Top 100 Countdown: 67. Karsten Whitson (Florida)

College Baseball Daily continues our countdown to the start of the 2012 College Baseball season by checking in on the Top 100 Players in the country. We will be providing one player per day until we reach number 1.

We continue the countdown today at number 67 with Florida RHP Karsten Whitson. The Chipley, Florida native attended Chipley High School where he became one of the top pitchers in the entire country. As a senior, he went 7-3 with a 0.62 earned run average and a school-record 123 strikeouts in 55 innings. In the entire season, he allowed only 16 hits while issuing 15 walks. His best start came against Walton High School in a 2-1 victory when he struck out 19 batters. He was named a first-team All-American by Baseball America and was first-team all-state in Class 3A. He was selected with the 9th overall pick by the San Diego Padres. After some tough negotiations, he decided to head to Gainesville to play for Kevin O’Sullivan.

Whitson was a integral part of the Florida weekend rotation throughout the 2011 season making 19 starts and finishing with a record of 8-1 with a 2.40 earned run average. He ended up leading the team in strikeouts with 92 in 97.1 innings of work and holding opponents to a .235 batting average. He was honored as a Freshman All-American from Baseball America, Louisville Slugger and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). He was also a member of the SEC’s All-Freshman Team.

You can check out the rest of our Top 100 by clicking here.