Alabama Baseball Team Announces Early Signees
11/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- University of Alabama head baseball coach Jim Wells announced the signing of 12 student-athletes in the Nov. 9-16 early signing period. The class is comprised of includes four junior college players and eight high school players.
The Crimson Tide inked six pitchers, four infielders, three catchers and one outfielder in the early signing period. Four of of the eight high school players signed by Alabama were ranked in Baseball America Top 75 high school prospects. In all, six of the eight high school players signed were among Baseball America's Top 200 prep players.
"This class covers all positions on the field," Wells said, "with emphasis on position players and hopefully more offense, as opposed to the 11 pitchers we signed last year. I think this is a very good group."
The list of Alabama baseball signees is as follows:
Jared Avchen (C, 6-1, 200, R-R, Bayside HS, Melbourne, Fla.) -- Ranked 165th by Baseball America's Top 200 high school prospects ... Rated as the third-best catching prospect in the state of Florida and the 15th best overall prospect ... A three-year starter at Bayside HS for coach Jason Burchfield ... As a junior, Avchen batted .420 and was named First-Team All-Conference and First-Team All-County ... Honorable mention All-State selection ... Played this summer for the Florida Bombers, one the nation's elite 18-and-under teams ... Helped the Bombers to the Connie Mack State Championship and the World Wood Bat Association National Championship ... As a sophomore, Jared batted .350 and was the Defensive Player of the Year ... He was also a second-team All-County pick ...
J.J. Baswell (C, 6-0, 200, L-R, South Lamar HS) -- Played the last two seasons at South Lamar High School for coach Garth Moss ... As a junior, Baswell batted .531 with eight home runs and 34 RBI ... He also drew 20 intentional walks ... An excellent defensive catcher, Baswell threw out 14 of 20 baserunners last season ... Basewell missed most of his sophomore season after having surgery to repair a broken growth plate in his right arm ... He was able to rejoin the team for the playoffs, and the Stallions finished second to Sumiton Christian in Class 2A ...
Vin DiFazio (C, 6-2, 220, R-R, Indian River CC) -- Named the 2005 Atlantic Collegiate League Player of the Year ... DiFazio paced the ACBL with 42 RBI and ranked second in hits, runs, doubles, triples while batting .331 to help lead Quakertown to the best record in the league and the league championship ... His defense behind the plate impressed just as much, especially his arm strength and sturdy frame ... DiFazio played his freshman season at Connecticut and will transfer to Indian River CC this season ... As a freshman at UConn, DiFazio batted .306 (38-for-124) in 42 games with one home run and 15 RBI ... In Big East play, DiFazio batted .306 (19-for-62) with eight RBI in 20 games ...
Austin Evans (RHP, 6-3, 185, R-R, Chamberlain HS, Tampa, Fla.) -- Rated 71st by Baseball America's Top 75 high school prospects ... Also rated as the 36th best prospect at Baseball America's Perfect Game Showcase ... As a junior, Evans was 3-1 on the mound and batted .425 with two home runs, despite missing three-quarters of the season with an injury ... He was the winning pitcher in the district finals that allowed Chamberlain HS to advance to the regional playoffs last season ... He was also the starting pitcher in the championship game at the 2005 Saldino Tournament in Tampa ... As a sophomore, he was 5-3 on the mound ... He was named to the All-Hillsborough County team following his sophomore season ... His high school coach is Dick Rohrberg ...
Brian Griggs (LHP, 5-11, 190, L-L, Polk Community College) -- Played in the 2005 Florida Junior College All-Star Game in Lakeland, Fla. (Oct. 29-30) ... Last year as a freshman, Griggs was 7-2 with a 2.92 ERA for coach Johnny Wiggs ... He worked 89 1/3 innings and allowed 84 hits, 38 runs, 29 earned runs, with 21 walks and 78 strikeouts ... Griggs was a First-Team All-Conference pick and a Second-Team All-State selection ...
Del Howell (LHP, 6-4, 180, L-L., American Christian, Tuscaloosa) -- Rated 64th by Baseball America's Top 75 high school prospects ... As a junior at ACA, Howell posted a 12-2 record and 1.33 ERA ... He added 160 strikeouts in 79 innings last season ... Opposing batters hit just .078 against him ... As a hitter, Howell batted .366 with 10 home runs ... The Patriots were 36-5 last year and won their second straight Class 1A championship ... Howell pitched a one-hitter when ACA beat Sumiton Christian 9-1 in the first game of the final series ... Starting in center field in the second game, Howell had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run as ACA took the title with a 10-0 victory ... In his career, Howell is 30-10 with a 2.00 ERA ... He has 374 strikeouts in 206 innings and has a chance to set the ASHAA career strikeout record this season ...
