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 17 with Alabama senior Taylor Dugas, The Lafayette, Louisiana, native attended Teurlings Catholic High School where he was a four year starter for head coach Mike Thibodeaux. In his high school career, he batted .518 (176 for 340) with 19 home runs and 159 RBI. His senior season saw him hit .640 (57 for 86) with 10 home runs, 38 RBI, 55 runs, 17 doubles and four triples while being named a Collegiate Baseball High School All-American, LBCA Player of the Year, first-team All-State by the LBCA, and won the Rebel of the Year Award at TCHS.
He decided to head out of state to play for the Alabama Crimson Tide. His freshman campaign saw him appear in 56 games (54 starts) as he hit .352 (83-for-236) with two home runs and 27 RBI in 56 games, He was able to lead the Crimson Tide in hits (83), multi-hit games (25) and doubles (20). He was honored at the end up the season by being named a Freshman All-American by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
Dugas came back with a stronger sophomore season by hitting .393 (90-for-229) batting average with 66 runs 
scored, 59 walks, 15 doubles and 19 stolen bases in 64 starts. He had an outrageous on-base percentage of .530 in 2010. He was also solid on the basepaths by stealing 19 bases in 24 attempts. He picked up several honors including being named: First-Team All-American by Baseball America, Second-Team American Baseball Coaches All-America selection, named to the 2010 ABCA All-South Region Team and First-Team All-SEC.
Taylor played the summer of 2010 in the Cape Cod Baseball League after being cut during the USA National Team Trials. He appeared in 13 games while hitting a paltry .159 with 2 RBI. Frankie Pilere of Fanhouse.com rated him as the 79th best prospect for the 2011 Draft.
Dugas had an outstanding junior season leading the team with a .349 batting average while hitting eight homers and driving in 33 runs. He also stole eight bases on 13 attempts while playing outstanding defense making two errors on the year. He picked up several honors including being name ABCA Gold Glove outfielder, ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-South Region, Second-Team All-SEC and to the All-SEC Defensive Team.
He was selected in the eighth round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs but decided to return to Alabama for his senior season.
You can check out the rest of our Top 100 by clicking here.
