Finding and signing Florida’s Class of 2009 baseball class had been one of the goals of head coach Kevin O’Sullivan and his staff since they arrived in Gainesville during the summer of 2007.
Now that they know one of the top-ranked recruiting classes in the country will show up on campus with minimal harm from the Major League Baseball Draft in June, it’s hard for the coaches to hide their excitement.
“Any time you get a lot of good players, you inevitably going to lose some,” O’Sullivan said. “I thought we came out pretty well. The guys who are coming to school are all really excited. They all really want to win a national championship. They’re certainly talented enough, but they’ve all got good work ethics. We’re all excited about their physical abilities, but I like the mental makeup of this group.”
The evaluations for the 2009 class started over two years ago, when Cocoa Beach left-handed pitcher Brian Johnson showed up at one of the camps held in Gainesville. The Florida staffers liked what they saw and knew they wanted him in their recruiting class. Two years later, he’s one of their top prospects in the class.
“I remember our first Labor Day camp, we had Brian Johnson coming to it,” O’Sullivan said.” We’ve been on these guys for a long, long time. That’s the thing with baseball recruiting. You get on them early, they commit, then sign in November. But you’ve got to keep recruiting them until they decide to come to campus or not. We got to know all of these kids real well.”
Trying to bring young men to campus, particularly the ones who get drafted, is always tough. What made it easier for the Florida staff was getting to evaluate the prospects early, but also the ability to know the prospects’ families.
“It makes it a lot easier,” O’Sullivan said. “You know the ins and outs of each kid. We got to know their parents, brothers and sisters. We knew them on a personal level. That makes the transition (to college) much easier, not only for us but for them, too.”
Of the 11 signees in the 2009 class that made it to campus, only two of them come from out of state. The talent that packs the state of Florida every year made it easier for the Florida coaches to get the talent they desired.
“That’s going to be the emphasis for us every year,” O’Sullivan said. “We want to get the best kids in Florida. We also filled some of our needs from outside the state. We’ll recruit wherever we need to and get kids to hopefully help us win a national championship, but first and foremost we have to take care of our own state. I thought we did a good job of that this year.”
The talent in this recruiting class was enough for Baseball America to rank it No. 1 in the country before the draft. With that high ranking came predictions that it would be decimated by prospects signing and moving on to professional baseball. Most prospects that were taken in lower rounds of the draft fell that far because of their preference to attend college instead of their talent.
“A lot of these kids went a lot lower than their talent says,” O’Sullivan said. “A lot of it has to do with their desire to go to school.”
One of those players is Michael Zunino, who fell to the Oakland A’s in the 30th round. Going into the draft, Baseball America predicted Zunino would be taken in the third or fourth round of the draft, but his desire to go to school made his stock fall because he would be more difficult for the pro teams to sign.
The Mariner High School catcher participated in the Aflac All-American Game, along with many of the other top high school players in the country. As a part of a season that earned him 5A First Team All-State honors, Zunino batted .464 with nine doubles, 11 home runs and 37 RBI as a senior. Zunino also boasted an on-base percentage of .531 and a slugging percentage of .918. The catcher threw out eight of 12 runners attempting to steal.
“Michael has power at the plate and he’s very advanced defensively,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s got a chance to be really, really good.”
Eagle’s View Academy catcher Austin Maddox was an Aflac All-American and Under Armour All-American as a senior. He was named to the Class 1A All-State team as well as being named the Florida Times-Union First Coast Player of the Year. Maddox was also named to Baseball America’s 2009 High School All-American Team.
Maddox led Eagle’s View to four Final Fours in his time on campus and won two state championships. The catcher hit .554 with 33 RBI, 23 runs and 11 doubles as a senior. Before the draft, Baseball America projected Maddox to be selected in the top three rounds of the draft because of his above-average power.
“We’re excited about having Austin,” O’Sullivan said. “The thing about him is that he’s a really good student. He could graduate in three years. He’s got a great future in front of him, not just baseball-wise, but in anything he does. If the draft works out for him (in three years), he could at the very least be really, really close to finishing his degree at Florida. It’s a great situation for him.”
After signing two of the top catching prospects in the entire 2009 draft, the Florida coaching staff was expected to struggle to get even one of them on campus. Now that the coaches have both of them to suit up in orange and blue, O’Sullivan is excited about the depth at the catcher position.
“They’re both versatile enough to where they can play other positions,” O’Sullivan said. “Part of what we told them during the recruiting process is that we’re going to help them improve their game. They’re both very talented and we’re looking forward to working with them.”
Johnson, a left-handed pitcher, was named the All-Space Coast Most Valuable Player last season and a member of the 4A All-State Team. As a hitter, he batted .551 with nine home runs and 21 RBI. He struck out only four times and walked 36. The Los Angeles Dodgers drafted Johnson in the 27th round after he turned down teams that would have drafted him in the top first five rounds.
On the mound, where most believe Johnson’s future is, he went 5-1 with an ERA of 0.76, allowing only six earned runs all season. In 55 innings pitched, he allowed zero home runs and struck out 102 batters.
“I really like the way he swings the bat,” O’Sullivan said about why Johnson will have a chance to hit and pitch. “We’re going to give him a chance to swing the bat, but pitching-wise I think he’s got a chance to be as good as anybody we’ve ever had here. He’s that good.”
A player that surprised many when he went completely undrafted was West Orange shortstop Nolan Fontana. He hit leadoff for Team USA in the IBAF 18-U World Championship, which O’Sullivan called “an unbelievable accomplishment just to make that team, but then to start at shortstop and lead off is a really tough stage to perform on.”
