BB: LEC: Little East Conference

[dgilblair]

Hey DGILBLAIR....

How is Shawn doing?  Hope he is doing well.  i have had the oppurtunity to watch him play for the past 3 years and one of the "BEST KIDS" not to mention the best player(s) in the LEC.  Has he had surgeries yet?  I know he was banged up by the end of the year.  He is a class act and that comes from the parents.  Hope he is doing well and getting ready for a good Senior Year.

OM

Hey OM

Shawn had knee surgery and is doing fine to date.  Doctor says all looks great. Still has a ways to go before he plays again. 

So OM, with all those compliments flying I must know you?  He hopes to have a good year. We were expecting a good 08.  Like they say, you never know and we got a goood dose of that this year. I know he is already working out, without the running.  Lots of pool time for the knee.....tough life. If all goes as planned he will be ready to this fall. 

[ecfaninri]

DGiblair,
Hood to hear Shawn is progressing, look forward to seeing him this fall and more importantly,hopefully, next spring.

[dgilblair]

DGiblair,
Hood to hear Shawn is progressing, look forward to seeing him this fall and more importantly,hopefully, next spring.

ecfaninri, how has the summer traveling been for you?  I saw that Matt made the NECBL All Star team.  Nice to see ECSU kids do well in the summer leagues. 

Shawn is doing excellent.  He got the OK to start running, throwing and hitting today.   Ready to go.  Guess my arm is going to get some work the rest of the summer.

From what I hear we have some real good transfers coming in and of course the Evil Empire always recruits well.  I hear, as of this month, Jags is coming back.  Now, that is this month a lot can happen come August/September so we'll see.  I really think if Jimmy say's he's coming back in July he will be there in August.  SO that is super good news.  I hear a little about Mel may not be coming back, that would hurt.  But as we know pitching, pitching, pitching is what it takes and things are setting up pretty good for ECSU in 09. 

[ecfaninri]

DGilblair....
NECBL has been a good experience for Matt. Got to see Shawn at the All-Star game. He looks and sounds good. If anyone thinks life at the college level is tough with travel and the number of games, ought to try following one of these summer teams. 42 games in 50 days, no overnight stays, bus travel, etc. ..... this is grueling. I think that this experience has strengthened Matt because he has been "managed" and not overused. This along with the return of a healthy Shawn and Jags could make for an interesting staff along with transfers and recruits. You're right if Melvin does not return.  See you at the Golf Classic?

[dgilblair]

DGilblair....
NECBL has been a good experience for Matt. Got to see Shawn at the All-Star game. He looks and sounds good. If anyone thinks life at the college level is tough with travel and the number of games, ought to try following one of these summer teams. 42 games in 50 days, no overnight stays, bus travel, etc. ..... this is grueling. I think that this experience has strengthened Matt because he has been "managed" and not overused. This along with the return of a healthy Shawn and Jags could make for an interesting staff along with transfers and recruits. You're right if Melvin does not return.  See you at the Golf Classic?

The travel is brutal for sure.  What if Tingley come back strong and pitches to his potential.  Kuch will be strong.  Can't wait.

[YagsUMB]

Whats Castillo's situation? Is he going to transfer or is he going to call it quits and start collecting social security? He's old enough to qualify, correct? hahaha just kidding. I'm back Gilblair!!!

Also, take a look at what some of the TrinColl kids did in the NECBL, not too shabby. James Wood and Sean Killeen beat the ball up pretty well for Holyoke, Kent Graham contributed for North Shore but Ryan Piacentini struggled a bit for Manchester. Andrew Janiga signed late and did a very good job coming out of the pen for Manchester. He's gonna be a weekend sleeper for the first few weeks until the NESCAC finds out what hit 'em. I play in the Hartford Twilight League with CF Jack Abbott and I'll tell you what fellas, this kid is a player. He did some moonlighting with Holyoke against a few of the National teams and other exhibitions but mostly played for our Simbury team and was a catalyst all summer long. He's got great speed, gap power, gets fantastic jumps on the ball and has athletic ability that isn't very common in a D3 ball player.  Like his game a lot. If he adds 10-15lbs over the fall/winter and produces some power numbers, he's going to be a force. He's sitting around 180lbs at 6'1" right now so he's not small, but he has a frame to grow into.

