Baseball Recruiting Class Taking Shape

Steve Peterson and the rest of the Blue Raider baseball coaches have parlayed an excellent 2001 season into a bumper recruiting crop for the 2002 campaign.

The Blue Raiders have added seven players to their roster and each of them could help the ball club right away.

The Blue Raiders inked RHP Chris Mobley from Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett High School and C/IF Josh Archer from Henry County High School in Paris during the early period. Both went on to earn first team all-state honors.

The late period has seen IF Chad Cooper from Garrett JC in McHenry, Md, IF Nate Jaggers from Louisville, Ky.'s Pleasure Ridge Park High, LHP Danny Borne from Marshall County High School, and Brett Carroll from Knoxville Bearden High School sign with Middle Tennessee.

The team has also added transfer Travis Horschel from Tennessee Tech to the fold. Horschel is a native of Smyrna.

"We are very pleased with the recruits that we have signed. We felt like that we needed to get some guys that could contribute right away and we feel like we have done that with this class. We lost our starting catcher and three infielders along with four pitchers, so we obviously needed help. We think we have gotten it, but only time can determine what these players will be able to do," said head coach Steve Peterson.

As Peterson eluded, the Blue Raiders will be without the services of 2001 starters C Kyle Thomas, 1B Kris Lammers, 2B Josh Renick, and 3B Brandon Johnson. Pitchers Dewon Brazelton, Jason Moates, Kevin Davis, and Lammers are also missing from the 2002 landscape.

The Blue Raiders put together the second-best record in school history with a 41-17 record. The 2001 Blue Raiders also posted several milestones including a first-ever Sun Belt Championship and the program's first-ever at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Dewon Brazelton became the school's first-ever first round draft pick when he was selected third overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Brazelton set the single-season and career strikeout records at Middle Tennessee during the season.

In fact, the Blue Raiders equaled a school record with four players (Brazelton, Renick, Moates, and Lammers) selected in the Major League Amateur Draft.

2002 Baseball Signees

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