Baseball visitors

[Todd4State]

It sounds like it was mainly pitchers. These are just the ones I've heard about.

RHP Touki Toussaint- we have already talked about. The guy is a stud and throws 97 with a good curveball. This is a legit potential first round pick. He pitched at the Under Armour All-Star game and was on the same team as Chase Vallot. If we get him, he would probably be a weekend starter as a freshman potentially, and would be our ace of the future. The biggest thing I see with him is his mechanics are not very clean right now- but he will develop that in time. And like I said- if he falls to the late first or second round- he could realistically come to school and possibly be developed into a guy that could be the first overall pick of the draft. We won't know what his situation is until the draft actually occurs. We'll see what his situation is in June, but based on what I am hearing, I think we have a very good chance of getting a commitment from him, but the draft risk is very real.

LHP Cole Whitman from Pelham HS, in Birmingham- We have a great relationship with this program. Trevor Fitts and 2015 MSU commit Hunter Stovall came from there. He plays summer baseball for the Excel Blue Wave which is a travel team that we also have a very good relationship with. Whitman will be a 2016 recruit, but he is already throwing 88 as a LH with a 6'3" frame and he is just a 10th grader. As he gets stronger, I look for him to be in the 90's and he would be another great pick-up.

RHP Austin Howland Madison Central- He is a 2015 recruit that was a relief pitcher at Madison Central last year and went 5-0 with a 2.53 ERA and 22 K's with 6 BB's and per PG his fastball is 84. It is very rare for a sophomore to play at Madison Central in baseball because of the school population- and if you do, you're probably pretty good. He played for the East Coast Grays, which is very well thought of travel team. He's 6'0" 180.

LHP Hill Garbo Madison Central- Was one of the few class of 2015 members invited to the Area Code games in September and was clocked in the high 80's (no specific reading) and he was on the same team as Dale Burdick- a MSU commit. Originally he started out at Jackson Prep and then transferred to Madison Central. He only pitched twice for MC and went 1-0 with a save-but the thing that caught my eye- 9K's in 3.1 innings and only 2 hits allowed and no walks. He's 5'11" 180 and I think he will burst onto the Mississippi high school baseball scene this spring.

[MsStateBaseball]

Thanks Todd for the breakdown. Really nothing shocks me anymore about our recruiting, we just need them to visit. Now if we can get Seth Beer to visit...

[nsvltndog]

Mingione dropped off a recruit at GTR this morning that was on our flight out. I don't know the name, but the clues I can provide are African American, Atlanta Blue Jays backpack, and connecting to Ft. Lauderdale. I know the ATL and Fort Lauderdale clues don't go well together, but that's all I got.

[Jacksondevildog]

Pretty sure that was Touki Toussant. He lives in Florida.

[nsvltndog]

Just looked him up and he's the one I saw. His Mom was with him on the visit.

[Jacksondevildog]

Yep. Gene said his mom was blown away with the visit and he is supposed to interview him tomorrow. He would be the highest rated recruit Cohen has signed and maybe the highest rated player ever???

[messageboardsuperhero]

Good stuff. Thanks for that.

Whitman sounds very interesting. There aren't many 6'3" sophomore LHPs who can already throw mid-high 80s.

As for Garbo, PG says he topped out at 81 this summer. Where did you hear he was high 80s? Not saying you're wrong, I'm just curious.

[BDAWG8]

First post, sorry if I didn't do it right. Todd, the East Coast Grays are no longer. They have lost their affiliation w/ the Grays organization. It's b/c of Joe Caruso who played at Bama during all the CWS runs they had in the late 90's. Joe is a real piece and most coaches won't even take his player evaluations except for Gaspard. Although, Brent Rooker came out of the program, very few position players do it's mainly pitchers.

[Todd4State]

Good stuff. Thanks for that.

Whitman sounds very interesting. There aren't many 6'3" sophomore LHPs who can already throw mid-high 80s.

As for Garbo, PG says he topped out at 81 this summer. Where did you hear he was high 80s? Not saying you're wrong, I'm just curious.

No problem. It was from a blog article on the Area Code games.

http://www.collegebaseballtoday.com/2013/08/09/the-area-code-games-day-four/

There's a picture of Garbo near the bottom of the page with the quote "The wickedly-named Hill Garbo dips down low as he delivers another upper-80s offering. Garbo is a 2015 graduate and held his own well today in his Area Codes debut."

