Wyatt Langford and Hurston Waldrep collected First Team Preseason All-America honors from Baseball America and D1Baseball while Brandon Sproat earned a spot on Baseball America’s Third Team.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A trio of Gators received Preseason All-America recognition from two separate media publications on Monday, as outfielder Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497>, right-handed pitcher Hurston Waldrep<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hurston-waldrep/15517> and right-hander Brandon Sproat<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-sproat/15508> were honored by Baseball America while D1Baseball tabbed Langford and Waldrep to its list as well.
Leading the charge, Langford and Waldrep collected First Team Preseason All-America honors from both Baseball America and D1Baseball. Sproat also earned a spot on Baseball America’s Third Team, marking his second Preseason All-America award of 2023. Meanwhile, the Monday announcements bring Langford’s total of First Team Preseason All-America nods to four, while Waldrep follows closely behind at three (including a Second Team honor from Perfect Game).
Entering the 2023 season as a potential Golden Spikes Award front runner, Langford is coming off one of the greatest seasons in the history of the Orange & Blue. While slashing .355/.447/.867, the Trenton, Fla. native tied Florida’s single-season home run record with an SEC-leading 26 big flies. The 2022 First Team All-American started all 66 games for the Gators a season ago, finishing with three triples, nine doubles, 73 runs, 63 RBI and seven steals. Perhaps most impressively, he turned in a 1.000 fielding percentage across 125 chances while playing in the outfield fo the first time in his career.
Shifting to Waldrep, the Southern Miss transfer enters his first campaign in Orange & Blue. Highly regarded as one of the top arms in the nation, Waldrep was named a 2022 Third Team All-American by D1Baseball after churning out 90 frames of 3.20 ERA ball with 140 strikeouts – translating to 14.0 strikeouts per nine innings. The Thomasville, Ga. native was equally brilliant in limited action as a freshman in 2021, working to a 3.35 ERA and .217 batting average against with 16 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings of work. That track record carried into this past fall, where Waldrep fired four scoreless frames against Georgia and Stetson, highlighted by an immaculate inning against the Hatters.
Back in Gator Country for a fourth campaign, Sproat collected Southeast All-Region Second Team honors in 2022 after pitching to a 9-4 record and 3.43 ERA across 89 2/3 frames. Hailing from Pace, Fla., Sproat was tremendous for the Gators down the stretch, going 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA and .218 batting average against in his last six starts of the season. The right-hander wields a 3.92 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 117 1/3 career innings. On. Jan. 20, Sproat was named to D1Baseball’s SEC Pitcher of the Year Watch List.<https://d1baseball.com/sec-extra/2023-sec-pitcher-of-the-year-watch-list/>
All three Gators are ranked as top-100 overall prospects for the 2023 MLB Draft, per MLB Pipeline: Langford (No. 3), Waldrep (No. 10) and Sproat (No. 78). Florida is one of three programs in the country with a trio of top-100 prospects.
Florida’s 2023 season<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/schedule> officially opens at home on Friday, Feb. 17 with the first of three games in a weekend series against Charleston Southern. Fans will have plenty of opportunities to cheer on the Gators at Condron Family Ballpark, as 20 of Florida’s first-22 games take place at home.
Florida’s 2023 Preseason All-America Honors
Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497> – First Team (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball, Perfect Game)
BT Riopelle<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/bt-riopelle/15503> – Third Team (Collegiate Baseball)
Brandon Sproat<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-sproat/15508> – Second Team (Collegiate Baseball), Third Team (Baseball America)
Hurston Waldrep<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hurston-waldrep/15517> – First Team (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball), Second Team (Perfect Game)
