Middle Tennessee head baseball coach Steve Peterson announced the signing of three players to letters-of-intent on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.
Two of the Blue Raider commitments hail from the state of Tennessee, both from the midstate - Overton outfielder Zach Hudson and Ravenwood catcher Drew Robertson. St. Louis, Mo., native Tyler Hyde rounds out Wednesday's signings.
Hudson's Overton team reached the state finals last season, with the 6-foot-2, 215-pounder batting .354 with 13 doubles and 38 RBIs along with 11 stolen bases. Hudson played mostly rightfield last season but should see some time in centerfield this year for coach Mike Morrison.
"Zach is a good athlete who plays both football and baseball at Overton," Peterson said. "He has a big upside - good size, runs well for a big man, good arm strength and good power. He has the tools to play centerfield for us, but we'll see how that develops once he gets here."
Robertson is not the prototypical Blue Raider catcher under Peterson, standing 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds. Every catcher under Peterson has been drafted at the end of their career, and Robertson should add to the program's success behind the plate.
"Drew really has more of the type of body that will fill in, long and lean and very athletic," he said. "For the old-timers, more a body like Tim Goff's from the mid-80's who signed with the Kansas City Royals.
"[Drew] plays basketball and baseball at Ravenwood. He has good instincts behind the plate, is very intelligent, and should fall right in line with the great defensive catchers we've had here. We needed to sign another catcher with all of the attention [Michael] McKenry is getting from the scouts this year."
Hyde will be breaking from family tradition after his father was a quarterback at Missouri in the 1980's. The The Chaminade Prepatory School product struck out 33 in 43 innings of work last season, posting a 2.93 ERA with opponents batting .195.
"Tyler is a righthanded pitcher with a good body, tall lanky with a good fastball and great upside," he said. "He is progressively getting better and shows the makings of a good breaking ball. As he grows into his body, his fastball will get better and he should have opportunities to pitch his freshman year if he has command of the strike zone." -------------------------------------
Middle Tennessee head baseball coach Steve Peterson announced the signing of Ooltewah High School product Blake McDade to a national letter-of-intent on Thursday, the fourth Blue Raider signee in the early period.
McDade was an All-District and All-Region selection last season after batting .400 with three home runs, 42 RBIs and 15 doubles at OHS. He also added six home runs and 35 RBIs to go with a .390 average as a sophomore for the Owls. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder is breaking with family tradition after his father played football at Tennessee.
"Blake can really hit. We needed some lefthanded hitters and I was really impressed watching him this summer," Peterson said. "He has shown power to all fields. He plays linebacker for [Ooltewah's] football team. He runs enough to be a corner outfielder, but we see him as a first baseman and think that's where his future is for our ballclub."
McDade joins Wednesday signees Drew Robertson (Ravenwood HS - Nashville, Tenn.), Zach Hudson (Overton HS - Nashville, Tenn.) and Tyler Hyde (The Chaminade Prepatory School - St. Louis, Mo.) in the early signing period. Middle Tennessee may sign one more player before the end of the signing period, which is the middle of next week.
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