Gator Baseball Names 2010 Award Recipients
Tuesday, October 5, 2010 | Baseball
The Gator Dugout Club, supporters of the University of Florida baseball program, recently announced its award winners from the 2010 season following voting from its membership. Outfielder Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), infielder Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.), outfielder Jonathan Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and right-hander Tommy Toledo (Tampa, Fla.) each emerged victorious after the ballots were counted.
"We are grateful for everything that the Gator Dugout Club does for our program," said fourth-year head coach Kevin O'Sullivan. "I look forward to seeing them at McKethan Stadium throughout the season."
den Dekker 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 fifth-round pick of the New York Mets, den Dekker earned second-team All-South Region, second-team All-SEC and made the league's Defensive Team for the third year in a row.
Regarded as the top defensive outfielder in school history, he joined Alabama's Jake Smith as the only players chosen to the SEC Defensive Team three-straight campaigns. den Dekker was a two-time All-SEC pick, making the second team in 2010 and first team in 2008 and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2007. He is the only Gator to make All-Regional teams on three occasions - 2008 Tallahassee Regional, 2009 & 2010 Gainesville Regionals. On Florida's career list, he ranks third in both at bats (844) and games started (220), fourth in runs scored (220) and strikeouts (157), fifth in games played (234), tied for fifth in hits (262) and stolen bases (65), sixth in hit-by-pitches (26), tied for sixth in RBI (159) and sacrifice flies (12), seventh in home runs (33) and eighth in total bases (406). den Dekker turned in a career batting average of .310 and was at .300 in SEC play.
In his final collegiate season, the Gators' starting center fielder hit a team-best .352, with a team-high 65 runs and a career-high 49 RBI. He delivered multiple hits in a team-leading 28 games, had a career-high 13 homers, seven doubles and three triples. den Dekker was 23-for-30 on the basepaths and batted .342 with 28 runs, 21 RBI and 14 thefts in SEC play. In Omaha, den Dekker turned in one of the most remarkable catches in baseball history with a sprawling grab to start the fourth inning against UCLA at the NCAA College World Series. With his back to the plate, he sprinted out to the base of the center field wall on a ball hit by the Bruins' Brett Krill and made a sensational basket catch as he was sliding onto the warning track. The feat was ranked #1 on SportsCenter's Top Plays that night.
Maddox earned the Dave Fuller Award, presented annually to the year's most timely hitter. Fuller guided Florida's program from 1948-75 and compiled an overall mark of 557-354-6 (.610) over his 28 seasons at the helm. The SEC's Freshman of the Year, Maddox was named a third-team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). He was the first rookie from Florida to earn All-America recognition since Brad Wilkerson accomplished the feat in 1996 and was named to Freshman All-America teams by Baseball America, Lou?isville Slugger, NCBWA and Yahoo! Spots.
Maddox also earned second-team All-SEC recognition and was named to the league's All-Freshman Team. The versatile slugger started 63 games in four different spots - third base (29), designated hitter (19), first base (14) and catcher (1). He hit .333 and held the squad's top spot in RBI (72), multi-RBI games (21), homers (17), hit-by-pitches (eight) and sacrifice flies (five). Maddox scored 48 runs and poked 16 doubles and 37 of his 72 RBI came with two out. He was chosen as the SEC Freshman of the Week on April 19 after leading the Gators to their first series triumph at Kentucky since 2004. Maddox batted .538 (7-for-13) over the three games, homered in each outing and boasted a slugging percentage of 1.462. He paced the squad in RBI (five) and runs (five) and six of his seven hits on the weekend went for extra-bases, as he had three dingers and three doubles.
Pigott collected the Mr. Gator Baseball Award, symbolic of the player who most personifies the spirit of Gator Baseball. He completed his four-year career at Florida with a perfect fielding percentage after not committing any errors in 267 chances. In his final season, Pigott played in 50 games, with 27 starts (18-LF, 7-RF, 2-CF), and hit .260 with 18 runs, 13 RBI and 10 walks. He was 13-for-43 (.302) in 23 SEC outings and 12 starts and batted .286 (2-for-7) at the CWS, highlighted by a 2-for-4 performance against Florida State in his final collegiate game that included a solo homer in the fifth. Pigott made perhaps the defensive play of the 2010 SEC Tourney with a sprawling catch in the bottom of the ninth inning in the elimination game against Arkansas that prevented extra bases. He laid out to snare a line drive in right field and then had the presence of mind to double the runner off first base to end the game and preserve UF's 5-4 win over the Hogs.
Toledo received the Steve Georgiadis Award, presented to the Gator baseball player who has most overcome adversity. The Georgiadis Award is given in memory of former Gator pitcher Steve Georgiadis, who passed away on March 17, 1990. After being sidelined for the entire 2009 campaign, Toledo missed close to two months this year after being struck with a line drive versus Charleston Southern on March 14. He worked his way back into the lineup by May 12, when he fired a scoreless inning against Florida Atlantic. Toledo made 11 appearances last spring, including six starts, and was 3-2 with a 4.39 earned run average and 27 strikeouts in 26.2 innings. He worked the ninth inning of the Gators' NCAA College World Series opener against UCLA and tossed a scoreless eighth inning in the Gainesville Regional final versus Florida Atlantic. Toledo had notched two scoreless innings and had a pair of strikeouts in the win over UNF during his first start following his injury. Another highlight of his season was picking up the win the rubber match of the regular-season series at Miami (Fla.), when he totaled four K and permitted one run.
