Baseball: Mountaineers Open Fall Practice
September 04, 2007 04:45 PM | General
September 4, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University baseball team opens fall practice this afternoon at Hawley Field. Head Coach Greg Van Zant's Mountaineers return five starters in the field and two starting pitchers from last season's 29-22 squad, along with a recruiting class of 13 new signees.
"We are very excited to start fall practice. We lost some tremendous players from last years team due to graduation and the draft but we are looking forward to getting on the field with our returning and new players,” commented Van Zant.
Senior shortstop Tyler Kuhn heads the list of WVU position players back on campus this fall. The left-handed hitting Louisville, Ky. native was drafted in the 33rd round of the major league baseball draft back in June, but opted to return for his senior season in Morgantown. "We are extremely happy to have Tyler back for his senior season" says Coach Van Zant. "Tyler is a very talented player and we feel he has a chance to be one of the top shortstops in the country this season."
Other returning starters for the Mountaineers include catcher Justin Parks, outfielder Austin Markel, third baseman Vince Belnome and first baseman Jordon Yost. Parks, a red-shirt junior, hit .281 in 2007 despite playing most of the season with a badly damaged thumb on his receiving hand. Markel, a junior left-handed hitter, hit .324, stole 11 bases and started all 51 games for WVU a season ago. Belnome, now a sophomore, manned the hot corner and hit .355 in his rookie campaign before his season came to an end with a knee injury while running the bases against St. John's in late April. And sophomore Jordon Yost hit .284 and tied for the team lead with 11 home runs.
"Our returning starters all gained valuable experience last year and we think they are capable of having big years for us," says Van Zant.
On the mound, the Mountaineers return two of its three conference starters in senior Matt Yurish and redshirt junior Josh Whitlock. Yurish, a left-hander posted a 4-5 record with a 4.48 ERA in 12 starts. The right-handed Whitlock registered a 7-5 record and 3.51 ERA in 11 starts. "We have two pretty good veteran pitchers to build our staff around," commented Coach Van Zant. "Matt and Josh are both capable of giving us a chance to win every time they go to the mound."
WVU also returns three other pitchers with significant experience, sophomore Chris Enourato, sophomore Billy Gross and senior Eric Saffell. Enourato, a right-hander who can also play the infield, went 2-1 with a team-best five saves as a rookie while posting a 4.34 ERA. Gross, also a right-hander, won four games while only losing one in 11 appearances in 2007. Saffell, a veteran lefty who comes out of the bullpen, owns a 6-2 record for WVU in 21 career appearances over two years. "Enourato, Gross and Saffell are all experienced pitchers with good stuff and lots of poise," Van Zant points out.
The Mountaineers also return seven redshirt freshmen, left-handed pitcher Jesse Darby, catchers Tyler Scruggs and Andrew Scherer, infielder Colin Durborow, outfielders Grant Buckner, Mark Dvoroznak and Cory Hess. Van Zant says, "Our red-shirts have worked extremely hard over the past year and we believe that hard work will pay off for them."
WVU welcomes six pitchers and seven position players to Morgantown in this years recruiting class of National Letter of Intent signees. "This is a very talented group of baseball players,” Van Zant says. "We needed help on the mound and we needed to bring in some hitters that could help us right away."
Two pitchers who figure to be in the thick of things come spring are both junior transfers Ross Fetterly and Bobby Thompson. Fetterly comes to WVU from Old Dominion University. The 6-foot-4 right-hander pitched very well in the Valley League this summer for New Market, Va., being named "Pitcher-of-the-Week" twice and starting in the All-Star Game for the North team. Thompson, a left-handed pitcher, went 20-1 in two seasons at Walters State (TN) Junior College. As a freshman at Walters State, Thompson was undefeated as the third starter on a team that went 61-8 and won the 2006 Division I Junior College World Series at Grand Junction, Colo. "Ross and Bobby know how to pitch. They are valuable additions to our staff," says Van Zant.