Enough with those NESCAC bums though, whats the word on some LEC players this summer?

[Rick Vaughn]

Despite a 1-5 record, Fontaine is the only LEC pitcher that had much success this summer.  He threw 44 innings and was tied for second in K's.  He was solid all summer despite being on a team that was out of contention very early. 

While Castillo struggled, D'Alfonso was a monster.  For a kid with that much power, he struck out a surprisingly low number of times.  He must be scary with metal.

[dgilblair]

Whats Castillo's situation? Is he going to transfer or is he going to call it quits and start collecting social security? He's old enough to qualify, correct? hahaha just kidding. I'm back Gilblair!!!

Also, take a look at what some of the TrinColl kids did in the NECBL, not too shabby. James Wood and Sean Killeen beat the ball up pretty well for Holyoke, Kent Graham contributed for North Shore but Ryan Piacentini struggled a bit for Manchester. Andrew Janiga signed late and did a very good job coming out of the pen for Manchester. He's gonna be a weekend sleeper for the first few weeks until the NESCAC finds out what hit 'em. I play in the Hartford Twilight League with CF Jack Abbott and I'll tell you what fellas, this kid is a player. He did some moonlighting with Holyoke against a few of the National teams and other exhibitions but mostly played for our Simbury team and was a catalyst all summer long. He's got great speed, gap power, gets fantastic jumps on the ball and has athletic ability that isn't very common in a D3 ball player.  Like his game a lot. If he adds 10-15lbs over the fall/winter and produces some power numbers, he's going to be a force. He's sitting around 180lbs at 6'1" right now so he's not small, but he has a frame to grow into.

Enough with those NESCAC bums though, whats the word on some LEC players this summer?

Yags how you doing.....not sure what Mel is going to do.  He is not that old.  I'll tell you one thing about Mel, he is a top notch kid.  He works a full time job most of the year pays his own way for everything, thats quite a load.  He played all summer so I would think he plans on playing somewhere in the spring.  He didn't have great success in the NECBL so I don't know why he would transfer to another school but I guess it's possible.  You have your feelers out tell me what you hear. I think he will be at ECSU in September.

I thought all and all the ECSU kids did well this summer in the NECBL.  Fontaine, Wojick and Kukucka got some good innings and experience that will help in the spring. 

I do hear that we have talent coming in that will give us more depth in pitching and fielding but I don't count them chickens till they hatch.  We will find out next month. If Tingley comes back from Tommy John that will be a plus also.  Fall baseball is the best here in New England don't you think? 

[ECSUalum]

Whats Castillo's situation? Is he going to transfer or is he going to call it quits and start collecting social security? He's old enough to qualify, correct? hahaha just kidding. I'm back Gilblair!!!

Also, take a look at what some of the TrinColl kids did in the NECBL, not too shabby. James Wood and Sean Killeen beat the ball up pretty well for Holyoke, Kent Graham contributed for North Shore but Ryan Piacentini struggled a bit for Manchester. Andrew Janiga signed late and did a very good job coming out of the pen for Manchester. He's gonna be a weekend sleeper for the first few weeks until the NESCAC finds out what hit 'em. I play in the Hartford Twilight League with CF Jack Abbott and I'll tell you what fellas, this kid is a player. He did some moonlighting with Holyoke against a few of the National teams and other exhibitions but mostly played for our Simbury team and was a catalyst all summer long. He's got great speed, gap power, gets fantastic jumps on the ball and has athletic ability that isn't very common in a D3 ball player.  Like his game a lot. If he adds 10-15lbs over the fall/winter and produces some power numbers, he's going to be a force. He's sitting around 180lbs at 6'1" right now so he's not small, but he has a frame to grow into.

Enough with those NESCAC bums though, whats the word on some LEC players this summer?

Yags how you doing.....not sure what Mel is going to do.  He is not that old.  I'll tell you one thing about Mel, he is a top notch kid.  He works a full time job most of the year pays his own way for everything, thats quite a load.  He played all summer so I would think he plans on playing somewhere in the spring.  He didn't have great success in the NECBL so I don't know why he would transfer to another school but I guess it's possible.  You have your feelers out tell me what you hear. I think he will be at ECSU in September.

