Gator Country

Florida baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan and his staff recruited the top class for 2009, according to Collegiate Baseball./Gator Country file photo by Tim Casey

Kevin O’Sullivan, whose goal is for his Florida baseball team to finish the season No. 1 after a trip to Omaha, Neb., and a victory in the College World Series, has to be satisfied right now being No. 1 in another baseball matter.

The Florida coaching staff’s work in bringing in a class of 10 freshmen and one junior-college transfer has been saluted by Collegiate Baseball newspaper as the best recruiting class for 2009.

It’s the first time in the 27 years that Collegiate Baseball has ranked recruiting classes that Florida is No. 1. It’s the eighth time, however, that Florida has recruited a Top 10 class, the first time since the 2006 class was rated No. 3 and a 17-place jump from last year’s ranking of No. 18.

“This ranking is a credit to the players and how hard each of them worked during their high school and junior college careers and it also recognizes the outstanding effort of our coaching staff during the recruiting process,” said O’Sullivan, who was assisted in his efforts by assistant coaches Craig Bell and Brad Weitzel.

“These players have performed at a high level and we are counting on them contributing right away for us,” O’Sullivan continued. “The state of Florida possessed a wealth of talent and we were fortunate to have many of these student-athletes come to Florida.”

Ten of the 11 recruits are from Florida. The group includes five pitchers, three infielders, a pair of catchers and an outfielder.

Nine of the players achieved all-state recognition during their senior seasons and infielder Bryson Smith of Watkinsville, Ga., and Young Harris College was the 2009 American Baseball Coaches Association’s Division I Player of the Year in the National Junior College Athletic Association. Smith, a first-team Division I All-American, hitting .467 with a school-record 21 home runs and 90 RBI.

Seven members of the class were picked by Major League Baseball teams in last June’s Draft but elected to attend Florida. They are left-hander Brian Johnson of Cocoa Beach, chosen in the 27th round with the 817th pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers; right-hander Michael Heller (29th round/865th pick) of Sarasota’s Cardinal Mooney High School; catcher Mike Zunino of Cape Coral (30/873); Smith (30/905) who was chosen by Cleveland; Jacksonville Eagle’s View catcher Austin Maddox (37/1,129) who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays; right-hander Hudson Randall of Atlanta (46/1,382) who was taken by Kansas City; and left-hander Steve Rodriguez of Miami (48/1,451) who was taken by the Houston Astros.

Florida returns 20 letterwinners from last season’s team that went 42-22 and came up two victories shy of going to Omaha. Those 20 letterwinners include 10 pitchers and five players who saw the majority of time at their positions last season. Senior outfielder Matt den Dekker, a two-year member of the SEC’s All-Defensive Team, turned down an offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates to re-enroll at Florida. He was one of a school-record 10 players off last season’s team that were drafted on the three days of the MLB Draft.

Florida is scheduled to begin fall practice on Friday, Sept. 25 at McKethan Stadium and will open its 2010 campaign in mid-February.

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