2012 Commitments List

Congratulations to Garrett Brooks from Western Branch who recently committed to play baseball at East Carolina University. Garrett is a left-handed center fielder who bats lead-off for Western Branch.

Congrats to Garrett. I heard he wants to be a Cane, too.

Wow, another Pirate! How many from the Hampton Roads area? Chrismon, Morimando, Thompson and (now) Brooks. Congrats to Garrett and his family. Nice to see hard work pay off. Bet his (and Western Branch's) success in the Eastern Regionals didn't hurt!

Isn't there a player from Virginia Beach playing at ECU now?

Zach Woods, a pitcher for ECU, is from Virginia Beach. I believe he played at Princess Anne.

Matt Campbell, Hickory SS and 2012 Cane, committed to UNC.

congradulations to Matt, I'm proud of him and his hard work so I'm sure Dave is elated, great job.

Nathan Kirby, 2012 LHP from James River HS and the Virginia Cardinals, has committed to UVA!

I just read on the Canes website that Cosby's Luke Lowery has committed to ECU as well. The first time I saw him play, it didn't take long to figure out he was going to play big time D1 baseball, and that's exactly what he's going to do.

That's great for Luke. ECU is a big time program.

Our Cardinals team recently played in a Canes tournament there (last Friday). It was the first time I'd ever seen ECU's stadium, and boy is it ever first rate. You have to be excited to get a chance to play there. And I don't think anyone questions that Luke belongs at a program of that caliber.

Incidentally, Lowery and Kirby were travel teammates for many years, so it's kind of nice to see them both committing during the same week. As Mel Allen used to say, "How about THAT?"

Luke is a great kid from a great family. His Dad is very knowledgable and looks to help kids at all levels. Luke's future as bright as the sun. My son had a chance to play with him two summers ago.

Congratulations to the Lowerys

Hayden White (RHP/INF; Steward School) verbally commits to ECU!

Mitch Aker (Paul VI) to William & Mary! Congrats, Aker family.

Tim Kelly, RHP/OF, York HS - Va Tech

quote:

Originally posted by redbird5:
Tim Kelly, RHP/OF, York HS - Va Tech

Congrats to the Kelly family!

Nice to see VT with an in-state commit...

"The Red Sox organization would like to congratulate Tim and his family on his commitment to VA Tech.

Tim played for us this fall and will be playing with the Canes this summer.

We wish him the best in all of his future endeavors as he is a great ballplayer and a tremendous young man!"

- Mid-Atlantic Red Sox

Redbird, PG had him listed as a catcher, pitcher and outfielder. Do you know what position he was recruited for? Will he be a two way player?

Tim doesn't catch. He used to at 15u but not anymore.

I am not sure if he is a 2 way guy or not but most likely on the mound where he has been up to 88 this fall.

Jordan Taylor, 2012 Fauquier C/INF, committed to Radford. Jordan plays with the Canes. Congrats to Chris and the entire Taylor family.

Our list of 2012 commitments:

Garrett Brooks Western Branch 2012 OF East Carolina
Luke Lowery Cosby 2012 C/1B East Carolina
Hayden White Steward School 2012 SS/RHP East Carolina
Matt Campbell Hickory 2012 MIF North Carolina
Jordan Taylor Fauquier 2012 C/OF Radford
Dylan Garten Herndon 2012 2B/RHP Shepherd University
Jack Wynkoop Cape Henry Collegiate 2012 LHP/IF South Carolina
Nathan Kirby James River 2012 LHP UVa
Josh Sborz McLean 2012 RHP/1B UVa
Tim Kelly York 2012 RHP Virginia Tech
Mitch Aker Paul IV 2012 William & Mary

quote:

Originally posted by VirginiaPreps.com:
Our list of 2012 commitments:

Garrett Brooks Western Branch 2012 OF East Carolina
Luke Lowery Cosby 2012 C/1B East Carolina
Hayden White Steward School 2012 SS/RHP East Carolina
Matt Campbell Hickory 2012 MIF North Carolina
Jordan Taylor Fauquier 2012 C/OF Radford
Dylan Garten Herndon 2012 2B/RHP Shepherd University
Jack Wynkoop Cape Henry Collegiate 2012 LHP/IF South Carolina
Nathan Kirby James River 2012 LHP UVa
Josh Sborz McLean 2012 RHP/1B UVa
Tim Kelly York 2012 RHP Virginia Tech
Mitch Aker Paul IV 2012 William & Mary

Dylan Garten is a 2011

Another Canes North 2012 commit:

Zak Wasilewski, LHP/OF, Tazewell HS to South Carolina Gamecocks.

I think we've already seen as many Virginia 2012 commitments as we saw 2011 commitments by last July 1st.

Don't know whether this reflects extra talent in the 2012 class, more respect for Virginia players, or an acceleration of the early commit trend.

Congrats to these young men!

Arms, arms, arms. Many more pitchers coming from 2012. 2011 had many quality players, but pitching always takes priority and it seems that 2012 is heavier in pitching.

quote:

PIS Said.....Arms, arms, arms. Many more pitchers coming from 2012. 2011 had many quality players, but pitching always takes priority and it seems that 2012 is heavier in pitching.

Good point PIS. Could the 2012 class be the turning point for the new (some would argue old) brand of baseball that we are going to see? Dampening the bats will lead to more pitching, more defensive skills, and more speed. The 2012 class could be the first full class to realize that change. Just a thought.

quote:

Swampboy said.....Don't know whether this reflects extra talent in the 2012 class, more respect for Virginia players, or an acceleration of the early commit trend.

No question in my mind that it is an acceleration of the early commit trend. More talented players are verbally committing earlier. It is a sign of the times, and will continue if the current rules stay in place.

I don't think the new bats will affect the underlying level of pitching talent around. I do think some guys will have better stats, but better results due to an equipment change doesn't make a player more or less skilled.

I do think you could see guys who are more pitchability guys become a little more valuable. With the way the college game has been played, plus the draft constantly siphoning talent away from college, there was a premium on getting guys to school who had the stuff to miss bats. However, I think we will see a slight shift towards guys whose game is built around inducing poor contact rather than missing bats altogether. JMO

quote:

Originally posted by fenwaysouth:
...The 2012 class could be the first full class to realize that change. Just a thought.

I don't think so...I just think this class is loaded with top level arms.

Pitching is the wrong end of the telescope. Players that can truly hit are the ones who will see their stock rise. As contact becomes the premium fewer players will stand out while pitching stats should improve across the board as there are fewer base hits and home runs resulting from the bats

Are they better or just more of them? PG has 16 players in the 2011 class in the top 500 nationwide and 20 players in the 2012 class in the top 500 nationwide. The average ranking for the 16 players in the 2011 class is approximately 241, and the average ranking for the 20 players in the 2012 class is approximately 306.
Additionally, the 2011 class has some top level players, 3 in the top 70 nationwide. The 2012 class has one in the top 100 (at the present time).

That's assuming that college commitments are a direct result of the PG rankings.

While I am a firm believer in the fact that PG does a great job at what they do - there is only a small relation between the PG rankings and the acceleration of the recruiting calender.

Not certain about the timing of the offers and acceptances, but Virginia, Virginia Tech and William and Mary acquired a few of the top 500. Virginia has six, including two in state players (Sborz and Kirby); Virginia Tech has two, including one in state player (Kelly) and William and Mary has one (Aker). Congratulations to all!

Congratulations, but dude, the coach should've been the first to know!

I could not agree more. Man let the coach know before you let the world know. Good luck he is a good kid and a very good player. Very solid move by William and Mary.

Congratulations to the Sarty family.

Jonathan "JJ" Sarty, 2012, Woodgrove HS, INF just spoke to Coach Leoni and committed to William and Mary.

Congrats! You must be very excited for your son.

Congrats to JJ and family!

We have updated our comprehensive list of commitments!Baseball Commitments!

Please let us know of additions/corrections!