I thought all and all the ECSU kids did well this summer in the NECBL.  Fontaine, Wojick and Kukucka got some good innings and experience that will help in the spring. 

I do hear that we have talent coming in that will give us more depth in pitching and fielding but I don't count them chickens till they hatch.  We will find out next month. If Tingley comes back from Tommy John that will be a plus also.  Fall baseball is the best here in New England don't you think? 

D Gilblair,

A little Karma, for your updates on ECSU

Thanks

[SCOUT66]

IM A REP FROM THE NEW ENGLAND REGION, AND I AM EXCITED FOR THE 2008 SEASON FOR THIS CONF, A LOT OF NAMES OUT THERE THAT MIGHT HAVE THE TOOLS TO PLAY AT THE NEXT LEVEL. EASTERN CONNECTICUT IS THE STRONG HORSE THIS YEAR I HAVE NOTED  7 INCOMING TRANSFERS FROM DIV I SCHOOLS AND JUCO AND THERE IS A BUNCH OF KIDS FROM THEIR STARTING LINEUP ON OUR RADAR. SOUTHERN MAINE ONLY GRADUATED TWO THERE ARE A FEW PLAYERS ON THAT TEAM WITH OUR EYE ON. KEENE STATE IS YOUNG, UNDERSIZED. NOW ESCUINRI AND DGILBLAIR YOU SEEM TO BE CONNECTICUT GUYS CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME INSIGHT ON THE TEAM. OR MAYBE SOUTHERN MAINE--

[EasternCtFan]

SCOUTT......... Who are these incoming transfers you talk about and who do you have on your radar?

[SCOUT66]

U SOUTHERN MAINE: I HAVE HEARD ON THE WIRE 3 TRANSFERS, AND IM TRYING TO FIND NAMES AND LOCATINS. PLAYERS-L/R D'ALFONSO PLAYED WELL IN THE NECBL SAW HIS LAST COUPLE OF GAMES BARRELS THE BALL WELL, HAS SIZE,RAW POWER POTENTIAL. BURLESON SLIGHT UNDERSIZE FOR A SS GOOD ARM, GAP POWER, POSSIBLE 2B IN FUTURE GOOD TOOLS. INF MACKEY-AVG BAT/ARM GOOD FIELDER,SLOW LEGS. PITCHERS DO NOT REALLY JUMP OUT.  KEENE STATE IS TRYING TO GET FRANKLIN PIERCE TRANSFERS. PLAYERS- INF-CHEVALIER HAS 2 TOOLS GLOVE, AND EFFORT BUT THATS ABOUT IT. OF DOYON, RUNS WELL,AVG ARM, LONG SWING DROP AND DRIVE. INF DARAK GOOD BAT SEEMS LIKE A STREAKY HITTER,GOOD GLOVE BIG FRAME. EASTERN CONNECTICUT I READ RECEIVED TWO PLAYERS FROM A JUNIOR COLLEGE I WANT TO SAY FROM NJ, A OF FROM MARIST NY, CONNECTICUT RHP, A DIV II SCHOOL IN NJ. PLAYERS-INF CASTILLO, MATURE, LONG SWING,LONG ARM,RUNS WELL, AGE IS QUESTIONABLE. LHP GILBLAIR-LOCATION OF PITCHES WELL MOST PART, MORE VELO IS +, NEEDS 4TH PITCH AND LOCATE, UNDERSIZED. RHP WOJICK- UNDERSIZED, USES LEGS, GOOD VELOCITY GOOD MOVEMENT. OF PARKE-DECEIVING FOR SIZE,HAS TOOLS, GOOD SPEED, ARM,OBP,INF DEWING-BIG FRAME,GOOD BAT,AVG,GLOVE,SPEED NEEDS TO IMPROVE,POTENTIAL

[SCOUT66]

DONT HAVE MUCH FOR OTHER TEAMS TO BE HONEST RIC HAS A L/L OF POSSIBLE. THATS ABOUT IT.

[ECSUalum]

Got this through my e-mail  2 HS player listed committed to  ECSU.

