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| Jonathan Baksh traded Panther crimson for Toronto blue in June. |
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| Steven Condotta returns next season as the 2006 Baseball Scholar-Athlete of
the Year. |
Three years ago, Florida Tech’s head baseball coach Paul Knight signed two players from Mississauga, Ontario—shortstop Steven Condotta and outfielder Jonathan Baksh. Both players proved to be outstanding student-athletes on and off the field. Condotta will finish his four-year campaign next year as the top returnee batting a .377, while Baksh moves on to join the Toronto Blue Jays after a stellar junior year, batting .469.
For the past three years, both players topped the team in hitting, while also leading in the classroom. Condotta was named the 2006 Florida Tech Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while Baksh was named the 2006 Florida Tech Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition to being three-year scholar-athletes, both men have also been honored as All-Sunshine State Conference players and SSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll members for their entire three-year campaigns. Condotta, a business management major, holds a 3.8 GPA, and Baksh, an accounting major, maintains a
3.5 GPA.
Baksh is the first player drafted during Coach Knight’s career at Florida Tech. Former coach Les Hall, a member of the SSC
and Florida Tech Halls of Fame,
had eight players join the professional ranks.
“It’s a great opportunity for him,” Knight said of Baksh. “He deserves it. He’s worked hard for it. I think he’ll do great.”
Baksh enters an elite group of players drafted from Florida Tech, joining Panther greats like Tim Wakefield who was the first Panther to be drafted in 1988 by the Pittsburgh Pirates. While both players were drafted coming out of their junior seasons, Baksh is the highest round draft choice for the Panthers—chosen in the seventh round this spring. Wakefield, who now wears a 2004 World Series ring pitching for the Boston Red Sox, was an eighth-round pick. Fellow pitcher and Florida Tech Hall of Fame member and SSC Baseball Silver Anniversary team member Tom Finney was another of the now nine players to either be signed or drafted by a major league team.
“I was just ecstatic. That’s what I was hoping for. You couldn’t have asked for anything better than that,” stated Baksh after hearing he was picked in the seventh round. Baksh had decided if he didn’t go in the first 10 rounds, he would definitely return for his senior campaign at Florida Tech. Despite the tough loss for the Panthers, the Florida Tech athletics department is extremely happy for Jon.
Baksh, who grew up roughly 15 minutes from Toronto, attended his first Blue Jays game as a teenager. After wrapping up his junior year, he had a chance to work out for Toronto at the Rogers Centre. Now with the Blue Jays, his family and friends can help cheer on their hometown hero.
Jon, the 2005 Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year, was chosen All-SSC first team for the second consecutive year. Tampa’s Lee Cruz, who was named the NCAA Division II Player of the Year, edged Baksh this season for the 2006 SSC Player of the Year honors, as the Spartans won the NCAA Division II National Championship this season. Despite losing out on the repeat, Baksh did win the 2006 SSC batting title and finished fifth in the nation among all D-II players.
While wearing the crimson and gray, Baksh was also named to the NCAA II All-South Conference first team in 2005 and 2006, 2006 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Division II All-American second team, 2006 National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) All-American first team and 2005 NCBWA All-American third team.
Baksh is the only Sunshine State Conference player, other than three Tampa players, to be named ABCA All-American. Other honors earned this year include SSC Player of the Week and Commissioner’s List of Outstanding Achievement honors for the months of February, March, April and May.
He finished off the 2006 year with 100 hits, 67 runs, 21 doubles, four triples, nine home runs, a .732 slugging percentage and 18 stolen bases. For his career, Jon’s stats included 583 at bats, 137 runs, 240 hits, 46 doubles, 10 triples, 12 home runs, 138 RBI, a .587 slugging percentage, 60 stolen bases and a .412 batting average.
For his three-year effort at Tech, Baksh broke into the Panther record book, topping all players for career and single season batting average, single season hits and single season runs scored. Baksh also achieved second in career hits, career stolen bases and single season doubles, along with fourth in career doubles and single season RBI for the Tech record book.
Christa
Parulis-Kaye
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