Gators Recognized On SEC Baseball Awards List
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 | Baseball
Freshman second baseman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.), sophomore outfielder Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and junior right-hander Patrick Keating (Harrisburg, Ill.) were chosen first-team All-SEC in a vote of the league's 12 head baseball coaches announced on Tuesday.
The three selections to the first team were the most for the Gators since four players (John Burke, Mario Linares, Kevin Polcovich and Marc Valdes) garnered the honor in 1991. Junior outfielder Avery Barnes (High Springs, Fla.) was named to the second team, Adams was a unanimous choice on the All-Freshman Team and den Dekker was a member of the inaugural SEC All-Defensive Team. In his first season at the helm, head coach Kevin O'Sullivan directed Florida (34-20/17-13 SEC) to a third-place showing in the overall standings and a runner-up performance in the Eastern Division.
Adams became the first Gator rookie to collect first-team All-SEC recognition since Valdes accomplished the feat in 1991. He was also one of five players to be unanimously chosen to the league's All-Freshman Team. Adams has started 53 games for the Orange and Blue at five different positions (30-2B, 14-3B, 4-LF, 4-CF, 1-RF) and seen action at every spot in the infield. He leads UF in slugging percentage (.561) and doubles (17) and is tied for second in batting average (.343) and homers (eight). Adams also ranks second on the squad in on-base percentage (.438) and RBI (51). He was third on the club in SEC play with a .354 clip and had a team-high 27 RBI, 22 runs, 10 doubles and five round-trippers. In the middle of March, the Jacksonville native was tabbed as the SEC Freshman of the Week after an impressive 8-for-11 (.727) league debut during the sweep of Auburn.
On the strength of a .351 batting average in league play, den Dekker earned first-team 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. den Dekker is currently at .330 overall with career highs in runs (49), RBI (47), homers (eight), doubles (seven) and triples (two). He is a perfect 20-for-20 on stolen-base attempts and enters the SEC Tournament riding his second 13-game hitting streak this spring. The center fielder was named to the league's All-Defensive Team after committing just one error in 144 overall chances, with four assists. den Dekker often makes spectacular plays look routine and has robbed opponents of potential homers several times throughout the season.
Keating was voted as one of the two starting pitchers on the first team after compiling a 7-0 league ledger with a 3.28 earned run average in nine starts. He was the first Gator to achieve first-team status since Justin Hoyman in 2004. Keating claimed 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 LSU at the end of March. Making his first relief appearance of the year last Friday, the right-hander fanned Vanderbilt junior All-American Pedro Alvarez with the tying run on second base to preserve the Gators' 5-4 triumph in game two of the series. Keating is 8-0 overall with a 3.15 ERA and has registered 48 strikeouts in 74.1 innings.
Barnes rated among the conference leaders throughout the campaign, turning in a .355 average with 32 runs, 12 stolen bases and 11 RBI versus league foes. He leads UF overall in a variety of offensive categories, including batting average (.382), on-base percentage (.456), hits (79), runs (64), stolen bases (25-for-28) and sacrifice hits (four). Barnes is tied for the team lead with 23 multiple-hit games and four triples and is third with 28 walks. He paced the Orange and Blue offense during series against South Carolina (.615), Kentucky (.563) and Tennessee (.500) and had a walk-off single to defeat Brown on March 8.
Georgia junior shortstop Gordon Beckham was selected as the 2008 SEC Player of the Year, Georgia senior closer Joshua Fields was named SEC Pitcher of the Year and Auburn first baseman Hunter Morris was named as the SEC
Freshman of the Year. The coaches also tabbed Georgia skipper David Perno as SEC Coach of the Year, while Beckham was also named Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Beckham (.401-23-57, 16 SB, .959 fielding pct.), a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, tied the school record for home runs in a season with his 23rd against Alabama. It was an opposite-field, game-tying solo shot. On Saturday, he set the Bulldog record for runs scored in a season with 76. Beckham, an Academic All-America candidate too, ranks among the leaders in several NCAA and SEC offensive categories. He is second in the country in home runs, fourth in slugging percentage and sixth in runs scored. In 28 games against ranked opponents, Beckham is batting .380-9-26, and in SEC action, he batted .391-13-33.
Fields, a semifinalist for the Clemens Award, set a school record with his 16th save of the season in a win over Georgia Tech last Tuesday at Turner Field in Atlanta. Fields already holds the SEC and school record for career saves with 39. On the year, he is 2-2 with a 1.52 ERA and has 16 saves in 29.2 innings with 53 strikeouts.
Morris, who was named second-team All-SEC, had a monster first season at Auburn, finishing the year with a team-best .351 batting average in all games, but was even better in league play, hitting .393. Morris hit safely in 44 of 54 games played. Perno led the Bulldogs to a 20-9-1 record in conference play to win the SEC Championship.
Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players, thus a unanimous selection earned 11 of the 12 first-team votes. The complete 2008 All-SEC Team follows:
SEC Player of the Year: *Gordon Beckham, Georgia
SEC Pitcher of the Year: Joshua Fields, Georgia
SEC Freshman of the Year: Hunter Morris, Auburn
SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Gordon Beckham, Georgia
SEC Coach of the Year: David Perno, Georgia
*unanimous selection
First Team
1B – Justin Smoak, South Carolina
2B – Josh Adams, FLORIDA & Ryan Wilkes, Kentucky
3B – Pedro Alvarez, Vanderbilt & Logan Forsythe, Arkansas
SS – *Gordon Beckham, Georgia
C – Bryce Massanari, Georgia
OF – Sawyer Carroll, Kentucky
OF – Collin Cowgill, Kentucky
OF – Matt den Dekker, FLORIDA; Brandon May, Alabama & David Macias, Vanderbilt
DH – Alex Avila, Alabama
P – Patrick Keating, FLORIDA
P – Chris Rusin, Kentucky
RP – Joshua Fields, Georgia
Second Team
1B – Hunter Morris, Auburn
2B – Alex Feinberg, Vanderbilt
3B – James Darnell, South Carolina
SS – Ryan Flaherty, Vanderbilt & Reese Havens, South Carolina
C – Yan Gomes, Tennessee
OF – Avery Barnes, FLORIDA
OF – Dominic de la Osa, Vanderbilt
OF – Kentrail Davis, Tennessee
DH – Phil Disher, South Carolina
P – Lance Lynn, Ole Miss
P – Stephen Dodson, Georgia & Trevor Holder, Georgia
RP – Scott Bittle, Ole Miss
All-Freshman Team
1B – *Hunter Morris, Auburn
2B – *Josh Adams, FLORIDA
3B – David Cunningham, Auburn
SS – *Josh Rutledge, Alabama
C – *Micah Gibbs, LSU
OF – *Kentrail Davis, Tennessee
OF – Brian Fletcher, Auburn
OF – Whit Merrifield, South Carolina
DH – P.J. Polk, Tennessee
P – Grant Dayton, Auburn
P – Drew Pomeranz, Ole Miss
RP – Russell Brewer, Vanderbilt
All-Defensive Team
P – Jared Bradford, LSU
1B – Rich Poythress, Georgia
2B – Ryan Wilkes, Kentucky
SS – Reese Havens, South Carolina
3B – Jake Smith, Alabama
C – Brett Basham, Ole Miss
OF – Collin Cowgill, Kentucky
OF – Matt den Dekker, FLORIDA
OF – David Macias, Vanderbilt
-UF-