Click on heading for alphabetical order:

COLLEGE BASEBALL 2008






College Recruiting Rankings for 2008 High School Classes
March 21, 2008
 
This list ranking the nation's top college recruiting classes is much different than any other rankings. It is based on utilizing our Perfect Game national player rankings to rank the current college recruiting classes.

Perfect Game currently has well over 1,500 players ranked in the 2008 class. The rankings are based on a point system. The top player (presently RHP Gerrit Cole, signed with UCLA) gives UCLA 1,585 points. We've assigned the number two player (SS Tim Beckham, signed with Southern Cal) 1,584 points and continued all the way down the list through the final player, whose college of choice receives 1 point in the final tabulation.

There are, of course, some players who have yet to sign with a college. There are also players who we may not have signing information for, although we think our data base is the most complete list available.

Many of the best players on the list will never set foot on campus, choosing instead to sign professionally after the June Draft. We also acknowledge that different schools have different recruiting needs from year to year and may either sign a small class or sign a class heavy in junior college players, who are not included in this evaluation.

These rankings will be updated as we are made aware of more commitments including those players signed during the spring signing period. Also, as time goes forward the PG player rankings are continually updated up until the June Draft. This will also cause some changes to the college recruiting rankings as it will change the total points for colleges who have players moving up or down in the PG rankings. Our current commitment list can be viewed at:

http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/hsprospects/2008/college_commitments_08class.aspx?gyear=2008

Look for periodic updates in these rankings right up until next fall when players actually end up on campus. Then the final rankings will be adjusted again with the start of the 2009 season which will be the final evaluation of the recruiting classes. Who will pgcrosschecker name as the final top recruiting class in the nation?Stay tuned!

If you know of any other signings/commitments or if you are a coach who would like to report anything about a recruiting class to us, please feel free to update us by emailing gsabers@perfectgame.org

[dgilblair]

Thanks for that karma ECSUalum and the link.

I hear we are getting a UCONN transfer infielder/pitcher, Will Musson who had 17 appearances with a 5.73 era with them last year.  He only had an AB or two but I hear he may be playing the field and pitching for us.  Another new face will be Bobby Nichols, I think thats his last name.  He play for UCONN Avery Point, a JUCO school.  He is another pitcher and outfielder that is expected to play right away.  I think he was drafted out of high school or maybe UCONN AP.  Tall kid who threw hard, my son played against him in high school. Also hear of some catcher coming in.  I think we will have a lot of pitching depth as long as the injured come back and stay there.  The coaches always seem to find some gems in the off season.


SCOUT66, let me take a guess.....you work for the Marlins or Rays?
Don't know what else I could tell you that you don't already know.  All you assessments seem pretty fair to me.  The DAlfonso kid is big for sure.  What I was most impressed by with him was how well he hit bad pitches or should I say pitchers pitches.  What I was least impressed with was his defense and just his judgements in general while on the field.  I think he really needs to improve there alot to get to the next level and have a success.  But if you can hit and with his size they may find a spot for him who knows. Burleson is a very nice player and it will be interesting to see how much he pitches in 09.  Chevalier also has the heart of a lion but I guess that doesn't  get you that far.  Darak is super streaky for sure.  Gilblair undersized, it's that he is 5' 10" and a half  5' 11" that is undersized I guess in most eyes.  Now if he was 6' 1".  That just goes to show you what and inch or two can do for you.  Who said size doesn't matter...lol.  I do agree it would help with more volocity and maybe a fourth pitch.  Castillo will need to shorten that huge swing, if he can, to have any success in the future and the defense needs work at times.  But when he is on his game he is a monster.  Your right on with Parke, I liked that kid the first time I saw him play.  He'll run through a brick wall for you.  Wojick  may use his legs a little to much sometimes and he loses his command of his pitches.  Balance may get a little out of whack but I expect him to have a really good year in 09.  He didn't really pitch for like two years after high school before coming to ECSU this past season.  Then with what he did in the NECBL this summer and the tools he does have he should be real strong and confident in 09.  Fontaine may be one to watch next year also.  He is a big kid that should keep getting better and better, time will tell, but he should have a good year too. As we all know it's about results, thats the bottom line.