Trio Of UF Baseball Players Named To Brooks Wallace Watch List
Friday, December 5, 2008 | Baseball
Sophomore third baseman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.), junior outfielder Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and senior right-hander Patrick Keating (Harrisburg, Ill.) of the Gator baseball team was named to the 2009 Wallace Watch List released on Friday by the College Baseball Foundation in Lubbock, Texas. The Brooks Wallace Award is presented annually to the National College Baseball Player of the Year.
Adams completed a hat trick of Freshman All-American honors last season, when he was chosen as a first-team selection by Baseball America, Louisville Slugger and Rivals.com. The first Gator freshman to be chosen first-team All-Southeastern Conference since Marc Valdes in 1991, Adams sported a .330 batting average with 51 RBI, 42 runs and eight homers. He was also one of five players to be unanimously chosen to the league's All-Freshman Team and was the first UF rookie to achieve All-South Region honors since Brad Wilkerson in 1996.
Adams started 57 games for the Orange and Blue at five different positions (30-2B, 18-3B, 4-LF, 4-CF, 1-RF) and saw action at every spot in the infield. He led UF in slugging percentage (.536), walks (35), doubles (17) and sacrifice hits (four) and tied for second in homers (eight). Adams also ranked second on the squad in on-base percentage (.430), total bases (112) and RBI (51) and was 11-for-15 on the basepaths.
This past summer, den Dekker was a member of the 2008 U.S. National Team that was a perfect 24-0 and captured the gold medal at the FISU World Championships in the Czech Republic. On the strength of a .351 batting average in league play, he earned first-team All-SEC recognition after collecting All-Freshman kudos in 2007. He was 12-for-12 on stolen-base attempts and ranked second on the Gators with 24 RBI in the 30 league contests. The center fielder was also named to the league's All-Defensive Team after committing just one error in 161 overall chances, with five assists, over 55 games.
den Dekker hit .333 overall with career highs in runs (55), RBI (48), doubles (nine), homers (eight), and triples (two). He was a perfect 20-for-20 on stolen-base attempts and had a pair of 13-game hitting streaks during the spring. den Dekker was the lone Gator selected to the NCAA Tallahassee Regional All-Tournament squad after going 3-for-4 with three runs in UF's 17-11 setback to Florida State.
A first-team All-South Region recipient, Keating achieved first-team All-SEC status after compiling a 7-0 league ledger with a 3.28 earned run average in nine starts. On the season, he made a team-high 14 starts and was 8-1 with a 4.16 ERA. The righty also had three appearances out of the bullpen, highlighted by a save in the series-clinching win over No. 13 Vanderbilt. Keating was second on the club with 52 strikeouts and his 84.1 innings led the team.
He blazed out of the gates by capturing his first seven league starts and was named the SEC Pitcher of the Week following a complete-game effort in a victory over eventual Western Division champion and World Series participant LSU at the end of March. The right-hander was an unblemished 5-0 at McKethan Stadium with a 1.88 ERA.
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 2009 award banquet will be held Thursday, July 2, in the United Spirit Arena on the campus of Texas Tech University.
There are a dozen players returning to the "Wallace Watch List" who were a part of the 2008 Brooks Wallace Watch List of 64. The list includes Josh Phegley (Indiana), Chris Dominguez (Louisville) and Stephen Strasburg (San Diego). The University of North Carolina has returnees Alex White, Kyle Seager and 2008 Brooks Wallace Award semifinalist Dustin Ackley.
"We look forward to another great year of college baseball. The College Baseball Foundation continues to expand in many areas and we are excited to acknowledge and award achievements and outstanding character on and off the diamond," said Raymond Richardson, chairman of Brooks Wallace National Player of the Year Award.
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.
