Recruiting class ranked in top 50

Nathan Rode / Columnist

Elon baseball is no stranger to the rigors of recruiting players. For the second year in a row, Elon has been ranked in the top 50 for recruiting classes, peaking this year at number 42.

The new class includes five freshman, two junior/community college transfers and even two Division I transfers. Freshman Chris Vasami and sophomore Adam Weaver join the Elon club from two strong NCAA programs. Vasami is a first-baseman and pitcher from Notre Dame while Weaver is an infielder from the University of North Carolina. Sophomore Justin Bors and junior Ryan Radford are transfers from Spartanburg Methodist and Young Harris Junior College, respectively. Bors is a pitcher and Radford is an outfielder. Freshmen Patrick Adams, Ryan Basham and Jesse Lewter added to the pitching staff and Chris Bland and Stuart Bost are outfielders. Ricky Prady and Mitch Atkins were both freshman signees, but they signed professional contracts in June. Prady signed with the Minnesota Twins and Atkins is in the Chicago Cubs organization.

Assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Austin Alexander is excited and confident with the new class. He feels they did well in picking up some new pitchers after losing four to graduation and the draft.

“Bors has a chance to make it in our weekend rotation. Our freshmen pitchers are bright and passionate young men. They possess the talent but are still learning the ways of playing at the collegiate level. They are learning that simply relying on their abilities is not enough. There is very little margin for error here,” Alexander said.

In losing five seniors, four being pitchers, Elon baseball had some spots to fill. Alexander is confident that the freshmen are going to step it up. “We’re only two weeks into the fall and there are already jobs up for grabs,” Alexander added.

Losing Prady and Atkins to the draft certainly did not help the program, but Alexander feels it will be easier for them to recover since they had not played with Elon yet. “Atkins was a possibility to bring some strong pitching and we thought that Prady would be in our starting line-up as an outfielder,” Alexander said.

Alexander credits the Elon coaching staff for bringing in these outstanding recruits. He says that they are ranked among the powerhouses because of their desire to outwork the other schools. They go the extra mile. Instead of just watching tapes and making phone calls the coaches like to travel the country and attend games of their recruits. They give the players a confidence that makes them feel welcome at Elon. “We enjoy being on the road. There is always at least one of us on the road in the fall and we are on a non-stop schedule in the summer,” Alexander stated.

It is difficult to compare this year’s incoming class and last year’s which was ranked 47th by Collegiate Baseball. “Collegiate says it is better but the only difference is size. Last year we brought in 18 or 19 new players while this year we have nine. Our needs were not as big,” Alexander commented.

Monthly updates can be found on the athletics web site. Fall workouts will conclude with the Cardinal-Gold Classic series held Oct. 22-24.