slugger registered a career batting average of .323 after becoming just the eighth UF player to finish a season with a .400 or better clip at .402 in his final year. He is the school's all-time leader with 74 home runs, a total that rates third on the SEC's career list. In the Gator record book, LaPorta is first in times hit by a pitch (51), second in RBI (206), third in slugging percentage (.681), fourth in walks (140), fifth in runs (197) and tied for ninth in on-base percentage (.459). He was tabbed as the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in both 2005 and 2007.
Leclerc was 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 first-team All-SEC recipient, Leclerc started 46 games in right field and rated third on the Gators with a career-high .313 clip. Twenty-eight of his 32 RBI came against league competition and he tied for the team lead with 12 doubles. Sporting a .366 clip in SEC action, second on the squad behind LaPorta (.446), Leclerc was chosen as the SEC Player of the Week for the first time in his career on April 23 after batting 9-for-15 (.600) over the four-game stretch against Florida State and Kentucky.
Back on March 3, Leclerc was hitting .043 and went on a 40-for-97 (.412) binge over the next 30 games to raise his average all the way up to .342. He is currently playing for the Peoria (Ill.) Chiefs, the Chicago Cubs' Class A affiliate in the Midwest League.
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