A Sea Of Red

i don't feel like making all these threads so if anyone wants to make seperate threads go right ahead...

according to newsfeed..

10 signees 18 total commits

Skye Adams LHP (JUCO)
Joel Licon INF (JUCO)
Austin Bream 3b
Josh Henderson OF
Chris Adams RHP
Todd Dunbar LHP
Nick Sturgill 1B
Jacob Kimble INF
Nick Lacik OF (JUCO)
Sammy Taormina
Brandon Goodson OF/IF
Damian Carroll P
Nick Grant RHP
Andrew Mauldin RHP, IF
Christian Vylonis C/RHP/OF
Brad Speek INF/P
Dalton Britt P/INF
Robert Gray P

Just ran across another commit that looks like a great pickup! The Perfect Game mentioned below was formerly known as the Aflac All-American Game - this was played at Petco Field in San Diego and televised nationally in August. Not sure if the links below work but one article says Perfect Game has him listed as the 6th best outfielder in the country while another had him as the 3rd best prospect in Virginia prior to putting on a show this summer.

http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2011/0 ... -american/

http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/Vie ... ticle=5911

Josh Henderson is a 2012 OF with a 6-0 184 lb. frame from Suffolk, VA who is home schooled. Solid athletic build, wide shoulders, good strength, looks bigger than list. Outstanding bat speed and hitting ability. Excellent hitting mechanics with balance, very fast hands and excellent lower half timing, explodes hands into the contact zone, makes it look easy, hits the ball hard to all fields but can take it out in RCF as well. Has all the tools. Easy outfield actions, good fundamentals, accurate arm, big crow hop, raw arm strength only fair. Special bat. Named to the Perfect Game All American Classic team.

wow huge get...if he ever steps on campus. too bad he's projected to go 1st-2nd round of next years amateur draft

rivals had a good write up of sturgill a long time ago

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1210287

bump...http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1259565

man i hope we get this kid on campus...pure left handed swinger. This guy had offers from anyone and we got his verbal. Surprised by how little attention this has gotten.

Another article about Josh Henderson picking Liberty over LSU and UNC. How awesome is that.


http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2011/1 ... s-liberty/

Looks like the soon coming baseball stadium is paying dividends already

Sturgill signed the NLI yesterday. Below is info from the press conference write up.

Nick Sturgill, 6’4” 235 lb. senior slugger from Central High School in Wise, Virginia has decided to take his talents to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Sturgill is the first collegiate signee from the newly formed Central High School, following the consolidation of the former J.J. Kelly High School and Pound High School this year.

Last season, Sturgill lead the J.J. Kelly Indians to the State Championship game in which he blasted the final homerun in the storied history of the J.J. Kelly baseball program. This season, he is looking forward to leading the Central Warriors in their first baseball season, and he has his eye on the Title. “Falling one game short last year was tough, and it has been on my mind every day as I’ve gone into the weight room and hitting cage. I want a ring,” Sturgill stated in an interview following the press conference.

His performance on the diamond garnered him interest from a number of schools, but in the end, it was Liberty University that became the front runner and the school Sturgill knew was the place for him. “From the first time I stepped on campus, watched a game, met the coaches, and participated in camp, I knew Liberty is where I wanted to be. Everywhere I visited was nice and they made me feel welcome. I listened to and looked at every offer, but in the end, I knew Liberty is where I am supposed to be. God opened this door for me , there has never been a doubt in my mind about the decision, and I’m thankful.”

In his varsity baseball career, Sturgill has amassed some impressive stats. He enters his senior season with a career batting average of .560, slugging percentage of .787, 17 home runs, 63 rbi, and touts a fielding percentage of .997. In addition to his power hitting and stellar play at first base that have earned him honors at the district, region, and state levels, Sturgill is slated to be a main stay in the pitching rotation this Spring.

When asked about the day and what it means to him, Sturgill smiled and stated, “It’s a great day. I’m thankful to be able to sign now and have all the recruiting finished. I’m headed to a world class University with a baseball program that competes at the highest level. Liberty was only two games away from the NCAA Division 1 Regional tournament last year, and they had seven players drafted. They’re in the process of building a new $10 million baseball facility, and the program is dedicated to winning and playing aggressive baseball. Right now, though, I have unfinished business here at Central. This is our first year as a school and I want us to start things off right. I want nothing more than for us to win the District, Region, and State titles this year. J.J. Kelly won 9 State Championships in baseball and I want to do all I can to help Central win its first one. I’m ready to play.”

