Fontana & Johnson Advance To Finals At V FISU World University Championships With Team USA
Thursday, August 5, 2010 | Baseball
University of Florida shortstop Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) and left-hander/designated hitter Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), who have been playing for the 2010 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this summer, advanced to the finals of the V FISU World University Championships in Tokyo, Japan, with a 4-2 victory in Thursday's semifinal against host Japan. Team USA will face Cuba for the gold on Saturday.
Fontana has had a stellar summer for the Red, White and Blue by starting 14 games at shortstop. He has a .275 (11-for-40) batting average in 16 games with a team-high 16 walks and seven runs scored, to go along with a .491 on-base percentage.
Johnson has made seven appearances on the hill, with one start, and is 1-0 with a 0.63 earned run average. In 14.1 innings, the southpaw has registered 16 strikeouts, issued five walks and limited opponents to a .128 average. The U.S. owns a 16-2 record heading into the finals.
In helping the Gators (47-17) to their first Southeastern Conference crown since 2005 and first appearance at the NCAA College World Series in five years, Fontana earned Freshman All-America recognition from Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and Yahoo! Sports, collected second-team All-SEC honors and was named to both the league's Defensive Team and All-Freshman squad. He later became the first player in school history to be named to the Rawlings NCAA Division I Gold Glove Team. Fontana was the lone freshman selected to the nine-player positional squad after committing just four errors in 279 chances for a .986 fielding percentage. He started 63 games at shortstop and was fourth on the club with a .287 average with 56 runs, a team-high 53 walks, 23 RBI, 15 doubles and 11 stolen bases. In addition, Fontana was tabbed as the SEC Freshman of the Week twice, March 8 and May 17.
Named as a Freshman All-American by Baseball America, Louisville Slugger, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Yahoo! Sports, Johnson earned spots on the SEC's All-Freshman Team as a starting pitcher and designated hitter. In 16 appearances on the mound, with 14 starts, the southpaw was 6-4 with a 4.03 earned run average and recorded 51 strikeouts in 73.2 innings. Johnson served as the Gators' DH in 27 games and batted .405 (34-for-84) with 21 RBI, 13 runs, nine walks, five doubles, four homers and two grand slams. He was tabbed as the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Gainesville Regional after going 5-for-8 (.625) at the plate and twirling seven shutout innings in the championship game. Johnson batted .500 (14-for-28) in eight postseason games and was 9-for-19 (.474) during the NCAA Tourney.
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