[Todd4State]

First post, sorry if I didn't do it right. Todd, the East Coast Grays are no longer. They have lost their affiliation w/ the Grays organization. It's b/c of Joe Caruso who played at Bama during all the CWS runs they had in the late 90's. Joe is a real piece and most coaches won't even take his player evaluations except for Gaspard. Although, Brent Rooker came out of the program, very few position players do it's mainly pitchers.

We're recruiting a pitcher from DeSoto Central that plays with them- Dallas Woolfolk. Thanks for the update- it looks like they are calling themselves East Coast baseball now.

[engie]

What are our chances with Toussaint? Are we in the lead? With Cohen doing what he has with the players he has gotten, if he continues to get the Vallots, Toussaints, and Swinarskis of hs baseball... Watch out.

Anytime a baseball player comes to a football weekend at MSU -- and sees a pitcher(not as talented as he is -- as crazy as that may sound) giving the pump up speech for a packed house before the 4th quarter -- you have to think we've got a pretty dang good shot. He's from Miami -- and he can go there to an empty football stadium for a tremendous football program(historically) -- where nobody even acknowledges or could name 5 players on their baseball team, which is probably one of the 5-10 best baseball programs of all time. Or he can literally name the baseball program he wants to play at.

Fact is, we're not competing with other schools for him in as much as we're competing against MLB. We'll be fighting that with Vallot as well. The Swinarski's of the world which enroll early thus never facing the MLB draft are INCREDIBLY rare...

[trob115]

Exactly Engie! We are fighting the draft with Toussaint. It's hard to believe the strides Cohen and CO have made in the last 4 years.

[Jacksondevildog]

Toussant will be a tough pull, no doubt. I think that we can get him to commit. It makes the program look good, even if we lose him to the draft. It may open the door with another top prospect that we have the chance to get on campus. You never know, he may tweak an elbow or something and fall in the draft boards.

[bully99]

I would be wary of Vandy. This is the kind of pitcher they have been getting over they last decade. Doesn't hurt with all the vandy pitchers in the bigs. Couple weeks ago they got a commit from Dylan Cease, a big time pitcher out of Georgia who State was recruiting.

[601Dawg]

Itd be amazing just to have this kid commit to us.

[DogDaddy]

In regards to the East Coast Grays/Joe Caruso. Above post is not entirely true. Cole Gordon, 2014 commit, also played/plays for the East Coast Grays. Also, Eric Dubose, former Bulldog pitcher and 1st round pick, is the pitching instructor for the organization. Greg Sykes, Columbus, MS, is a huge Bulldog supporter and is on the board of the Grays. MSU recruiters and Caruso talk on a regular basis at Perfect Game events and when the Grays have a prospect interested in coming to Starkville.

[TentDawgs]

First post, sorry if I didn't do it right. Todd, the East Coast Grays are no longer. They have lost their affiliation w/ the Grays organization. It's b/c of Joe Caruso who played at Bama during all the CWS runs they had in the late 90's. Joe is a real piece and most coaches won't even take his player evaluations except for Gaspard. Although, Brent Rooker came out of the program, very few position players do it's mainly pitchers.

I found out this information: Joe Caruso was the East Coast Grays/ SE until this past summer. The affiliation was not lost, Joe just formed another relationship with others. This fall, Joe Caruso joined up with Eric Dubose (Tuscaloosa, AL) and Greg Sykes (Columbus, MS) to form the East Coast Baseball Organization. Dubose and Sykes are die hard bulldogs. As far as colleges not taking Joe Caruso evaluations, I believe you are dead wrong. After talking with other coaches, Joe Caruso is very much thought highly of by college coaches. I also found out that their southeastern group had many position players who were committed to D1 colleges like Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, ect.

[BDAWG8]

You are right about the guys he's currently partnered w/ and kids do like those 2 guys. However, there is a reason why Joe Caruso isn't coaching at any colleges anymore or high schools for that matter. He's a guy that you keep at an arms length.

[bully99]

Swindoll has an interview with Touki and his mom on his site. Free.

[CadaverDawg]

Swindoll has an interview with Touki and his mom on his site. Free.

http://mississippistate.scout.com/2/1334228.html

[DogDaddy]

You are right about the guys he's currently partnered w/ and kids do like those 2 guys. However, there is a reason why Joe Caruso isn't coaching at any colleges anymore or high schools for that matter. He's a guy that you keep at an arms length.

Do you know him or anything about him?

[BDAWG8]

Yes I do and I'll leave it at that!