The Division II season kicks off in Florida and the rest of the southeast United States on Friday. This level of baseball has produced hundreds of Florida League players over the years, including plenty of All-Stars and top prospects. The Sunshine State Conference, arguably the toughest DII conference in the country, features dozens of Florida League alumni, including seven on Nova Southeastern, six on Florida Southern, six on Rollins, and eight on Embry-Riddle. We have narrowed our player database down from hundreds to these twenty players that we expect to make a big impact in 2019.

Will Acuff
OF, Alabama Huntsville
2018 Seminole County Scorpions

Acuff was a key piece for the Scorpions over the summer, earning a 2nd Team All-Florida League nod. He hit .248 for Seminole County with five doubles, two triples, two home runs and 21 RBI. He also scored nineteen times and swiped nine bags. In his first season on the field for the Chargers last spring, Acuff posted an OPS of .898 over 32 games played.

Aaron Anderson
1B, Flagler
2018 Winter Garden Squeeze

The reigning Florida League MVP will look to carry his amazing stats from the summer to his sophomore campaign at Flagler. Anderson not only led the Squeeze in most categories this summer, he was tops among most of the league. He set a new record for batting average (.434) and led the league in on-base percentage (.525) and slugging (.540). Anderson started 52 games as a freshman for the Saints last year, hitting .330 with three home runs and 31 RBI. He is one of eight former Florida League players on the Saints’ roster.

Brooks Brophy
RHP, Alabama Hunstville
2018 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs

Brophy was terrific for UAH during his freshman campaign, leading the Chargers in ERA with a 2.97 mark over 18 appearances. He tallied 27 strikeouts against only six walks over the course of 30.1 innings, and will look for more work during his sophomore year. Brophy was a quality arm for Chuck Schall’s Diamond Dawgs this past summer, leading the team in starts (7), innings (40) and strikeouts (34).

Joe Burke
1B, Kentucky Wesleyan
2018-19 DeLand Suns

Burke, the destroyer of baseballs, made his name known last spring after crushing 23 longballs for the Panthers, good for 5th most in the country. He also added 11 doubles, 55 runs and 65 RBI to his 1.291 OPS during one of the finest individual performances in school history. He arrived in DeLand for summer, and though the home runs didn’t fall at the same rate (he had two), he took home the Home Run Derby title during the All-Star Game and also led the champion Suns with 24 RBI.

Nick DeTringo
IF, Tampa
2017-18 DeLand Suns

DeTringo is a true story of toughness and determination, rising from JUCO to a walk-on at Tampa, to being named 1st team All-Conference. Last year for the Spartans, deTringo hammered 27 extra-base hits (including nine home runs) while scoring 41 times and driving in 35 more. His hot streak at the dish continued for the Suns as he opened the 2018 Florida League season with an eight-RBI game on the road at Leesburg. He wrapped his summer with a .318/.422/.458 slash line and a 1st team All-League selection.

Kyle Guttveg
OF, Embry-Riddle
2017 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs

Guttveg was a force for the Diamond Dawgs in 2017. He slashed .331/.399/.512 while adding 20 runs, 14 XBH, 21 RBI and 5 SB en route to 1st team All-Florida League honors. He carried his momentum into the 2018 season for Embry-Riddle, hitting .361 in 50 games with 14 doubles, 7 home runs, 53 runs scored and a team-high 23 stolen bases. The junior outfielder was named 2nd Team All-South Region by the NCBWA in the preseason poll. 

Jared Herron
C/3B, Rollins
2019 Sanford River Rats

Herron was a highly touted catching prospect out of Trinity Prep in Winter Park following his senior campaign in 2016. He spent the 2017 season as a redshirt at Florida State before seeing action in 27 games for the Seminoles last spring where he hit .297 with a home run and six RBI. He has transferred to play for the hometown Tars in 2019, where he will be a day one starter for Rollins.  

Zach Howard
OF, Embry-Riddle
2017 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs

Howard enters his senior year as ERAU’s all-time home run king (29), thanks to smashing a school-record 20 dingers last season. He finished the year 10th nationally in home runs. This spring, he will look to make jumps in the record books for hits, extra-base hits and RBI. A key member of the 2017 Winter Park squad that made it to the championship game, Howard had eight extra-base hits including three longballs. Howard was voted an honorable mention national All-American by the NCBWA heading into the season.

Andrew Labosky
IF, Nova Southeatern
2018 Sanford River Rats

Labosky was one of the top hitters in the Florida League last summer, posting a .365 batting average to lead Sanford. He was also tops on the team in runs scored (17) and earned both an All-Star nomination and a spot on the Prospect Team. Last spring for the Sharks, Labosky hit .302 in 31 games with three home runs and 22 runs scored.

Kyle Marsh
2B, Embry-Riddle
2017 Winter Garden Squeeze

Marsh put together one of the best stat lines in all of Division II last spring, earning national 1st Team All-American honors from the NCBWA and ABCA. He hit .393 with a 1.120 OPS while also adding ten doubles, four triples, eleven home runs, 59 runs and 59 RBI. Expectations are through the roof, as he has been selected a preseason All-American for the 2019 season. Marsh appeared in nine games for the Squeeze in 2017. 