Four freshman right-handed pitchers also inked with the Mountaineers and figure to help win games sooner than later. Three are from Pennsylvania, Jarryd Summers of Sharpsville, Rich Toal of McKees Rocks and Matt Wier from New Castle. The fourth, Kevin Toolan, hails from Three Bridges, N.J. "For us to be successful this year, we will need some contributions from our freshmen right-handers," Van Zant says. "We know they have the ability to do just that."
The Mountaineers’ seven new position players figure to make an immediate impact on the club. Six are freshmen and one is a junior college transfer, Joe Agreste from Potomac State (W.Va). This talented group of newcomers includes an outfielder, a catcher, four infielders and a first baseman.
The left-handed hitting Agreste comes to WVU after a brilliant two-year career at Potomac State where he helped the Catamounts to an appearance in the 2006 Division I Junior College World Series. He was named all-Region 20 twice at Potomac State and has been drafted twice, both times by the Seattle Mariners. Agreste was drafted out of high school in the 38th round and after his freshman year of college in the 32nd round. "Joe has the potential to be a difference maker for us in the batter's box," says Van Zant. Agreste played first base at Potomac State but will probably make the move to the outfield at WVU.”
Tobias Streich of Johnsonburg, Pa., enters his freshman year as one of the most sought after catchers in the East a year ago. Streich was selected for the 2007 Cape Cod All-American High School Baseball Classic, played in the East Coast Professional Showcase twice, participated in the Junior Olympic Tournament of Stars at Joplin, Missouri and played in the Pennsylvania American Legion East-West All Star Game four straight years. His Johnsonburg High School team were state runner-ups this past Spring and he was named to several high school All-America teams. In June, Streich was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 26th round. "We feel Tobias has a bright future ahead of him and we are happy he is a Mountaineer," gushed Van Zant.
WVU's freshmen infielders include Morgantown native Jedd Gyorko, Joe Bako, Dan DiBartolomeo and Justin Ellis.
Gyorko comes to WVU after a tremendous career at University High School where he was named West Virginia first team Class AAA all-state twice and was also an all-state basketball player. Gyorko hit .506 as a senior at UHS with 14 home runs. In the summer, he helped the Morgantown American Legion team to state championships in 2004 and 2007. This past summer, Gyorko blasted 17 homeruns and 93 RBI for Post 2. In 178 career American Legion games, Gyorko hit 40 homeruns and contributed 231 RBI. "Jedd is a winner on and off the field," says Van Zant.
Bako of Boardman, Ohio, was the captain of his high school baseball and football teams at Boardman High School. He played shortstop on the baseball team and quarterbacked the football team for three years. Bako hit .398 in the Spring at BHS and also participated in the NABF World Series for his summer team, Line Drive Academy. DiBartolomeo is from Margate, N.J. and attended Holy Spirit High School where he was a three year starter and two time participant in the Carpenter Cup All-Star Games. Dan hit .359 with six homers and 32 RBI in his senior season while drawing 30 walks. He was selected MVP of the South Team in the New Jersey High School Senior All-Star Games. Ellis starred in both baseball and basketball at Pickerington North High School in Ohio where he was named first team All-OCC in both sports. "Our freshmen infielders have a lot of athletic ability." Van Zant noted. "They will have a chance to contribute immediately."
West Virginia native Mark Darlington of Musselman High School rounds out this year’s newcomers as a left-handed hitting first baseman. Darlington was a West Virginia Class AAA second team all-state Selection in 2005 and 2006 before being named to the First Team in 2007. He also played American Legion Baseball for Berkeley Post 14. "Mark could be a very good hitter for us," Van Zant proclaimed.
We have some very good players returning and an outstanding group of recruits that are going to push our returners at every position. Bruce Cameron and Pat Sherald worked extremely hard on this recruiting class and are to be commended. We have a lot of work to do between now and Feb. 22."
