GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Catcher Santiago Garavito of Santa Fe College Baseball has made a commitment to attend the University of Tampa to play for the storied Spartans program. 

Garavito, a native of Plantation, Fla. who attended American Heritage, just completed his second season with the Saints and was named to the All Mid-Florida Conference First Team.

In 2022, he had a solid year behind the plate and in the batter's box, playing in 48 games and often batting cleanup. 

Garavito paced SF with 19 doubles and tied with Xavier Moronta with 30 RBI. He ranked No. 4 on the Saints in hits (53), runs scored (34), and batting average (.319) while adding one triple and three home runs to his resume. 

"Santi" had 16 multi-hit games and put together a nine-game hitting streak. Defensively he gunned down 16 would-be base stealers with throws from behind the plate. 

University of Tampa Baseball is coached by longtime skipper Joe Urso, and the team currently holds a 36-8 mark overall and 20-4 record in the NCAA Division II Sunshine State Conference. 

Garavito will be joining a powerhouse. In his 22 years as Head Coach, Urso has directed the winningest program among all NCAA ranks in the 2000s. UT has captured five national championships since 2006, most recently winning in 2019, to go along with 14 Sunshine State Conference titles and 12 NCAA South Regional championships. 

Garavito is now the seventh baseball commitment to be announced on santafesaints.com, with the list available below. 

More commitments from SF Baseball will be announced in the days ahead.  

SF Baseball Commitments to Four-Year Institutions 

Santiago Garavito - University of Tampa

Lance Bolton - University of North Florida - Release

Gabriel Esquivel - University of North Florida - Release

Trent Becker - University of North Florida - Release

Garfield Johns - University of South Alabama - Release

Mitchell Gross - Georgia Southern University - Release 

Tyler Shelnut - University of Florida - Release