2009 Wallace Watch List
| Name | School |
| Brandon May | Alabama |
| Jabari Graham | Alcorn State |
| Brad Glen | Arizona |
| Bryce Ortega | Arizona |
| Jason Stoffel | Arizona |
| Preston Guilmet | Arizona |
| Jason Kipnis | Arizona State |
| Mike Leake | Arizona State |
| Jerome McCollum | Arkansas Pine-Bluff |
| Clint Moore | Army |
| Hunter Morris | Auburn |
| Kolbrin Vitek | Ball State |
| Aaron Miller | Baylor |
| Kendal Volz | Baylor |
| Hiram Burgos | Bethune-Cookman |
| Joseph Munoz | Bethune-Cookman |
| Greg Lane | Binghamton |
| Tony Sanchez | Boston College |
| Sean McNaughton | Brigham Young |
| Luke Yoder | Cal Poly |
| Wes Dorrell | Cal Poly |
| Ryan Scoma | UC Davis |
| Christian Colon | Cal State Fullerton |
| Jared Clark | Cal State Fullerton |
| Josh Fellhauer | Cal State Fullerton |
| Blake Smith | California |
| Kevin Miller | California |
| Ben Orloff | UC Irvine |
| Christian Bergman | UC Irvine |
| Eric Pettis | UC Irvine |
| Drew Garcia | UC Riverside |
| Kevin Mailloux | Canisius |
| Shane Davis | Canisius |
| Boone Whiting | Centenary |
| Corey Shaylor | Charlotte |
| Rob Lyerly | Charlotte |
| Cameron Satterwhite | Cincinnati |
| Jake Geglein | Cincinnati |
| Mike Spina | Cincinnati |
| Ben Paulsen | Clemson |
| Kyle Parker | Clemson |
| David Anderson | Coastal Carolina |
| Scott Woodward | Coastal Carolina |
| Jesse Simpson | College of Charleston |
| Nick Santomauro | Dartmouth |
| Jose Sanchez | Delaware State |
| Alex Hassan | Duke |
| Jeremy Gould | Duke |
| Nate Freiman | Duke |
| Seth Maness | East Carolina |
| Cory Harrilckak | Elon |
| Greg Wallace | Evansville |
| Mikel Alvarez | Florida Gulf Coast |
| Ryan Mollica | FIU |
| Josh Adams | FLORIDA |
| Matt den Dekker | FLORIDA |
| Patrick Keating | FLORIDA |
| Jason Stidham | Florida State |
| Stuart Tapley | Florida State |
| Tyler Holt | Florida State |
| Alan Ahmady | Fresno State |
| Tommy Mendonca | Fresno State |
| Reese Wade | Furman |
| Bubbie Spake | Gardner-Webb |
| Daniel Cook | Gardner-Webb |
| Justin Bour | George Mason |
| Scott Krieger | George Mason |
| Bryce Massanari | Georgia |
| Rich Poythress | Georgia |
| Ty Wright | Georgia Southern |
| Bradley Logan | Georgia State |
| Deck McGuire | Georgia Tech |
| Dekerk Dietrich | Georgia Tech |
| Wes Musick | Houston |
| Brandon Wikoff | Illinois |
| Kevin Tokarski | Illinois State |
| Josh Phegley | Indiana |
| Matt Bashore | Indiana |
| Justin Toole | Iowa |
| Brandon Knowling | IPFW |
| Ben Tootle | Jacksonville State |
| Turner Phelps | James Madison |
| Paul Smyth | Kansas |
| Ben Klafczynski | Kent State |
| Greg Rohan | Kent State |
| Chris Rusin | Kentucky |
| Errol Hollinger | Liberty |
| Jonathan Jones | Long Beach |
| Ben Soignier | Louisiana-Monroe |
| Chris Dominguez | Louisville |
| Justin Marks | Louisville |
| Ryan Wheeler | Loyola Marymount |
| Blake Dean | LSU |
| D.J. LeMahieu | LSU |
| Louis Coleman | LSU |
| Micah Gibbs | LSU |
| Kevin Nieto | Manhattan |
| Nate Lape | Marshall |
| Chris Hernandez | Miami (Fla.) |
| Ryan Jackson | Miami (Fla.) |
| Chris Fetter | Michigan |
| Bryce Brentz | Middle Tennessee |
