The University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawk baseball team announces 13 new players for the 2015 season.
This is the first signing class under first-year head coach Rick Robinson, who coached 25 MLB Draft selections, including Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon and Baltimore Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis. Robinson and assistant coach Rick Guarno have taken to the recruiting trails.
Among this year’s signing class are six incoming juniors, a redshirt sophomore and six freshmen. The list of recruits are as follows:
- Patrick Bernard is a 6 foot, 180 pound right-handed pitcher from Edmonds, Washington. He is an incoming junior who played two seasons at Tacoma Community College before signing with the Skyhawks. Last season, Bernard went 6-1 with a 2.54 ERA in 11 appearances (seven starts). In his 46 innings pitched, he only allowed 33 hits (four extra-base hits), stuckout 34 batters and held opponents to a .208 batting average.
- Andrew Castillo is a 5 foot 11 inch, 180 pound outfielder from Kennewick, Washington. He is an incoming junior who played two years at Yakima Valley Community College. Last season, Castillo tallied team-highs in batting average (.364), hits (64), stolen bases (10) and games played (44). Castillo scored 34 runs, had six doubles, three triples, 29 RBI’s and a homerun. He also had 20 multi-hit games and a 17-game hitting streak from March 21 through April 16.
- Nick Pribble is a 6 foot, 155 pound infielder from Mill Creek, Washington. Pribble is an incoming junior who played the last two seasons at Bellevue College. He had team-highs in doubles (11), walks (23), sacrifice hits (eight) and games played (48) last season. He also had a .250 batting average with 25 runs, 20 RBI’s and 16 stolen bases.
- Mike Murphy is a 5 foot 11 inch, 180 pound infielder from Wayne, Illinois. Murphy is an incoming junior and spent the last two seasons playing at Elgin Community College. Murphy had a .357 batting average last season during 40 games with 36 runs and 18 RBI’s. He also had a .444 slugging percentage and a .418 on-base percentage with seven doubles, two triples and six stolen bases.
- Matt Hirsch is a 6 foot, 185 pound infielder from Edmonds, Washington. Hirsch is an incoming junior and played two seasons at Tacoma Community College. Last season, Hirsch hit .270 with 10 doubles, 25 RBI’s and 23 runs in 41 games played. He also had a .373 slugging percentage and a .369 on-base percentage.
- Cole Schaenzer is a 6 foot 3 inch, 190 pound right-handed pitcher from Oxford, Michigan. Schaenzer will be a redshirt junior. He spent his first season at Valparaiso University before playing his sophomore season at Macomb Community College. Last season, Schaenzer made three appearances going 1-0 with a perfect o.oo ERA through 11 innings. He allowed only five hits and fanned 11 batters against two walks. He also pitched a complete game shutout on May 6 where he only allowed four hits.
- Austin Taylor is a 6 foot 1 inch, 240 pound infielder from Friendship, Tennessee. Taylor will be a redshirt sophomore. Taylor started his collegiate career at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he played Fullback for the football team. Taylor then transferred to Walters State Community College where he decided to play baseball. Taylor started 33 of the 42 games he played last season. He had a .407 slugging percentage and a .374 on-base percentage. Taylor scored 24 runs last season along with 19 RBI’s and 11 extra-base hits.
- Michael Fidler is a 6 foot 4 inch, 215 pound infielder and right-handed pitcher from Maple Park, Illinois. Fidler is an incoming freshman who played at Aurora Central High School before signing with the Skyhawks last November.
- Matt Poteete is a 6 foot 1 inch, 185 pound left-handed pitcher from Humboldt, Tennessee. Poteete is an incoming freshman who played at Jackson Christian School when he signed with UTM in November. Poteete went 11-2 over 17 apperances and 82.1 innings with two saves and a 1.11 ERA. He gave up 64 hits, struckout 124 batters and gave up 11 walks his senior season.
- Daniel Shaw is a 6 foot, 185 pound left-handed pitcher from Memphis, Tennessee. Shaw played at Christian Brothers High School and signed a National Letter of Intent with the Skyhawks last November.
- Carson Shrode is a 6 foot 2 inch, 185 pound outfielder from Nashville, Tennessee. Shrode played at Christ Presbyterian Academy where he graduated as the program’s all-time leader in hits (156), doubles (52), home runs (12) and RBIs (112). He also scored 104 runs and had a .371 batting average with a .464 on-base percentage.
- Carter McMackin is a 5 foot 9 inch, 190 pound catcher from Dyer, Tennessee. McMackin played at Gibson County High School. He followed in his dad, Scott’s, footsteps when he signed with the Skyhawks. His dad was an all-division player at UT Martin from 1989-90. Last season, McMackin batted .343 with 22 RBI’s and also had a .999 fielding percentage with 12 pickoffs.
- Blake Williams is a 5 foot 10 inch, 165 pound infielder from Clarksville, Tennessee. Williams played for Rossview High School before signing with the Skyhawks.
Featured Photo Credit: John Sellers
