The ACU baseball team signed 11 new players for the 2015 season before Thanksgiving break.
The additions included pitchers Aaron Mason and Drew Hanson, infielders Brayden Gomez, Cody Huson and Jeff Clarke, outfielders Taylor Fajardo and Garrett Hale and catchers Alex Copeland, Kelly Dorsett, Joshua Thompsonand Samuel Etter.
Together, these 11 players have accumulated a number of awards and honors, such as 2013 NCAA All-Americans, 2013 All-District 5-5A, CVC All-League, and a 2012 Class 4A Texas High School Championship.
The new recruits come from all over the country. Copeland and Mason are both from Oklahoma, Fajardo and Gomez grew up in California, Clarke and Huson will come to ACU from Colorado, and Etter is from Florida. The rest of the signed players are from Texas: Hanson from Coppell, Hale from Southlake, Dorsett from Rockwall and Thompson from Burnet.
The team is happy to welcome a class of well-rounded and collectively highly decorated players to the team.
“We always try and find student-athletes that [believe] in ACU and in our program.We want them coming here for a great education with the added bonus of playing baseball,” assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Brandon Stover said. “Specifically, we look for guys that can play our style as well as being able to compete at the highest level. We want the best players in the country and we are always going to try to get the best talent.”
Not only do each of them shine one the diamond, but also in the classroom. This group of bright young men have academic honors to match their skills on the field.
Within this group is a FSCC Honor Roll member, Bella Vista Scholar, National Honor Society members and a three-time academic award winner.
“We signed young men that have high character and high work ethic to go along with their ability” Stover said. “We really feel like we have players that can jump right in and contribute to the program from their first day on campus.”
With a young team and a tough schedule this year, the team will go into the season with high expectations and will be sure to rise to the occasion.