Brandon May (2B/SS, 6-0, 180, R-R, Lasiter HS, Marietta, Ga.) -- Rated 70th by Baseball America's Top 75 high school prospects ...Played on the 2005 Connie Mack World Series championship team ... As the three-hole hitter for the East Cobb Yankees, May was on the same team with current UA pitcher Miers Quigley and fellow UA signee Mike Meschke ... He was awarded the Big Stick Award for highest batting average and most RBI ... Also named to the 2005 Connie Mack World Series All-Tournament team ... He has been a member of 10 World Series championship squads with the East Cobb Astros and Yankees ... He was named MVP or All-Tournament team seven times ... As a junior, Brandon batted .435 with 10 home run and 34 RBI ... He also scored 47 runs and added 11 stolen bases ... He posted a .585 on base percentage and a .913 slugging mark ... Led Lassiter HS to a runner up finish in the Georgia Class 5AAAAA state playoffs ... Named the 2005 Atlanta Journal Constitution Player of the Year ... He is also a two-time AJC All-County (2004-05) pick ... A two-time Marietta Daily Journal Player of the Year (2004-05) ... His high school coach is Mickey McMurtry ...
Mike Meschke (1B, 6-3, 225, L-R, Pope HS, Marietta, Georgia) -- Rated 151st by Baseball America's Top 200 high school prospects ... Played on the 2005 Connie Mack World Series championship team ... As the cleanup hitter for the East Cobb Yankees, Meschke was on the same team with current UA pitcher Miers Quigley and fellow UA signee Brandon May ... Also participated this summer in the East Coast Showcase in Wilimington, NC ... A three-year starter at Pope HS, Meschke is a three-time All-Atlanta Area selection ... As a junior, he batted .385 with five home runs and 34 RBI in 28 games last season ... He holds single-season records for batting average, hits, home runs, RBI and runs scored ... As a sophomore, he batted .603 with eight home runs and 38 RBI ... He hit .471 with four home runs and 43 RBI as a high school freshman on the varsity team ... His high school coach is Jeff Rowland ...
Billy Rowell (SS/3B, 6-4, 195, L-R, Bishop Eustace Prep, Sewell, NJ) -- 2005 High School All-American ... Played in the 2005 AFLAC High School All-American Game in Aberdeen, Maryland ... He was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI for the East All-Stars ... The power hitting shortstop had a tremendous season at Bishop Eustace Prep, where he batted .529 with 14 home runs and 62 RBI ... He also added nine doubles and two triples ... The 14 home runs and 62 RBI were single-season school records and tops in south New Jersey ... He also led South Jersey with 12 home runs as a sophomore (2004), while leading Bishop Eustace to the state championship ... He was named to the Associated Press' New Jersey All-State Baseball team and the Philadelphia Inquirer's South Jersey Baseball Player of the Year ... Rowell was rated 37th by Baseball America's Top 75 high school prospects ...
Jake Smith (INF, 6-3, 180, R-R, Hueytown HS) -- A power-hitter, Smith batted .489 with 20 home runs and 54 RBI last season as a junior at Hueytown High School ... He was a first-team Super All-State Selection by The Birmingham News following his junior season (2005) ... Also a First-Team, Class 5A All-State selection by The Birmingham News and Alabama Sports Writers Association ... Led the Gophers to the Class 5A State Playoffs last season before losing in quarterfinals to Stanhope Elmore ... The 20 home runs broke the single-season school record held by former Tide All-American and 2002 first-round draft pick Jeremy Brown ... The 20 home runs were the most in the Birmingham metro area since Bo Jackson hit 20 home runs in 1982 ...
Bryant Thompson (RHP, 6-2, 185, R-R, Pensacola JC, Deshler, Ala.) -- Thompson is in his first season at Pensacola Junior College ... He originally signed with the University of North Alabama ... In three games in 2005, Thompson was 1-0 with a 1.98 ERA and 13 strikeouts in three starts ... Earned medical redshirt after undergoing elbow surgery ... He will enroll at Alabama in fall of 2006 as a sophomore ... A 2004 graduate Deshler High School ... As a senior, he was 10-1 with a 1.90 ERA and recorded 93 strikeouts ... Led Deshler to the quarterfinals of the Class 4A playoffs ... He was named the Florence Times Daily 4A-5A Player of the Year ... Also a First-Team All-State selection by The Birmingham News and Alabama Sports Writers' Association ... His high school coach was Chip Lindsey ...
Elvin Vargas (OF, 6-4, 200, R-R, Connors State College) -- Named the 2005 New York Collegiate League Player of the Year while playing for Hornell, NY ... He hit .295 with two home runs and led the league with 17 doubles and 42 RBI ... As a freshman at Connors State, Vargas played in 62 games and batted .348 (70-for-201) with 12 home runs and 60 RBI in a wooden bat league ... Vargas won the team's triple crown and also led the team with 19 doubles and 56 runs scored ... Vargas ranked 15th in the nation in home runs and 25th in the nation in RBI ... He was a 2005 NJCAA Division I All-Region 2 team selection as a freshman ... Also a South-Central District First-Team selection ... He was a 21st round draft pick by the Baltimore Orioles in 2005 ...
