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UK 2017 Recruiting Class Ranked No.9 Nationally

Jeff Drummond

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BASEBALL

Sept. 12, 2017


Kentucky’s 2017 Recruiting Class Ranked in Top 10 Nationally

Baseball America tabs the class No. 9 overall, second-highest ever for program


LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky’s 2017 recruiting class was ranked No. 9 in the country by Baseball America, it was announced Tuesday. The lofty ranking is the second-highest ever for the program by the respected publication and comes on the heels of the Wildcats finishing the 2017 season in the top 10 of the national polls after advancing to their first-ever Super Regional.


The class is the first full one for the current coaching staff headed by Nick Mingione and only the 2008 class, which was ranked No. 4, has been rated higher by Baseball America. The Wildcats’ class also was ranked No. 7 nationally by Perfect Game, which doesn’t take into account junior college signings in its rankings.


“This is a banner class for our program moving forward and very much needed after we had eight total draft picks and a program record six Top 10-round draft picks selected in the 2017 MLB Draft,” Mingione said. “The 2017 class has a very strong foundation that sets us up for future success.”


The Cats signed 16 high school prospects, all of whom were All-Americans and ranked in their home state’s Top 20 players. Eight freshmen were among the Top 500 recruits nationally and nine were Top 100 at their position, including New Jersey Gatorade High School State Player of the Year Brad Dobzanski, a right-handed pitcher selected in the 39th round of the 2017 MLB Draft.


Additionally, the Cats signed nine junior college players, eight of whom were rated among the Top 150 JuCo players nationally. Two were Defensive Players of the Year and two were JuCo All-Americans.


“We feel we have the No. 1 junior college class on campus in the country,” Mingione said. “These guys all had major impacts on their programs before coming to Kentucky, with six players playing in the NJCAA World Series. The nine players we signed all have been a combination of an All-Conference award winner, Gold Glove winner, All-American, played in the World Series, were named World Series All-Tournament, were a World Series champion, all of which are parts of bringing winning players into our program.”


The staff has executed an inside-out recruiting approach that starts in the Commonwealth but the Kentucky brand has extended to all parts of the country. Fifteen different states are represented in the Class of 2017, including the likes of Utah, Arizona, Minnesota, Texas, Massachusetts and Delaware.


The Cats open the 2018 season with four games in three days at Spartanburg, S.C., beginning with Wofford on Feb. 16, 2018.
 
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Name POS. B/T Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown/Previous School

Ben Aklinski OF R/R 5-11 195 JR Phoenix, Ariz./Phoenix College

Thomas Bennett IF R/R 5-10 160 FR Frankfort, Ky./Western Hills HS

Luke Benoit OF R/R 6-4 210 FR Northboro, Mass./IMG Academy

Troy Black IF R/R 6-0 210 R-SO Waynesville, Oh/Murray State College

Crosby Bringhurst RHP R/R 6-3 190 FR Taylorsville, Ut./Taylorsville HS

Trey Dawson IF R/R 6-2 190 JR Hurricane, WV/Chipola College

Brad Dobzanski RHP R/R 6-3 195 FR Franklinville, NJ/Delsea Regional HS

Zach Haake RHP R/R 6-4 185 JR Breese, IL/John A. Logan College

Spencer Harbert OF/IF R/R 6-1 205 FR Middletown, De/Middletown HS

Daniel Harper RHP R/R 6-4 215 FR Fairway, Kan./Bishop Miege HS

Garrett Hastings OF L/L 6-2 185 FR Gainesville, Fl./F.W. Buchholz HS

Mason Hazelwood LHP L/L 6-5 205 FR Salvisa, Ky./Mercer County Senior HS

Cam Hill OF L/R 5-10 180 FR Georgetown, Ky./Scott County HS

Ryan Johnson OF L/L 6-3 205 SO College Station, Tx/San Jac College

Tanner Johnson C/OF R/R 6-2 190 FR Crestwood, Ky./South Oldham HS

Ben Jordan RHP L/R 6-9 225 FR Olive Hill, Ky./West Carter HS

Coltyn Kessler C L/R 6-3 210 FR High Ridge, Mo./Rockwood Summit Sr. HS

Trip Lockhart RHP R/R 6-3 180 FR Lexington, Ky./Lexington Catholic

Grant Macciocchi RHP/IF R/R 6-2 185 JR West Chester Township, Oh/Murray State College