It’s a stage on which Fontana succeeded. From the leadoff spot for Team USA, he hit .357. As a senior at West Orange, Fontana hit .521, with an on-base percentage of .702. With last year’s shortstop, Mike Mooney, signing with the Baltimore Orioles, the starting position is wide open.
“I’ve always liked the way (Fontana) approaches the game,” O’Sullivan said. “He plays hard and practices hard. He’s a vocal leader who works hard in the weight room. He does everything that you would ask a middle infielder to do. He takes charge. He’s certainly our type of player. He’s a tough out at the plate and very sure-handed defensively.”
The only outfielder Florida signed was Park Vista High School product Kamm Washington. Prospectwire.com ranks him as the No. 22 player in the state and also notes that Washington is a potential five-tool player. He ran a 6.38 60-yard dash at a Perfect Game showcase, and then showed off an arm that hit 90 mph on throws in from the outfield. He may be undersized, but his aggressive swing gives him power.
“He’s really athletic with a bunch of tools,” O’Sullivan said. “He can run, he can throw and he can hit for power. Kamm can be as good as he wants to be. He’s got really good tools to succeed certainly at this level, but at the next level as well.”
Florida also signed Washington’s teammate at Park Vista, Cody Dent. He is the son of former MLB player and manager Bucky Dent. Dent is a solid baseball player who could be a good college hitter with some added weight. Prospectwire.com believes he projects as a third baseman.
“He’s really, really good defensively,” O’Sullivan said. “He can really run and he’s a very good athlete.”
A less heralded pitcher who will join the Gators this fall is Winter Haven right-handed pitcher Ben Brown. What he may have lacked in national hype for the draft, he has made up for by impressing his college coaches in his short time on campus this summer.
Brown was named the Lakeland Ledger’s 2009 Player of the Year and also placed on the 5A All-State first team. As a senior, Brown went 10-1 with a 0.72 ERA. In 68 innings pitched, he struck out 120 batters and only walked 12.
“He’s got a heck of a curveball,” O’Sullivan said. “It is really, really good. Ben had a ton of success in high school. He’s got a chance to be really good for us.”
Cardinal Mooney High School pitcher Michael Heller has one of the biggest arms in the entire 2009 draft class and showed it off as an Aflac All-American last year. He is another two-way player who projects more as a pitcher. On the mound, he threw 54 innings with a 2.46 ERA. Heller was 5-4 with a save, striking out 77 batters. He was an honorable mention for the 3A All-State team.
With the bat, Heller hit .384 with six home runs and 20 RBI. He also boasted a .470 on-base percentage and a .686 slugging percentage. But there’s no doubt he projects as a pitcher. After being projected as a Top 10-round pick by Baseball America before the draft, Heller fell to the 29th round where he was picked by Pittsburgh because of his publically stated desire to go to school.
Heller tore his ACL a month ago, which will stunt his growth as a player. Once the rehab begins and Heller is cleared to play, the Florida staff will waste no time acclimating him to the pitching staff.
“In his first start of the year this past spring, he threw 96 (mph),” O’Sullivan said. “He’s got as good of an arm as anybody we’ve got coming in. Once he’s healthy, we’re going to get him ready.”
Hudson Randall is the only out-of-state high school player the Gators signed, coming from Dunwoody (Ga.) High School. Randall won eight games as a senior and was named DeKalb County Pitcher of the Year. In 69.1 innings pitched, he struck out 88 batters. Randall was also named a member of Louisville Slugger’s High School All-America Team.
“I saw him last summer and really liked him right away,” O’Sullivan said. “He had visited the campus before we even had a chance to see him pitch. I had heard a lot of good things before we saw him. He’s a projectable righty, and then we saw him this summer and he’s really, really improved. He throws three pitches for strikes and is one of those guys whose velocity has just gotten better and better. With his pitchability, he’s polished and I’m assuming he’s going to come in and pitch right away for us.”
Where the Florida football team has struggled to get players out of South Florida, the baseball team did just that with the 2009 signing class. The coaching staff signed Gulliver Prep left-handed pitcher Paco Rodriguez, who was an Under Armour All American last season. He throws around 90 mph with a slow curveball and an average changeup. He is also unique as a pitcher, wearing glasses when on the mound.
Rodriguez was named to the Miami Herald’s All-Dade Team and is on the Class 3A All-State team.
“He really wanted to come to Florida,” O’Sullivan said about getting Rodriguez out of Miami. “He was on the USA National Team and beat Cuba. He’s another one of those big, strong left-handed pitchers. You really can never have enough lefties. He has a tough time throwing the ball straight. Everything he throws cuts and sinks. He’s going to be really good.”
O’Sullivan’s staff didn’t only sign some of the best high school players in the country. It also signed the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Player of the Year – Young Harris College third baseman Bryson Smith.
From the school that produced Baltimore Orioles star outfielder Nick Markakis, Smith will come to Gainesville after a historic offensive season. At Young Harris, he batted .467 with a national second-best 90 RBI and a national third-best 20 home runs. He also had a .551 on-base percentage and a .887 slugging percentage.
In 212 at-bats, Smith walked 32 times and struck out only 24 times. He was also 11 of 13 in stolen bases. The only question mark is his defense, after Smith made 17 errors and had a fielding percentage of .899.
“I hope so,” O’Sullivan said about Smith’s ability to play third base immediately. “I know offensively he had an unbelievable season at Young Harris. He’s coming in with a lot of success. We’re looking for him to hopefully hit right there in the middle of the order for us. We don’t recruit designated hitters. We’re expecting him to step in and play third base.”
With the word “All-American” becoming commonplace with players who come to play college baseball in Gainesville, the rich continue to get richer.