The CBB continues our countdown to the 2009 College Baseball season with the Top 50 players to watch in the season. We will be providing one player each day (Monday-Saturday) until we reach number 1. We continue our list today with junior outfielder Dustin Ackley of North Carolina.
Dustin Ackley started receiving national attention during his senior year at North Forsyth, NC High School. He picked up preseason and postseason Louisville Slugger All-America honors. He spent his first three years of high school at South Stokes, NC High School where he won state championships in 2003 and 2004.
Ackley stepped right into the Tar Heels lineup during the 2007 season which saw him play in 73 games. He ended up batting .402 with ten homers and 74 RBI. He was the consensus Freshman of the Year in 2007 as Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, and Rivals.com gave him top billing. He was named a second team All-American honors from Rivals.com while the ABCA, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, and the NCBWA named him to as a third team All-American. We saw Dustin during his freshman campaign and you can check out our report from the game by clicking here.
After his outstanding freshman campaign, Dustin came back just as strong in 2008. He finished the season with a .417 average with four homers and 51 RBI. He had broke a school record with 82 runs scored on the year while stealing eleven out of 14 bases. He continued to pick up national honors with Rivals.com giving him second team All-American honors while Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball gave him third team All-American honors. He was named to the All-ACC second team due to the fantastic season Yonder Alonso had last season.
After the season was over, Dustin traveled to the Cape Cod Baseball League where he played in only 12 games. He ended up hitting .415 with two homers and 10 RBI in the limited action. He cut short his summer to have surgery on his elbow. The reason we have rated Ackley low is that he doesn’t project into being a great power hitter at the next level and doesn’t have blazing speed.
You can check out our full countdown by clicking here.
