Kevin Brockway of The Gainesville Sun has an excellent article on the 2010 Florida Gators baseball program. The team received a boost with the decision of Matt den Dekker who decided to not sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates after being selected in the 16th round. He spent the summer of 2008 with the USA National Team where he hit .224 in 24 games. He finished the 2009 season with the Florida Gators with a .296 average with five homers and 37 RBI in 61 games. Coach O’Sullivan was able to hold onto seven out of his eleven recruits as they form one of the strongest recruiting classes in the country.

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Auburn University signee Nick Franklin signed with the Seattle Mariners today according to a report on MLB.com. Franklin was going to be a key infielder for the John Pawlowski led Auburn Tigers for the 2010 season.

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FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

College of Charleston baseball coach Monte Lee will welcome 17 new student-athletes for the 2010 season, it was announced on Thursday.

The class is made up of five pitchers, nine position players and three players who pitch and play a position.  The class represents three states (South Carolina, Florida and Georgia), including 12 from the state of South Carolina.

"We are excited about this class and what they bring to our program," said Lee, who enters his second season as coach of the Cougars. "I look forward to this group coming in and competing at a high level."

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FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Just a few weeks before the start of classes, longtime Bucknell baseball head coach Gene Depew announced the program’s latest recruiting class Thursday. The eight members of the talented class will join a team that won the Patriot League regular-season title this past spring.

“I am anticipating a lot of contribution from this talented group of players,” commented Depew. “All eight are very talented players and should complement a strong group of returning players. We are looking forward to the start of our fall program to prepare for the challenge of vying for another Patriot League title.”

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FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin head baseball coach Johnny Cardenas has announced the signing of seven student-athletes to National Letters of Intent for the upcoming 2010 season. The seven players include three junior college transfers, and four directly out of the high school ranks.

The all-Texas class includes three pitchers – Tyler Herriage (Weatherford JC), Kyle Rogers (Dulles HS), Cody Priest (Dobie HS) – and four position players – Darren Crabtree (Temple College), Bobby Loveless (Alvin CC), Cole Popper (Second Baptist Academy), Jordan Lewis (W.T. White HS).

"I think the guys we brought in can certainly make an immediate impact here at the Division I level," Cardenas said. "They will not only bring us plenty of options, but also give us tremendous balance as we compete for a Southland Conference championship next season."

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FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

DAYTON, Ohio – University of Dayton baseball head coach Tony Vittorio has announced the commitments of Zach Blanchette, Jim Hurt and Tyler Kade Smith for the 2009-2010 school year.

"Our latest additions will help build on an already strong recruiting class for the 2010 season," said head coach Tony Vittorio.

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The Daily Advertiser has an excellent article looking at the job Paul Mainieri is trying to do at keeping his top recruits on path to head to Baton Rouge over the minor leagues. The top two prospects that he needs to worry about are Zack Von Rosenberg of Zachary High and Brody Colvin of St. Thomas More High. Von Rosenberg was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the sixth round while the Phillies selected Colvin in the seventh round by the Phillies. Both of them are not expected to sign for “slot” money so both organizations need to step up their offers considerably. LSU has also revoked the letters of intent to two junior college players in Slade Heathcott and Brett Bruening. Heathcott is expected to sign with the New York Yankees in the next week as he was selected in the first round while Bruening did not fulfill academic commitments that he promised to Mainieri.

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Baseball America writer Jim Callis reports that the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colton Cain have agreed on a 1.125 million dollar contract bypassing his collegiate eligibility. Cain was expected to become a key contributor to the Longhorns program as he features a mid-90’s fastball and also had potential into developing into a top level first baseman. Cain’s stock dropped as he told many MLB clubs that he was set on attending college but with this substantial offer for the eighth round pick he had to sign a professional deal.

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FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

PHILADELPHIA – Temple head baseball coach Rob Valli has added three players to his recruiting class–shortstop Adrian Perez (Woodland, CA / Woodland / Yuba CC), righthander pitcher Brian Sustersic (Orlando, FL / Dr. Phillips / Daytona State CC) and outfielder Bobby McCormick (Oakton, VA / Oakton). The trio will arrive on campus later this month to help the Owls pursue an Atlantic 10 Championship in 2010.

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SHREVEPORT-Centenary Baseball Head Coach Ed McCann and Associate Head Coach Mike Diaz announced the signing of 13 new players for the 2010 season. The Gents will welcome seven infielders, two outfielders, and four pitchers into the Centenary baseball program.

Centenary is coming off a successful 33-19 record last season and will have a small, but solid core of returnees coming back.

"After losing several key members of the 2009 season, we look for this incoming recruiting class to step in and address several needed areas as well as make some of the weaker areas stronger," said Diaz. "We are bringing in a well-balanced group of guys that can take over key infield spots, showcase power at the plate, and provide much needed depth in our pitching staff right away."

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FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

MILWAUKEE – The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team has announced the addition of five student-athletes who will compete next season for the Panthers.

Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek stated today that Jordan Guth of Onalaska, Wis., Jim Lundstrom of Crete, Ill., Drew Pearson of Racine, Wis., Kyle Spurley of Linden, Wis., and Mark Strey of Marshfield, Wis., will all enroll at UWM and participate next season.

Guth finished up his career at Onalaska High School this season by earning Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association All-District Second Team and All-Mississippi Valley Conference Second Team honors. He went 7-1 with an ERA of 1.53, striking out 94 batters while allowing just 18 walks and 42 hits in 64 innings of work while his team went 16-11 overall. As a junior, he went 8-0 with a 1.66 ERA in nine games, leading Onalaska to a 24-4 record overall. He finished with five complete games and two shutouts. The all-conference pitcher has played in the WBCA Brewers Classic All-Star game and is also a National Honor Society member who has earned all-academic honors. A member of the 2008 Wisconsin State Baseball Legion championship team, Guth was also an all-state hockey player.

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Darren Heitner of The Sports Agent Blog has an excellent article looking at the MLB 2009 draft. He discusses the ability for the 20 unsigned first round picks to come to agreements with their respective clubs before the August 17th deadline. I look at the list and see some similarities in many of the cases as Scott Boras has six unsigned clients in the first round. One of the interesting tidbits in the article is that Tyler Matzek is far from agreeing with the Rockies which opens the possibility that he will likely attend Oregon.

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