Help me with this baseball commit

[AlSwearengen]

who is the kid that along with his h.s. teammate committed to us really early (10th grade). Both of their dads were kickers at State. I remember seeing someone on one of the boards talking about how good he was. What is his name and what grade will he be in next year?

[Todd4State]

Austin Riley and Keegan James from DeSoto Central. Riley is the more highly touted of the two- he might be a legit dual position player for us. Of course, it's way too soon to know, but it's not out of the question. Just know that as a sophomore, Riley almost single handedly defeated mighty Madison Central this year. They will be juniors in high school next year. I still think Luke Alexander of Belmont is the best player, but I think some people have forgotten about him because he plays in a small town. All of the above mentioned are MSU commits.

[AlSwearengen]

Todd, is it true that Riley was touching the low 90's with his fastball in the playoffs? Also, is Alexander in the same class as riley and james?

[engie]

http://mississippistate.scout.com/2/1096871.html

http://mississippistate.scout.com/3/signees.html

Good, free source to keep up with our baseball commitments and signees. Yes, Riley was consistently in the high 80s in the playoffs...

[Coach34]

Riley may end up drafted too high to go to college- but hopefully not. He is going to be a damn stud

[engie]

On a slightly different note, MSU JR commitment Chase Vallot won the Homerun Derby at the Perfect Game showcase in Minnesota today.

He finished inside the top 10 in homeruns nationally this year as well as a highschool junior.

[AlSwearengen]

thanks engie. I asked todd in another thread about a player that I was curious about and figured out that is the swinarsky kid in the 2014 class. And for anyone who knows, how did we get the catcher out of lafayette out from under lsu?

[Todd4State]

Todd, is it true that Riley was touching the low 90's with his fastball in the playoffs? Also, is Alexander in the same class as riley and james?

Yes, I heard he was topping out at 91 against Madison Central (second hand info), but he was in the high 80's. As he develops, he will likely throw in the 90's more consistently. And also, yes- Riley, Alexander, and James are all in the same class.

[Todd4State]

thanks engie. I asked todd in another thread about a player that I was curious about and figured out that is the swinarsky kid in the 2014 class. And for anyone who knows, how did we get the catcher out of lafayette out from under lsu?


As I said, Mingione is a really good recruiter. Third base coaching abilities- certainly questionable- but our recruiting really started to pick up on a national level once he took over.

Also, the only thing LSU has that we don't in baseball is National Championships. I know that's a huge difference, but let's be honest- we have crowds in fact we outdrew LSU in our regional despite the fact that Starkville is a much smaller city than Baton Rouge, facilities, coaching, etc. If we ever get a NC, I think our program will completely take off.

[TrueMaroon]

Speaking of signees/commits, is anyone shocked that we signed 14 kids this year? I know Cohen signed a lot his first year here, but that number seems really high.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Speaking of signees/commits, is anyone shocked that we signed 14 kids this year? I know Cohen signed a lot his first year here, but that number seems really high.

I was surprised until I realized we have seven seniors, four juniors drafted who most likely will be leaving the team and two others rumored to be leaving the team. Now, it seems about even to me.

[engie]

We will likely sign a few more IMO... still looking at a few more guys.

Cohen makes the numbers work in baseball -- and we have to oversign and process to an extent in order to compete with the lottery teams with over double the scholarship funds available...

[maroonmania]

We will likely sign a few more IMO... still looking at a few more guys.

Cohen makes the numbers work in baseball -- and we have to oversign and process to an extent in order to compete with the lottery teams with over double the scholarship funds available...

Speaking of that, I did come across this tidbit from the Dallas Morning News that says we are still in Preston Palmeiro's final five list.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/high-schools/headlines/20130609-waxahachies-david-martinelli-leads-east-past-west-in-north-texas-hs-baseball-coaches-association-all-star-game.ece

[MSUDawg4Life]

Speaking of that, I did come across this tidbit from the Dallas Morning News that says we are still in Preston Palmeiro's final five list.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/high-schools/headlines/20130609-waxahachies-david-martinelli-leads-east-past-west-in-north-texas-hs-baseball-coaches-association-all-star-game.ece

Come on down, Preston. You're family. Wouldn't be right to go anywhere else. We want you here.

[AlSwearengen]

that is an impressive offer list for palmiero. Three of the five finalists are in the college world series.