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Troy Baseball Signs Bumper Crop of New Players
Ricky Hazel 07/15/2005

TROY, Ala. – Fresh off a 2005 Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title and Coach of the Year award, Troy University head baseball coach Bobby Pierce and his staff have completed their recruiting efforts for the 2006 season.

In addition to the five players signed by the Trojans during the fall signing period, the Troy coaches added 15 other new players to the roster for next season. Those 20 incoming players will compete with 16 returning letter winners and 11 players who sat out last season as redshirts for jobs on the 2006 club.

"We are excited about the group of young men who are coming in to join our baseball program," Pierce said. "Even though we have five position starters returning from last year, those guys will all have to work hard in the fall because some of these incoming players will push for playing time right away."

Of the 20 players signed, nine are pitchers, including four left-handers. Also included in the group are a pair of players who competed in the Southeastern Conference over the last two years. Left-handed pitcher Michael Felix has transferred to Troy from Auburn University and infielder Tommy King will join the Troy program from the University of South Carolina.

"Both of those players provide our team with experience competing at the highest level of Division I baseball," Pierce said. "Mike Felix is a pitcher Troy fans should be familiar with because he pitched against us here at Riddle-Pace Field last spring."

Felix, a native of Panama City, Fla., saw his playing time decrease as a sophomore, making just seven appearances on the year. He was the starting pitcher for the Tigers in the game at Troy on May 3, working four innings for Auburn in that game. During his freshman season Felix was a weekend starter for Auburn, making 18 appearances, with 15 starts. He posted a 4-5 record with 4.52 ERA.

King was a .242 hitter over two seasons at South Carolina, where he played in 86 games with 207 at bats. Defensively, he played all four infield positions in two seasons with the Gamecocks, but figures to play mostly on the left side of the infield for the Trojans.

Another of the signees is right-handed pitcher Jeff Green, a transfer from Lee University in Tennessee. A native of Byron, Mich., Green was 2-0 in 17 appearances as a freshman last year with a 5.68 ERA in 31.2 innings with 35 strikeouts.

A total of 11 of the 20 total signees will come to Troy from junior colleges. That group includes LHP Nolan Chestnut (Daytona Beach CC), RHP/1B Josh Dew (L.B. Wallace CC), LHP Joe Hallahan (Forest Park [Mo.] CC), LHP Jonathan Sabat (Wallace-Hanceville CC), RHP Clegg Snipes (Tallahassee CC) and RHP J.J. Whetsel (Tallahassee CC).

Position players among the junior college signees are 1B Matt Carlo (Jackson State [Tenn.] CC), OF Ian Craze (Pensacola JC), INF Adam Leja (Chandler-Gilbert [Ariz.] CC), INF Edgar Ramirez (Mesa [Ariz.] CC) and OF Kevin Weidlich (Hill [Tex.] CC) .

Chestnut posted a 6-3 record with a 2.34 ERA and 71 strikeouts his senior season at Kathleen HS in Lakeland, Fla. Dew, who was one of the five fall signees, was an NJCAA All-Southeastern Region pick this spring after hitting .378 with 16 homers and 46 RBI. He also posted a 7-2 record on the mound with a 2.66 ERA.

Sabat was another fall signee who had a strong spring season. He posted a 9-3 record in 16 appearances for Wallace-Hanceville with a 2.65 ERA. Over his two seasons in junior college he posted a 12-5 record with a 1.90 ERA.

Carlo, a native of Winfield, Ala., had a strong spring at Jackson State, hitting .376 with 14 home runs and 60 RBI. He set the school career home run record with 25 and drove in 117 runs in just 108 games. He was a preseason NJCAA All-American.

Craze was named the Panhandle Conference Defensive Player of the Year at Pensacola JC and is the heir apparent to the vacated job in center field.

Also among the 20 signees are six high school signees, all from the state of Alabama. That group includes three fall signees – Beau Brooks, a catcher from Huntsville High, Bart Pettus, an infielder from Demopolis High, and Josh Sowell, an infielder from Headland High. The other three prep signees are Chase McCain, an outfielder from Walker High in Jasper, Ryan Reece, an outfielder from Grissom High in Huntsville, and Harmon Watkins, an infielder from Hoover High.

The complete list of Troy’s 2005 baseball signees is listed below.

Troy University Baseball Signees
Name Pos. B/T Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown/School
Beau Brooks C L/R 6-2 190 Fr. Huntsville, Ala./Huntsville HS
Matt Carlo 1B R/R 6-3 215 Jr. Winfield, Ala./Winfield HS/Jackson State CC
Nolan Chestnut LHP L/L 6-4 200 Jr. Lakeland, Fla./Kathleen HS/Daytona Beach CC
Ian Craze OF R/R 5-10 175 Jr. Mansfield, Ohio/Ontario HS/Pensacola JC
Josh Dew 1B/P R/R 6-5 220 Jr. Montgomery, Ala./Jeff Davis HS/L.B. Wallace CC
Michael Felix LHP L/L 6-0 200 Jr. Panama City, Fla./Rutherford/Auburn
Jeff Green RHP L/R 6-2 170 So. Byron, Mich./Byron HS/Lee University
Joe Hallahan LHP L/L 6-3 200 Jr. Wildwood, Mo./Forest Park (MO) CC
Tom King IF R/R 5-11 190 Jr. Mt. Dora, Fla./Apopka HS/Univ. of South Carolina
Adam Leja IF R/R 5-11 190 Jr. Cary, Ill./Prairie Ridge HS/Chandler-Gilbert (AZ) CC
Chase McCain OF R/R 6-2 205 Fr. Jasper, Ala./Walker HS
Bart Pettus IF L/R 6-3 175 Fr. Demopolis, Ala./Demopolis HS
Edgar Ramirez IF R/R 5-10 165 Jr. San Luis, Ariz./Mesa (AZ) CC
Ryan Reece OF R/R 6-2 195 Fr. Huntsville, Ala./Grissom HS
Jonathan Sabat LHP L/L 6-0 180 Jr. Gadsden, Ala./Etowah HS/Wallace-Hanceville CC
Clegg Snipes RHP R/R 6-1 190 Jr. Tallahassee, Fla./Lincoln HS/Tallahassee CC
Josh Sowell IF R/R 5-10 170 Fr. Headland, Ala./Headland HS
Harmon Watkins IF R/R 5-11 185 Fr. Hoover, Ala./Hoover HS
Kevin Weidlich OF L/R 6-2 185 Jr. Plano, Texas/Plano West Senior HS/Hill (TX) CC
J.J. Whetsel RHP R/R 6-0 190 Jr. Tallahassee, Fla./Chiles HS/Tallahassee CC