Jonathan India gets most of the fanfare. And for good reason.
He’s the one leading the Florida Gators, who returned to No. 1 in this week’s top 25 rankings, in batting average. He’s also leading the SEC in the same category by .033 points, and he was named the SEC Player of the Week on Monday. But India, a junior, has started at third base for UF since he was a freshman. These numbers are gaudy, but he’s been a consistent hitter over his career who’s gotten better in year three.
The same can’t be said for his ball-bashing counterpart, Wil Dalton.
Dalton’s average (.311) doesn’t come close to India’s (.433), but his power numbers do.
Dalton leads the RBI race with 27 to India’s 26, while the pair is tied for the team lead in home runs with 11.
“We have fun with it,” Dalton said. “Both of us kinda laugh about it because like we’ve said before, we’re not guys that came here just to hit home runs.”
But Dalton wasn’t exactly a guy who was expected to do much at all, at least in the eyes of most recruiters — who overlooked Dalton in high school and forced him to attend junior college at Columbia State.
India didn’t have that problem. Perfect Game rated him the nation’s best middle infielder prospect in his senior year of high school, and he arrived at UF with a vacancy at third base. He stepped in and hit .303 his first season.
Dalton put up more ridiculous numbers at Columbia State, with a .392 average, 58 RBIs and 15 home runs — the second most homers in a season in the school’s history.
Getting his 11th at Florida on Sunday against Vanderbilt was extra sweet given that he grew up in Tennessee but never received interest from the Commodores while in high school.
“It would have been a consideration,” he said of Vanderbilt. “Then again, not many schools wanted to consider me in the first place.”
Florida finally did last season on a trip to play Vanderbilt. Assistant coach Craig Bell made the two-hour drive to Clifton, Tennessee, and came back with video and positive reviews.
“Craig felt like this guy was gonna be a difference maker,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said, “and he was right, obviously.”
Dalton has been a difference maker for the Gators since the team’s opening day game against Siena, when Dalton recorded a hit, drove in a run and stole a base. That well-rounded repertoire speaks to what O’Sullivan thinks makes him special.
“You could certainly tell early on that he’s got special tools,” he said.
Those tools include a strong arm, good speed and a solid bat. O’Sullivan compared him to Harrison Bader, a former Florida outfielder who played 32 games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017.
Nobody saw that comparison coming.
“I knew the name. I just didn’t know he was gonna put up these numbers and be this good. I was clueless,” relief pitcher Jordan Butler said about Dalton. “I’m just thankful that he’s here.”
Dalton credits his success at the plate to having no fear of putting the ball in the air. It’s an approach he’ll hope to replicate on Tuesday when Florida (25-5, 7-2 SEC) hosts Florida Gulf Coast (22-5) before a weekend series at Tennessee.
“All I can do is put my best swing on the ball, and that’s all I’ve kinda really preached,” Dalton said. “Put your best swing on the ball, put it in the air and hope it goes where it needs to.”
Follow Ethan Bauer on Twitter @ebaueri and contact him at ebauer@alligator.org.
Right fielder Wil Dalton went 4 for 5 on Friday in Florida's 13-5 win over Columbia at the Gainesville Regional. He nearly hit the cycle but was thrown out sliding into third base.
