University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Add 12 Signees for 2005 Season
12/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2003
LAFAYETTE-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns head baseball coach Tony Robichaux has recruited some of the most talented baseball players to ever don a Ragin' Cajuns uniform and this year's recruiting class seems no different with the signing of 12 signees to a national letter of intent during the NCAA's early signing period last week.
The group of signees includes three junior college pitchers and nine first-time freshmen, including five position players and four pitchers.
Robichaux is pleased with this year's commitments.
“We think there's a lot of ability in this group,” said Robichaux. “We were able to fill out a lot of spots where we could look ahead and see where we might need help, and there's no doubt that a lot of these guys are going to make an immediate impact in our squad.”
At the top of the list is one of Texas' top high school prospects (named by two different scouting services), C.J. Blue of Mesquite, Texas. Blue, a left-handed pitcher from Poteet High School, was 9-2 with a 1.42 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 2002. He was a member of the 2002 U.S. Junior National Team.
Among the nine high school signees are three left-handed Louisiana pitchers-Jonathan Smith (New Iberia), T.J. Gros (Amelia) and Hunter Moody (Clinton).
Gros, cousin of former Ragin' Cajuns standout Andy Gros, prepped at Morgan City High School. He led the Tigers with an 8-3 record and 2.00 ERA while earning All-District and All-State honorable mention honors. Gros also pitched for the Louisiana Legends summer team where he went 4-2 with a 2.64 ERA.
Moody, District 4-2A Most Valuable Player at Clinton and Silliman Institute, struck out 133 batters en route to a 10-1-2 overall record with a 1.82 ERA. The southpaw only allowed 20 earned runs during his junior season and had seven complete games.
Florida prospect and right-handed pitcher John “Buddy” Glass (Clermont, Fla.) rounds out the high school pitching class for the Cajuns. Glass went 6-3 with 3.36 ERA for East Ridge High in 2003, striking out 73 batters over 58 and one-third innings of work.
Catcher Jonathan Lucroy, outfielder Matthew Bounds and infielders Matthew Hicks and Geoffrey Craig round out the Cajuns' nine high school signings.
Lucroy was a first-team All-State and All-Central Florida selection as a senior after hitting .500, belting 10 round-trippers and 44 RBIs with a .976 slugging percentage. Craig, a fellow Floridian, led Clearwater Catholic to the 2002 state championship as a sophomore. During his junior campaign, he hit .330, guiding his team back to the state finals with a 20-5 record.
Hicks, a Houston native, hit .380 with four homers with six doubles and one triple. He was also named team MVP for Memorial High School as a junior. In the fall, Hicks was named the starting shortstop for the Houston Heat, one of the most premier select high school teams in the nation.
Bounds, a member of Mississippi's Dandy Dozen in 2003, stole 24 bases for Purvis High. He also batted .389 with four homeruns and 14 triples. He has been selected the District 8-3A team three consecutive seasons.
Three junior college pitchers complete this year's early signing class.
Right-handed pitcher Tim Beasley tossed a perfect 4-0 record with a 3.40 ERA with 32 strikeouts for Iowa Western Community College. Jonathan Cottrell, a right-hander from Okaloosa-Walton Junior College, went 3-0 with a 3.72 ERA for Chipola Junior College in 2003 before transferring (to Okaloosa-Walton). Topping the list of the juco signees is 2002 Texas Rangers draft pick (35th round) Ken Pokryfke. The southpaw went 7-3 with a 2.67 ERA, while fanning 73 batters for Wabash Valley Community College last spring.
2003 LOUISIANA'S RAGIN' CAJUNS BASEBALL SIGNEES
Name,
Position (Hometown/Previous School)
Tim Beasley, RHP (Glenwood, Minn./Iowa Western CC)
C.J. Blue, LHP (Mesquite, Texas/Poteet HS)
Matthew Bounds, OF (Purvis, Miss./Purvis HS)
Jonathan Cottrell, RHP (Niceville, Fla./Okaloosa-Walton
JC)
Geoffrey Craig, IF (Palm Harbor, Fla./Clearwater
Catholic HS)
John "Buddy" Glass, RHP (Clermont, Fla./East Ridge HS)
T.J. Gros, LHP (Amelia, La./Morgan City HS)
Matthew Hicks, IF (Houston, Texas/Memorial HS)
Jonathan Lucroy, C (Umatilla, Fla./Umatilla HS)
Hunter Moody, LHP (Clinton, La./Clinton-Silliman
Institute)
Ken Pokryfke, LHP (Twin Lakes, Wisc./Wabash Valley CC)
Jonathan Smith, LHP (New Iberia, La./Catholic High-New
Iberia)
-LOUISIANA'S RAGIN' CAJUNS-