Austin Marozas RHP R/R 6-7 225 FR Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South HS

Aaron McGeorge RHP R/R 5-11 165 JR Lexington, Ky./Wabash Valley College

Andrew Miller LHP L/L 6-3 205 R-JR Stratford, NJ/Maryland

Kaden Polcovich IF S/R 5-10 180 FR Edmond, Okla./Deer Creek HS

Jimmy Ramsey RHP/OF L/R 6-7 215 FR Tonka Bay, Minn./Minnetonka HS

Alex Rodriguez IF R/R 5-8 175 JR Pimbroke Pines, Fl./Northern Oklahoma College

Ryan Shinn OF R/L 6-2 220 JR Jobstown, NJ/Harford College
 
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It seems to me that this is the first year in a long time where we are replacing a lot of players and yet I still feel like we have the ability to be loaded.
 
Great info about our class, also that we are starting the season down in SC. We are also slated to play in the 2018 Houston Baseball classic at the Big ball park where the Astros play.
 
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The ukathletics.com roster has not been updated. Really a shame that we can't get a clearer picture about who is returning and who is new.
 
The ukathletics.com roster has not been updated. Really a shame that we can't get a clearer picture about who is returning and who is new.
Won't change until around January. Always been that way.
 
I saw them scrimmage this past Friday and Sunday. I also picked up a roster. There are 22 returning players and 26 newcomers. Roster has to get down to 35 so there will be cuts. That is according to one of the freshman's father. They are supposed to scrimmage Wednesdays and every weekend, weather permitting.
Cam Hill and Ben Aklinski got most of the innings in CF. Ryan Shinn logged alot of innings in RF along with JP Bitzenhoffer. Ryan Johnson, Luke Benoit and Tanner Johnson played LF.
Lots of infielders.Trey Dawson played SS for one team and Kaden Polcovich, Thomas Bennett and Alex Rodriguez shared innings for the other.
1B was shared mostly by Brayden Combs, Cole Cottam, Ryan Johnson and Troy Black.
 
Was Pompey playing? What about Macciocchi? I figured he'd compete some in center. Interesting that Cottam was at first base. Was Collette playing there at all?

I know this was just an early fall scrimmage so a ton of things can change, but it is interesting to see who played and to see some of the omissions.
 
Cuts or red shirts - which I would assume would be those who decide to stay or transfer.

Probably a reason why the Roster is not finalized until Jan. Still 'dynamic' thru the first semester aka tryouts.
 
Wow! Never knew it was that brutal. 13 players cut or transferring sounds like a lot to me. So the redshirts wouldn't count against the 35?
 
Not sure as I don't know the inner workings that we'll. 'Assume' the 35 number is active roster but I could be wrong.
 
I missed a few innings on Sunday so I didn't see everything. Pompey and Collett both had ABs but didn't play the field. Didn't see Macciocchi.

I'm sure there will be some redshirts. Ben Jordan comes to mind. But I can't see 13 redshirts. Then they would have the same problem next year. By my count they already have 17 commitments from the class of 2018.
 
Would be interesting to hear Ming talk about why he has such large classes. Especially in 2018 when we don't, IIRC, lose a lot of juniors/seniors.
 
Also, Mark Doerries and Josh Smith do not appear on the roster that I saw.

At first glance, 9 of the potential newcomers would be draft eligible in 2018 and 13 of the potential returners, including 5 seniors.
 
Well, you would have Becker (Sr.), Heyer (Sr.) Cottam (Jr.), Lewis (Jr.), Hjelle (Jr.), Pompey (Jr.), and Squires (Sr.) as the biggest major contributors that we either will lose or potentially could lose.

That is 5 position players and two pitchers. Schaenzer (Sr.) and Haley (Sr.) are two other losses, but I don't know how much they'll contribute. Becker and Heyer will be competing to keep their positions at 2nd and 3rd respectively and could technically be unseated. So, we might really only be losing players from 2 positions in the field.

As far as pitchers, it is very possible that Thompson and Machamer take over some weekend roles in 2019, if not before. Haake might possibly still be around to take the third role there. That is before we ever consider any of the pretty talented freshmen arms that we have coming in this year.

We have a lot of JUCO guys coming in and almost all of them could head to the draft after 2018, but it has been my experience that most of them stick around for 2 years. So, we may have another log jam of players this time next year. Still, it is a pretty good problem to have.
 
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