Four Golden Eagle Baseball Players Reject Professional Contract Offers
6/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 21, 2007
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss Head Baseball Coach Corky Palmer has announced that two current Golden Eagle baseball players, David Clark and Tyler Conn, along with two signees, Brian Leach and Kyle Maxie, turned down professional contracts and will attend Southern Miss in the 2007 fall.
Junior college pitcher Josh Billeaud is still undecided about his status for the upcoming season and will make a decision in the next seven days.
Clark was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 13th round and was the 418th pick of the draft. He made 17 appearances, including 16 starts and finished with an 8-5 record, tying with Ryan Belanger for the most wins on the team. He had a 4.85 ERA in 94.2 innings pitched this season, struck out 73 batters, walked 38 and opponents hit a team-low .239 against him.
Conn was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 36th round as the 1,088th pick of the draft. He made a team-high 31 appearances this season, finishing with a 1-2 record with a 2.70 ERA with five saves in 46.2 innings pitched. He struck out 33, walked 18 and opponents hit .269 against him.
Leach was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 38th round and the 1,137th pick of the draft. He completed his sophomore season at Northwest Mississippi Community College and helped lead them to a 40-17 overall record, 14-2 in the MACJC North Division. The MACJC Region Championship and a fourth-place finish in the NJCAA National Tournament. He made 14 appearances, including 11 starts and finished with a 4-2 record and two saves with a 4.90 ERA in 55.2 innings pitched. He struck out 56, walked 49 and pitched two complete games.
Maxie was drafted by the New York Mets in the 28th round and was taken as the 873rd pick of the draft. He attended Pearl River Community College in the 2007 spring but didn't play baseball after transferring from Florida State at mid-year. He originally signed with the Seminoles out of North Forest High School in Hattiesburg in 2005. He played one season for FSU (2005-06), seeing action in 38 games and starting 11. He hit .155 with a double, 11 walks and four RBIs. He finished with 143 putouts, 19 assists and only committed one error for a .994 fielding percentage.
He was an AFLAC All-American, a Wendy's High School Heisman state finalist in 2004 and 2005 and the Mississippi Athletic Association Player of the Year. He was an all-state selection for three-straight years and all-district for four years. He was a member of the Clarion Ledger Dandy Dozen and was named to the Hattiesburg American's All-Area team and was a Prep Sports first team all-area.
As a senior at North Forest, he hit .566 with 10 homers, 20 doubles, 38 RBIs and 40 walks, while slugging 1.117 as a senior. As a junior, he hit .505, homered five times and drove in 29 runs in 2004. He recorded 50 hits, half of which were doubles. He reached base in almost 70 percent of his at bats and finished with a slugging percentage of .929.
Maxie was a United States Army Scholar Athlete of the Year, a Coca-Cola Scholar Athlete of the Year, a member of the North Forrest Hall of Fame and was elected Vice President of his class.
Billeaud was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 21st round and 636 pick of the draft. He completed his sophomore season at LSU-Eunice this past season and helped them to a 44-12 record and an appearance in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament. He finished with an 8-2 record with a 2.30 ERA in 82.1 innings pitched, striking out 81, walking 27 and opponents hit .252 against him.
Southern Miss just completed its 2007 season, finishing 39-23 overall and 14-10 in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles have won at least 39 games a year for the fifth-straight year and have made an appearance in the NCAA Regional Tournament for the fifth-straight year as well, and made eight tournament appearances overall. That streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is the 12th-longest in the nation.
