DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - After locking in 13 players during the fall signing period, the Bethune-Cookman coaching staff remained vigilant on the recruiting trail over the past few months and has continued to grow the Wildcats' roster for next season. Head Coach Jason Beverlin announced the signing of four new players to NLI on Wednesday, adding even greater depth and talent to the 2014 squad.
The fall signing group was highlighted by pitchers, and the spring signees demonstrated a continued emphasis, with three pitchers and an outfielder signed to play their college baseball in Daytona Beach. Two of the latest group of Wildcats hail from Florida, with the others joining the squad from California and South Carolina. Two are high school recruits with two from junior college.
“I definitely think that adding these four players in the spring signing period is huge for us and adds even more depth to the pitching staff, which was definitely an area that we targeted,” Beverlin said. “Coach [Kenny] Smith and Coach [Barrett] Shaft did an excellent job of getting out there and finding us the best talent.”
The class of pitchers begins with Alec Jewell, a 6-0, 185-point right-hander (Ocala, Fla./West Port High School) who provided consistent strikeouts last season and pitches in the high 80s, touching 90. Not only was he a two-sport athlete (basketball) in high school, but an outstanding student, boasting a 4.1 GPA and a 95 on the ACT.
That is followed by Greg Minier, a 6-4, 200-pound big-framed left-hander from Oxnard, Calif. (Channel Islands High School). His upper-80s fastball has a very easy delivery and he shows great potential, further illustrated by his 1.42 ERA last season at CIHS, logging 88 strikeouts and a .149 opponent batting average in 59.1 innings.
Another big left-hander, John Sever makes the trip down the street from the very solid Daytona State College program. Originally from Travelers Rest, SC (Blue Ridge High School), the 6-4, 210-pound Sever has a fastball ranging from 87-91 and shows the ability to hit 92-93, providing 51 strikeouts in 50 innings for the Falcons in 2013.
The addition of more left-handed pitchers bolsters a class that helped to balance out the Wildcats' pitching staff from a year ago. B-CU added two lefties in the fall and now two in the spring, along with two more coming off injury. In 2013, the Wildcats had just two southpaws on the staff.
Switching over to position players, Julian Santos adds to an experienced outfield expected to again be the strength of the team. At 6-1, 190 pounds, the Miami native (Killian Senior High School) has proven through his time at State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota that he can play center field, with great ball-tracking ability and can make the key throw. He could compete for a position anywhere in the batting order, hitting .296 at SCF-MS with 11 extra base hits and 16 steals. He also hit .446 as a senior at Killian, batting in 30 runs and scoring 40.
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