A new military family has moved in to our great state of Virginia and they have an '08 player by the name of Levi Hyams. It appears he'll be playing for Colonial Forge HS in Stafford and he's verbally committed to the University of Georgia.

New commits:

Zack Hegelson, Hidden Valley, to U. of Maryland
Daniel Bowman, Turner Ashby, to Coastal Carolina
Dustin Galbraith, Douglas Freeman, to West Va. U.

Reported, not yet confirmed:

Ronnie Shaban, Cosby, to Va. Tech
Tadd Bower, Cosby, to Wm. & Mary

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
Reported, not yet confirmed:

Ronnie Shaban, Cosby, to Va. Tech
Tadd Bower, Cosby, to Wm. & Mary

What position does Bower play? I only saw Cosby once, and the only players I remember specifically were the two Shabans and Lowery

Big first baseman.

I have just heard that the Snyder Twins from Westfield High School, both Matt and Michael have accepted scholarship offers to play ball in the SEC. The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) have picked up two great kids !

here is a revised list of those committed thus far from the Class of 2008......

Daniel Marrs, James River, Wake Forest
Austin Stadler, James River, Wake Forest
Jackie Bradley, Prince George, South Carolina
Chad O'Connor, Western Branch, UVA
Will Roberts, Maggie Walker, UVA
John Austin Hicks, Goochland, UVA
Danny Hultzen, St. Alban's, UVA
Justin Thompson, Tunstall, UVA
Shane Halley, Lake Braddock, UVA
Kyle Long, St. Anne's-Belfield, Florida State
Peter Verdin, Pope Paul VI, U. Georgia
Levi Hyams, Colonial Forge, U. Georgia
Brett Bowers, Pope Paul VI, East Carolina
Phillip Clark, Collegiate, East Carolina
Gary Ward, Hickory, Miami
Andrew Deal, LC Bird, VMI
Taylor Buran, Benedictine, Maryland
Zack Hegelson, Hidden Valley, Maryland
Cole Shain, Broad Run, William & Mary
Tadd Bower, Cosby, William & Mary
Will Lamb, Seaford, Clemson
Matthew Snyder, Westfield, Ole Miss
Michael Snyder, Westfield, Ole Miss
Daniel Bowman, Turner Ashby, Coastal Carolina
Dustin Galbraith, Douglas Freeman, West Virginia
Ronnie Shaban, Cosby, VA Tech

Jonathan Watson, LC Bird, Longwood

For those of us who may be interested in how a class is shaping up position-wise can someone enlighten us as to what primary positions these young men play?

Thanks....

quote:

Originally posted by j2h6:
Jonathan Watson, LC Bird, Longwood

WATSON IS TO LONGWOOD, BUT HE'S CLASS OF '07

Snyders to Ole Miss? Where did you hear that?

I added in positions of those I knew.....but others will have to double check and make additions or subtractions.....

Daniel Marrs, RHP, James River, Wake Forest
Austin Stadler, LHP/1B, James River, Wake Forest
Chad O'Connor, RHP, Western Branch, UVA
Will Roberts, RHP, Maggie Walker, UVA
John Austin Hicks, C, Goochland, UVA
Danny Hultzen, RHP/1B, St. Alban's, UVA
Justin Thompson, RHP, Tunstall, UVA
Shane Halley, RHP/OF, Lake Braddock, UVA
Peter Verdin, OF/RHP, Pope Paul VI, U. Georgia
Levi Hyams, 3B/MIF/OF, Colonial Forge, U. Georgia
Brett Bowers, 3B/MIF, Pope Paul VI, East Carolina
Phillip Clark, SS/OF, Collegiate, East Carolina
Taylor Buran, RHP, Benedictine, Maryland
Zack Hegelson, , Hidden Valley, Maryland
Cole Shain, LHP/1B, Broad Run, William & Mary
Tadd Bower, C, Cosby, William & Mary
Matthew Snyder, 1B, Westfield, Ole Miss
Michael Snyder, 3B/RHP, Westfield, Ole Miss
Daniel Bowman, Turner Ashby, Coastal Carolina
Dustin Galbraith, Douglas Freeman, West Virginia
Ronnie Shaban, MIF, Cosby, VA Tech
Will Lamb, Seaford, Clemson
Gary Ward, LHP/1B, Hickory, Miami
Andrew Deal, LC Bird, VMI
Jackie Bradley, OF, Prince George, South Carolina
Kyle Long, LHP/1B, St. Anne's-Belfield, Florida State

I'd use their first position listed as their primary position !

