Air Force Recruits Hard To Come By
I’ll make this quick. I make this excuse every year. When it comes to recruiting the military academies are a special breed. The players they recruit and accept the challenge must go through basic training before they are a part of the team. With all that being said the following newbies were listed on the 2018 roster which is more than I can say about a few of the other members of the MWC. Read on.
Daniel Alpert, RHP, Lake Norman Charter School, Davidson, NC
I found little for Daniel. I did find that he was on a list of 1000 players considered the top prospects in the US by Perfect Game.
Cole Blatchford, INF, Mountain Vista HS, Highlands Ranch, CO
He hit .297 his senior year, which ain’t much to brag about, but his 8 home runs were. Didn’t find a lot more other than an all star game he played at Coors Field. I know some areas do this but not all but what an experience for a kid to play in a major league park. My first impression would have been “Geez, I can’t hit it that far!”
John Byrnes, RHP, King’s Ridge Christian HS, Milton, GA
He was 2-2 and 1.98 in 2017. He only pitched in 5 games with a total of 28 IP. However, he had 41 Ks in those limited innings. Not bad.
Luke Chilcutt, RHP/INF, Clarksville HS, Clarksville, TN
Luke was recruited as a two-way player. His hitting stats weren’t much as he hit .269 and 4 in 2017. That’s after a junior year where he hit .352 and 0. Power up contact down. Offhand, I’d say his future is on the bump as he was 7-2 and 1.25 with 75 Ks in 56 IP. Dominant numbers. With the two-way numbers he made first team All-District (Nashville area).
Christian Gamble, INF, Loyola HS, Los Angeles, CA
I have this kid as graduating in 2018 but here he is on the roster. He hit an unbelievable .538 and 12 in 2017. Mind you, that’s in 93 ABs so he doesn’t appear to be a one hit wonder. Yes, I’m impressed. I thought he’d receive more ink and awards but I found none. What gives?
Ben Hauser, UTIL, Sun Prairie HS, Sun Prairie, WI
Didn’t find much but he’s good sized at 6’3” and 190. He bats left and throws right which is a good combination. His position is OF.
Bailey Hopkins, C, Brookwood HS, Lilburn, GA
Found nothing current.
Jonathan Imperial, OF, Davis HS, Wapato, WA
Found nothing.
Michael Kolesar, OF, Cambridge HS, Milton, GA
Found nothing.
Ethan Richards, RHP, Plant HS, Tampa, FL
He was 6-0 and 1.55 his senior season. He struck out 58 in 49 IP. Those numbers got him an Honorable Mention on the Tampa Bay Times All-Tampa Bay team.
Bryce Sell, RHP, Maize South HS, Wichita, KS
He was 1-0 and 1.24 in 5 IP. Man, I’m getting frustrated with the lack of stats for these guys.
Nathan Styles, RHP, Warren Township HS, Gurnee, IL
He was 1-0 and 0.64 in 22 IP. I’m figuring incomplete stats but that’s what I found. I also found a newspaper article that stated that the relief role suited him. That helps a bit.
Tyler Ward, INF/OF, Jupiter HS, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
He hit .250 and 2 his senior year in 84 ABs. I’m thinking with that BA he didn’t get much in the way of recognition. I’m also assuming he had much better numbers his junior year when he signed the NLI.
More than any other program in the Mountain West, Air Force recruits nationwide. Some of these players come from areas that have “real” winters which means they probably play in competitive summer teams such as American Legion. In past years they always seem to get some good players but Blatchford and Gamble look like the best of a slim lot. Then again, hitters blossom at the Academy. Pitching is always a struggle there so we’ll see how these newbies do this season.
So, this is the last of the recruiting analysis and now I move on to rating the OOC portion of the schedules. Recruiting classes? I’d have to say San Diego State leads all the teams. Nevada also got some ink in some services but I thought there’s was only ok. The rest? Well, we’ll see.