Photo by Saul Young, copyright © 2011
Dave Serrano
Three local stars, a highly-ranked junior-college player and one of the nation's top catchers are included in coach Dave Serrano's first Tennessee baseball signing class.
Infielder AJ Simcox of Farragut, pitcher Drake Owenby of Powell and pitcher Andrew Lee of Morristown West elected to stay close to home.
Simcox went to the College World Series in 2001 and 2005 with the Vols as a batboy when his dad Larry was an assistant coach,
"I have known Coach Serrano my whole life and have a lot of faith and trust in him,'' Simcox said. "Being a hometown boy, I want to get the program back to where it belongs.''
Owenby is a hard-throwing left-hander.
"We feel that he has the potential of having a plus curveball,'' Serrano said, "and he already has a great feel as a pitcher.''
Lee can pitch and play first base.
"The SEC is the best baseball conference in the country,'' Lee said, "and will allow me to play against the best competition.''
Adam Giacolone, a right-handed pitcher and first baseman from Neosho County Community College in Kansas, was 10-1 with a 2.10 ERA last year at Neosho.
"We feel Adam is possibly the top junior college player in the country,'' Serrano said. "He has a chance to be an impact player, both with his bat and on the mound.''
Switch-hitting David Houser of Columbia, S.C., chose the Vols over an array of power schools and is considered as possibly the top defensive catcher
in the Class of 2012.
"He can completely shut down the running game,'' Serrano said.
Vincent Jackson of McDonough, Ga., is a top-100 recruit as a left-handed pitcher and athlete.
The other pitchers in the class are lefty Colton Harris of Dyer County and right-hander Tyler Smith of Sumter, S.C.
"Tyler has a chance to be a member or our weekend rotation next season,'' Serrano said. "Colton is comfortable throwing four different pitches from all arm angles and has been nothing but a winner throughout high school.''
Coming from West Tennessee are catcher Michael Parrish of Cordova and infielder Nick Dawson Bartlett.
Christin Stewart of Lawrenceville, Ga., is the state's single-season home-run leader. The left-handed hitter can play multiple positions.
Infielders Vance Vizcaino of Wake Forest, N.C., and Taylor Smart of Maple Valley, Wash., round out the signing class. Smart is a sophomore at Western Nevada College and is playing second base.
More Help: At least five players are expected to join the roster on a non-scholarship basis, including Derek Lance of Bearden High School.
The others are pitcher Andy Cox of Arlington, infielders Davis Aiken of Watkinsville, Ga., and Heath Loyd of Johnson City Science Hill, and first baseman-outfielder Scott Price of Batesville-Leesville, S.C.
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Softball: Tennessee 2, Georgia 1
Tennessee defeats Georgia 3-2 in…
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Comments » 8
vol4gzus writes:
Sounds good on paper for starters.....baseball may come back to relevancy in the SEC.
elbtenn#502977 writes:
Come on back down to Hoover, boys. We've missed you.
LJS1984 writes:
What made Rod Delmonico so successful was a roster full of guys from California and Florida. There were maybe two or three guys on a good year from the state of Tennessee on his best teams. Todd Raleigh had a roster full of local talent and we all know how that turned out. Let's hope Serrano can coach them up better because I'm not sold on the local "talent" thing yet.
coachbenchpressfakebakes writes:
Vols 2005 CWS team roster: 1 player from California, 3 from Florida and 8 from Tennessee. Obviously one of Delmonicos better teams.
Vols 2003 Baseball team that finished 4th in the east and one of Delmonicos worst records had 8 from Florida. Obviously not one of Delmonicos better teams.
Not to mention the fact that Corbin has been getting the best players from the state of TN, along with key players from the North East and other areas, since his arrival at Vanderbilt and that has worked pretty well.
Not sure where you get your info. but its inaccurate maybe you should never post about baseball again until you know something.
VolnTex writes:
Three local guys were mentioned and then ten non-locals. One he grabbed right out of SC's back yard, another led the state of GA in HR's. I don't think there's much comparison between Serrano and Raleigh.
easygoing writes:
MAYBE
LJS1984 writes:
I know that I've been going to Tennessee baseball games since 1993. Apparently, you don't go that far back? Take a look at some rosters other than those two years. If it wasn't before your time, you will see that Delmonico took more than one team to the CWS.
dillpic writes:
Yeah, Todd Helton was a bust....
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