Dillon McCollough
LHP, Eckerd
2017 DeLand Suns

McCollough has been the Tritons’ ace for the past two seasons and will be chasing school records in 2019. Last spring, he punched out a team-high 113 batters in only 79 innings, good for 6th in the conference and 20th in the country. During the 2017 Florida League season, the lefty paced the league in Ks with 39 to go along with a 1.78 ERA. He earned 1st Team All-League honors for the Suns that year. 

Devin Meyer
RHP, Nova Southeastern
2018 Sanford River Rats

Meyer showed out during his time in Sanford over the summer. After allowing only one earned run over 6+ innings in the spring, the senior righty had plenty of innings available for the Rats. By the end of the summer, including regular season, All-Star game, Prospect Showcase, and playoffs, Meyer tossed 47.2 frames. He had phenomenal numbers, finishing with an ERA of 1.89 and a 34:4 K/BB ratio. He earned 1st Team All-Florida League honors for his efforts.

JJ Niekro
RHP, Florida Southern
2017 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs

Niekro has a baseball bloodline, with former MLB stars Phil and Joe Niekro in JJ’s family tree. After a solid spring for the Mocs last year, Niekro will be asked to step up as the frontline starter this season. In 16 starts last year, Niekro was 6-2 with a 3.81 ERA over 82.2 innings. The junior righty made four starts for the Diamond Dawgs in 2017, going 2-1 in that span.

Luis Olivier
C, Embry-Riddle
2017 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs

Yet another ERAU Eagle on this list, Olivier is a power bat behind the plate. Last season for Embry-Riddle, Olivier slashed .350/.377/.617 over 50 games. He ranked second on the team in doubles (12), home runs (13), RBI (56), and was third in hits with 72. A local product from Lake Brantley High School, Olivier played for the Diamond Dawgs in 2017, collecting 14 hits in 70 at bats.

Luke Ostenson
RHP, Indianapolis
2018 DeLand Suns

Ostenson is an intriguing arm for the UIndy Greyhounds. After taking a year off from baseball, he started last summer in the Futures League where he struck out 22 batters in only nine innings. After he was called up to the Suns, he continued to dominate hitters, whiffing another 27 over 22.1 innings while boasting a 3.22 ERA.

Jimmy Robbins
LHP, Rollins
2017 Altamonte, 2019 Sanford

It’s been more than a year since Robbins set foot on a pitcher’s mound in a game situation. During his freshman year at Troy, the lefty appeared in 13 games and struck out 15 batters over 12+ innings. In the summer of 2017, he suited up for the Altamonte Springs Scorpions and earned an All-Star bid and Prospect Team nomination. He finished his summer with a 2.58 ERA in 38.1 innings. After missing 2018 due to injury, Robbins has transferred to Rollins, and will also play for the River Rats during the upcoming season.

Brayden Sisson
3B, Kentucky Wesleyan
2018-19 DeLand Suns

Sisson was a key cog in the Suns’ run to a championship. The athletic infielder appeared in 34 regular season games, tallying 37 hits, 25 runs and 22 RBI. He then turned things up in the playoffs, going 9-19 at the dish (including a perfect 5-5 in the final game of the championship series). After playing last season at Kaskaskia College, Sisson will serve as a middle of the order bat for the KWU Panthers in 2019.

Jacob Teter
1B, Florida Southern
2018 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs

The slugging first baseman wasted little time making his presence known in the Sunshine State Conference last year. He claimed Freshman of the Year honors after slashing .348/.412/..573 with 13 doubles, 12 home runs, and 54 RBI. He carried his big stick to Winter Park over the summer, leading the Florida League in home runs with seven while hitting .305 with 26 RBI. 

JP Williams
RHP, Nova Southeastern
2018 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs

Williams was a top arm for the Diamond Dawgs this summer, finishing with a 3-2 record and two saves. He had 24 strikeouts against only 5 walks over the course of 30 innings on the year, and was named both an All-Star and a member of the Prospect Team. Last spring at Eastern Florida State, JP held a 2.30 ERA across 54.2 innings to go with 56 punchouts. He has transferred to Nova for his junior year and will look to help the Sharks make a run to the World Series in Cary, NC. 

Garrett Wolforth
C, Nova Southeastern
2015 Altamonte, 2016 Sanford

Wolforth made his Florida League debut in 2015 as a recently graduated (and drafted) high school senior. Instead of signing with the Indians, he chose to attend Dallas Baptist University. He hit two home runs as a member of the inaugural Boom squad, and then appeared in 17 games for the River Rats in 2016. His resume includes a 1st Team All-Missouri Valley Conference bid in 2017. He has transferred to powerhouse Nova Southeastern for his senior year, and will look to make a big impact for the Sharks. Wolforth has been tabbed by Perfect Game as the #36 pro prospect in Division II baseball.