For the third year in a row, the Texas A&M – Corpus Christi Baseball recruiting class has been recognized nationally by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, earning mention in the publication for having one of the top recruiting classes in the country.
The Islanders are one of just two Southland Conference teams recognized, with newcomer Oral Roberts also earning mention from Collegiate Baseball in the annual list. The two teams from the league are the only ones that have been ranked in the list each of the last three seasons.
"I am excited for our program to continue to grow and develop to one of the best, most recognized mid-major programs in the state of Texas," said head coach Scott Malone. "The national recognition from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper shines a light on the hard work and organization that recruiting coordinator Chris Ramirez and assistant coach Marty Smith put into our recruiting efforts."
Comprised of 14 freshmen and 10 junior college transfers, the Islanders recruiting class brings in a mix of talented newcomers to a team that is coming off of back-to-back Southland Conference Tournament appearances, and had the best year in team history during 2011. Eight of those players come from Corpus Christi, and of the remaining 16, 11 are from Texas and five from out of state.
"This recruiting class is a great example of how we want to put our roster together each year," said Ramirez. "It will be an exciting year for the city as we were able to stay in our back yard and bring in eight guys from Corpus Christi, the largest group of local guys in our program's history. We were also able to continue our national recruiting efforts by reaching out and signing junior college players from California, Arizona, Missouri, Utah and Iowa."
Baseball recently started fall practice, which will culminate in the annual Blue-Gray World Series on Nov. 8-10 at Chapman Field.
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Complete 2012 Recruiting Class
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/Previous School
Chris Cano RHP/OF 6-2 170 Corpus Christi, Texas/Mary Carroll HS
Thomas Casey RHP 6-5 225 Holladay, Utah/Navarro JC
Josh Cruz INF 5-9 180 Corpus Christi, Texas/Carroll HS
Clayton Davis OF 5-11 200 The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands HS
Dalton D'Spain RHP/INF 6-1 165 San Antonio, Texas/Boerne HS
O'Shea Dumes RHP/1B 6-2 225 Corpus Christi, Texas/Mary Carroll HS
Juan Farias INF 5-7 180 Corpus Christi, Texas/Moody HS
Brandon Guilford 2B 5-10 180 McKinney, Texas/Frisco Heritage HS
Zacarias Hardy OF 6-1 182 Dallas, Texas/Keller HS
Jared Henke RHP 6-4 185 Fort Worth, Texas/Vernon JC
Nolan Holland RHP 6-1 210 Spring, Texas/Klein Oak HS
Jacob Hubert OF 5-11 190 Corpus Christi, Texas/Laredo JC
Kaleb Keith RHP/1B 6-4 265 San Antonio, Texas/D'Hanis HS
Brad Lamberti C 5-10 190 Altoona, Iowa/Des Moines Area CC
A.J. Longoria RHP 6-0 175 Corpus Christi, Texas/Midland JC
Dominic Lopez 3B 6-0 200 Corpus Christi, Texas/John Paul II HS
Zach Nichols RHP/OF 6-0 220 Hannibal, Mo./Southeastern JC
Dalton Sherer LHP 6-0 205 Spring, Texas/Klein Oak HS
Dylan Shofner C 6-0 190 Houston, Texas/Memorial HS
Jakob Silva 2B/SS 5-8 165 Corpus Christi, Texas/John Paul II HS
Cody Stephens INF 5-9 160 Concord, Calif./Los Medanos JC
Zach Taylor INF 6-0 185 Georgetown, Texas/Angelina College
Brandon Tierney INF 6-0 195 Arlington, Texas/Iowa Western JC
Russell Vaughan C 5-9 170 Mesa, Ariz./South Mountain JC