| Rawley Bishop | Middle Tennessee |
| Matt Nohelty | Minnesota |
| Chris Mills | Mississippi Valley State |
| Scott Bittle | Ole Miss |
| Aaron Senne | Missouri |
| Kyle Gibson | Missouri |
| Ryan Buch | Monmouth |
| Michael Speciale | Navy |
| Brian Cavazos-Galvez | New Mexico |
| Rafael Neda | New Mexico |
| Chris Auten | New Mexico State |
| Alex White | North Carolina |
| Dustin Ackley | North Carolina |
| Kyle Seager | North Carolina |
| Matt Harvey | North Carolina |
| Sheldon McDonald | Northeastern |
| Justin Behm | Northern Illinois |
| Jake Goebbert | Northwestern |
| AJ Pollock | Notre Dame |
| Scott Sexton | Oakland |
| Justin Miller | Ohio State |
| Aaron Baker | Oklahoma |
| Andrew Doyle | Oklahoma |
| Jerry Sullivan | Oral Roberts |
| Ryan Ortiz | Oregon State |
| Andrew Oliver | Oklahoma State |
| Neil Medchill | Oklahoma State |
| Tyler Lyons | Oklahoma State |
| Todd Roth | Penn |
| Riley Henricks | Portland |
| Myrio Richard | Prairie View A&M |
| Jack Murphy | Princeton |
| Dan Black | Purdue |
| Reggie Keen | Radford |
| Diego Seastrunk | Rice |
| Mike Ojala | Rice |
| Rick Hague | Rice |
| Ryan Berry | Rice |
| James Hayes | Rider |
| Sean Olson | Rider |
| Tim Wheeler | Sacramento State |
| Seth Hammock | Sam Houston State |
| A.J. Griffin | San Diego |
| Kyle Blair | San Diego |
| Sammy Solis | San Diego |
| Stephen Strasburg | San Diego State |
| Matt Lujan | San Francisco |
| Danny Stienstra | San Jose State |
| Mike Ford | Santa Barbara |
| Thain Simon | Santa Clara |
| Grant Green | Southern California |
| Brian Dozier | Southern Miss |
| James Ewing | Southern Miss |
| Keli'l Zablan | Southern Utah |
| Kyle Jensen | St. Mary's |
| Jeremy Cruz | Stetson |
| Michael Stephan | Stony Brook |
| Ben Carruthers | TCU |
| Bryan Holaday | TCU |
| Tyler Lockwood | TCU |
| Kentrail Davis | Tennessee |
| Brandon Belt | Texas |
| Brandon Workman | Texas |
| Cameron Rupp | Texas |
| Chance Ruffin | Texas |
| Kyle Colligan | Texas A&M |
| Kyle Thebeau | Texas A&M |
| Luke Anders | Texas A&M |
| Travis Starling | Texas A&M |
| Stephen Flora | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
| Michael Choice | Texas-Arlington |
| Paul Goldschmidt | Texas State |
| Willie Rueda | Texas Tech |
| Josh Storm | Troy |
| Rob Segedin | Tulane |
| Seth Henry | Tulane |
| Casey Haerther | UCLA |
| Charles Brewer | UCLA |
| Mike Olt | UConn |
| Brett Schafer | UIC |
| Steve McGuiggan | UIC |
| Ryan Lockwood | USF |
| Mike Minor | Vanderbilt |
| Joe Serafin | Vermont |
| Justin Milo | Vermont |
| Matt Packer | Virginia |
| Anthony Sosnoskie | Virginia Tech |
| Austin Wates | Virginia Tech |
| Vin Avella | Wagner |
| Kyle Conley | Washington |
| Jared Prince | Washington State |
| Jedd Gyorko | West Virginia |
| Justin Parks | West Virginia |
| Drew Laidig | Western Illinois |
| Chad Cregar | Western Kentucky |
| Matt Ridings | Western Kentucky |
| Brian Stroud | Western Michigan |
| Shawn Wozniak | Wisconsin-Milwaukee |
| Jake Williams | Wofford |
| Alex Kaminsky | Wright State |
| Jeff Mercer | Wright State |
| Quentin Cate | Wright State |
-UF-
