University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Announces 2011 Signing Class
8/31/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Aug. 31, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss - After reaching their eighth consecutive NCAA Regional in 2010, and only one season removed from playing in the College World Series, Southern Miss head coach Scott Berry has announced his 2011 signing class.
Berry has added 16 new faces to the Golden Eagle roster for the 2011 season, including 11 high school players and five junior college transfers.
"We have concentrated heavily on helping ourselves on the mound in this class," head coach Scott Berry said. "We tried to balance this signing class with the returning players and their experience to ensure we can still compete at the highest level of college baseball. The 16 players that make up this signing class is a very athletic group that will give us the opportunity to play guys in a lot of different positions."
The recruiting class includes three infielders, two outfielders, two catchers, six pitchers and three players who could see time both on the mound and in the field.
All 16 new players are now on campus and enrolled in classes this fall.
The Golden Eagles will look for these players, along with other players that return from last season, to fill the voids left by the loss of two starters on the infield, one weekend pitcher, two key members of the bullpen and starting catcher.
With the loss Taylor Walker at second base and Joey Archer at third, the Golden Eagles have two holes to fill in the infield, junior All-American B.A. Vollmuth returns at shortstop while seniors Mark Ellis and Adam Doleac returns in the first base/designated hitter role. All three starting outfielders from 2010 will return this season in Kameron Brunty, Dillon Day and Tyler Koelling along with senior Marc Bourgeois who saw significant time in the outfield last season.
The Golden Eagles got a huge break when ace Todd McInnis decided to return to Southern Miss for his senior season rather than to sign professionally with the Oakland A's, who drafted him in the 32nd round. Southern Miss however must replace All-American Scott Copeland in the Saturday role and find a consistent Sunday starter for 2011.
With the departure of relievers Cody Schlagel and Jeff Stanley the Eagles have to find someone to bridge the gap between the starting pitcher and Collin Cargill, who returns for his third season as the Southern Miss closer.
Senior Travis Graves caught virtually every game last season and of the four catchers on the 2011 roster only sophomore Chase Fowler has played in a Division I game.
With the addition on 11 freshman the Southern Miss roster currently consist of 17 underclassmen as the 2011 season approaches.
The new additions to the 2011 roster are listed below:
Jake Drehoff
LHP L/L 6-4 185
Cumming, GA / South Forsyth HS
Taylor Eads
OF R/R 6-0 215
Slidell, LA / Northshore HS
Zach Evans
C R/R 5-10 195
Taylorsville, MS / Taylorsville HS
Andrew Furr
OF L/L 6-2 180
Ackerman, MS / Ackerman HS
Ashley Graeter
INF R/R 6-1 190
Poplarville, MS / Pearl River CC
Chase Horn
RHP R/R 6-1 190
Alexander City, AL / Southern Union CC
Joe Martin
OF R/R 5-9 185
Zachary, LA / Zachary HS
James McMahon
INF/RHP R/R 6-0 200
Hattiesburg, MS / Oak Grove HS
Jackson Posey
RHP/INF R/R 6-4 220
Hattiesburg, MS / Sumrall HS
Josh Rogers
LHP L/R 5-10 160
Jackson, MS / Hillcrest Christian
Austin Roussel
C L/R 6-0 185
Lutcher, LA / Lutcher HS
Boomer Scarborough
RHP/INF R/R 6-2 235
Bay St. Louis, MS / St. Stanislaus HS
Matt Shaw
RHP R/R 6-4 180
Oxford, MS / Northwest CC
Michael Sterling
INF R/R 5-11 165
Meridian, MS / Meridian HS
Josh Thomason
RHP R/R 6-4 220
Oxford, MS / Navarro College
Jonathan Thompson
RHP R/R 6-1 200
Baton Rouge, LA / Meridian CC
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