Henderson Highlights 10 Early Signees for Liberty Baseball
November 22, 2011
Four signees from the Commonwealth of Virginia including All-American Josh Henderson highlight a group of 10 student-athletes who have signed a National Letter of Intent to attended Liberty University for the 2012-13 academic year.

http://www.libertyflames.com/index.cfm? ... ewsID=8113

We'll be sweating out Josh all the way until the first day of classes. He is projected to be a very high draft pick.

Sly Fox wrote:We'll be sweating out Josh all the way until the first day of classes. He is projected to be a very high draft pick.

Seriously. I am wicked excited to see him sign, but it'll be interesting to see if he decides to leave a lot of money on the table to come play at Liberty.

Sly Fox wrote:We'll be sweating out Josh all the way until the first day of classes. He is projected to be a very high draft pick.

if he ends up on campus it would be great. I would see him as one and done if he does show up.

bigsmooth wrote:

Sly Fox wrote:We'll be sweating out Josh all the way until the first day of classes. He is projected to be a very high draft pick.

if he ends up on campus it would be great. I would see him as one and done if he does show up.

If he steps foot in class we get him for three years. That's the biggest difference in baseball and basketball.

Unless he transfers out to a JUCO after one year. But generally speaking, SJ is absolutely correct. The challenge will be getting him on campus. But this kid sounds more like a Liberty kid than we often see from top tier candidates. In other words, he's a Tebow-like athlete that he had all the major programs chasing. For those that don't remember, we were in Tebow's top three with Alabama & Florida.

sly i thought the exact same thing. I dont have any inside information but gut feeling feels good for once haha. I would love to see him with this group of incomers. I think this is an even more talented class than Matty and Tylers class. Theres atleast 2 big time pitchers and 3 middle of the order sticks. Future looks good if we can add a few more pieces and develop a few more of the young guys we have.

Liberty and other schools in this situation had two positives come out of the just announced MLB collective bargaining agreement:

1) signing date has been moved to mid-July from mid-August so the college coaches have a month less to sweat it out and

2) there is a somewhat complicated cap to the bonus $ that can be paid to the draft picks - the general sentiment is that the first couple of rounds will not be affected but after that it will be more difficult for teams to have the money to sway kids from attending a school they have a keen interest in.

With two starting outfielders leaving after this year, it would really be nice to have someone of Josh's caliber ready to step in and compete. Here is a link in case anyone wants to read in more
about the MLB deal.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... iate&c_id=

i'm going to say this is Toman's best class (on paper). Scary thing is this doesn't include his late signing class which is basically all juco's and have been some of Liberty's best players.



as for Henderson. Lets hope he doesn't get selected by a big market team.

ballah09 wrote:i'm going to say this is Toman's best class (on paper). Scary thing is this doesn't include his late signing class which is basically all juco's and have been some of Liberty's best players.

NOT A BIG BASEBALL GUY

that being said- my understanding is that Toman's recruiting is NOT the issue with this program. Our inability to get over the hump evidently lies with in-game coaching decisions. And I do like the guy- just saying thats been his knock.

Recruiting well won't change that.

FLAME ON.

That said if the Jimmys and Joes are good enough they will eventually overcome the lack of x's and o's.

This class has the potential which isn't a guarantee but sure doesn't hurt.

talent makes you look smarter. We've had a good amount of talent but we've never had a lot of thunder in lineup like we have the potential to have the next couple years.

From the class of 09 wrote:That said if the Jimmys and Joes are good enough they will eventually overcome the lack of x's and o's.

Not when we don't know when to put Jimmy into the game and bat Joe in 7 different slots in the lineup in two weeks.

couple of more players...

Christian Vylonis C/RHP/OF
Brad Speek INF/P
Dalton Britt P/INF
Robert Gray P

With some of the guys on the list, the new stadium, and the way the team is playing.. have to say I am pretty excited about the future.

two good pitchers coming in

Nick Grant RHP
Andrew Mauldin RHP, IF

Grant FB topped 94 from what i've read. Is expected to be an early draft pick.

Add Chris Adams from Amherst COunty High School to the list...hard throwing RHP with a curveball that will buckle anyone at the knees, and he will give you a lot of innings too (went 6 2/3 tonight, 135 pitches, struck out 10)