Bower is 1B, not C.

Shaban can play 2B, SS and 3B, also will pitch at Tech I'm sure.

Deal and Galbraith are RHP's.

Has Hudgins from Douglas Freeman committed? I think I've mentioned before how much he and his teammate Galbraith remind me of each other

Last I heard he was still sorting out suitors.

Of the five HS top rounders in the 08 amateur draft in the 'enlarged; Greater Wash-DC-MD-VA Metro, two are from 'area' that being Richmond and Charlottsville. With that said, neither will set foot on campus and will sign prior to Aug 14, 2008 (and for a whole lot of dollars!)

quote:

Originally posted by Bear:
Of the five HS top rounders in the 08 amateur draft in the 'enlarged; Greater Wash-DC-MD-VA Metro, two are from 'area' that being Richmond and Charlottsville. With that said, neither will set foot on campus and will sign prior to Aug 14, 2008 (and for a whole lot of dollars!)

A lot can happen in the next year, so I don't think I would make absolute statements regarding these players a year in advance. Both have scholarships to ACC schools with strong academic and baseball programs, so both guys have options. Remember, nobody thought Justin Bristow would ever see a college campus either.

Just saw where Bristow has transferred from Auburn to East Carolina -- reported on Baseball America.

Will Bristow have to sit out a year due to the transfer?

Just a note about all the "commitments" from Virginia....I think it is important to realize that there are many top Virginia players out there that are receiving offers but not acting on them at this early in the process. My son, as well as I, look on this site and others to see who has made a verbal commitment recently. Truth is he is as antsy as the rest of those seeking to play at the next level, but when he reads headlines like "MANY TOP VIRGINA PLAYERS MAKE COMMITTMENTS" it misleads him and other to think that he might be missing the boat somewhere. In fact there are hundreds of players in Virginia that will eventually sign to play at D1,2,3,NAIA, or other programs. I don't think that the number of players announced on this board or others constitute "MANY" it doesn't even hit the mark of a few. There is still a lot of time left in this process.

As my son and I have felt in the past and continue to feel today, is that waiting for the right offer may mean waiting till late October or even next baseball season. In my opinion, and this is certainly not the case for all, is that some of the verbals are being done out of haste in order to satisfy or alley their fears that they might not get a better offer or opportunity elsewhere. Bristow going to East Carolina...might...be an example of that haste, but that could be a stretch as his situation coming out of high school with the pro-draft in the mix makes it different.

What I mean to say is that it's nice to hear of the players making it to the next level as that has certainly been the goal of many of them and of course is the goal of my son. This is just a reminder to the one's that haven't received the offers yet or that have received offers but not acted to not worry. If you look back at the past 5 years of top players, they "all”, or at least 95% of them have eventually signed somewhere.

Good points all.

As for Bristow, the change in the transfer rule takes effect in 2008, so he can play right away at ECU.

I don't take the reports of early commitments as anything other than folks sharing the excitement for the players involved, including sons, sons of friends, teammates, kids we may have coached in Little League or played against, etc. Obviously my own son is on the lists above, but I know nearly all of the kids listed one way or the other, and I'm happy for each and every one of them.

I definitely agree that kids should not be discouraged for themselves just because they see others committing early.

In particular, early commits tend to be pitchers, so players who don't pitch shouldn't be comparing their situation to the pitchers. To a great extent that's an "apples and oranges" thing.

Every year there are kids who don't get deals done until just WEEKS before school starts! I wouldn't say you should wait that long on purpose, but the point is, there's still a lot of road ahead.

I look forward to the day when you get to share the good news that we all know is coming, too!