Baseball Signs Seven Student-Athletes to National Letters-of-Intent
12/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Signs Seven Student-Athletes to National Letters-of-Intent
CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina University baseball team and head coach Gary Gilmore have announced the signing of seven student-athletes to National Letters-of-Intent. Set to join the Chanticleers in 2008-09 are Daniel Bowman (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby), Steve Davis (Steubenville, Ohio/Steubenville), Brad Goldberg (Beachwood, Ohio/Beachwood), Anthony Meo (Cranston, R.I./Cranston West), Taylor Motter (North Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Palm Beach Gardens), TJ Swank (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) and Tommy Winegardner (St. Leonard, Md./Riverdale Baptist). Bowman, an outfielder, is a three-year letterwinner at Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater, Va. He hit .491 with eight home runs and 35 runs-batted-in his junior season. He helped the Knights to a second-straight state championship in 2007 while being named to the All-State, All-Region and All-District First Teams. He hit .419 his sophomore season with 26 RBI while being named to the All-Valley District Second Team. Bowman and the Knights have amassed a 52-2 record in the last two seasons. He played his summer baseball with the Mid-Atlantic Rookies and participated in the 2007 Area Code Games. Bowman also is an Honor Roll student at Turner Ashby. Davis, an infielder, hit .395 with 24 runs scored, 21 stolen bases and 30 RBI his junior season at Steubenville High School in Steubenville, Ohio. He was a First Team All-Ohio Valley Athletic Conference and a First Team All-East District member in 2007. He has a .379 batting average with 64 RBI in his three years with the Big Red. Davis also plays football and basketball at Steubenville and played summer baseball for the Steubenville American Legion Post 33. Goldberg, a righthanded pitcher, was 5-1 with a school-record 64 strikeouts his junior season at Beachwood High School in Beachwood, Ohio. He also hit .450 with 35 RBI and was named to the All-Chagrin Valley Conference First Team. He helped the Bisons to a sectional championship and a #13 ranking in the state while being named the team’s Most Outstanding Player and Pitcher of the Year. Goldberg was a Baseball America Pre-Season All-American and is a 2008 Under Armour Preseason All-American. He was selected to the All-Scout Team from the Buckeye Scout Elite Showcase and was part of Team Ohio during the summer. Goldberg is a two-time All-Sun Press Southeast Pitcher and was a Cleveland Plain Dealer Player of the Week in 2006. He played fall baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals Scout team and was a Top Prospect by Perfect Game Showcase. Meo, a righthanded pitcher, has helped Cranston West High School in Cranston, R.I., to back-to-back state championships. He was the state championship’s Most Valuable Player and was an All-Rhode Island performer after going 9-0 with a 0.77 earned-run average his junior year. He earned the teams and the division’s MVP and has been the Falcons’ Pitcher of the Year the past three seasons. Meo played on the New York Yankees team at the Area Code Games in California and is an Honor Roll student at West. Motter, an infielder, hit .397 with 10 RBI and a .529 slugging percentage at Palm Beach Gardens High School in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He had a .960 fielding percentage at shortstop and was named a Second Team All-Area and the Most Improved Player for the Gators in 2007. Motter was 8-of-10 in stolen bases and was on base over 49 percent of the time. He earned honorable mention All-Area as a sophomore and plays summer baseball for the Central Florida Renegades. Swank, a righthanded pitcher, was 3-2 with a 1.10 ERA and hit .420 his junior year for Prairie Ridge High School in Crystal Lake, Ill. He was a First Team All-Fox Valley League selection as a designated hitter in 2007. Swank missed six starts due to injury his junior year. As a sophomore, he was named both First Team All-Conference and All-Area while going 8-3 with a 1.04 ERA. He also hit .440 and had 52 strikeouts compared to just seven walks. Swank played summer baseball for the McHenry County Hurricanes and was 25-3 with a 1.08 ERA from 2005-07. He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers fall team in September of 2007. Swank is an Honor Roll student at Prairie Ridge. Winegardner, an infielder/righthanded pitcher, was the Most Valuable Player of the Maryland Private School State championship game in 2007, helping Riverdale Baptist to its third straight championship. He is a Preseason All-State nominee in 2008 and has been an Under Armour All-American the past two seasons. Winegardner is ranked as the second-best player in Maryland and is 134th nationally by Perfect Game. He earned All-County honors his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons for the Crusaders. Winegardner played summer baseball for the Southern Maryland Tigers and North Hurricanes and is an Honor Roll student at Riverdale Baptist. “We feel as far as a team, we addressed some needs we had,” Gilmore said. “We feel like we’re going to lose some guys in the draft, so we went out and addressed those issues. We signed three outstanding infield guys. All have played shortstop, second and third. That was something we really thought was a distinct need because of Derek Martin graduating and Tyler Bortnick being a pretty good draft guy. Tommy Winegardner also has a chance to be a dominant closer. He has a chance to be a great two-way guy for us. Taylor Motter has a chance to be one of the best defenders we’ve ever had. Steven Davis is extremely athletic that I think can play anywhere on the field. I feel Daniel Bowman can be one of the best outfielders that come into our program. He has a tremendous upside to him. On the mound, Anthony Meo is a guy that where he’s at right now, has a chance to be one of the more prolific guys walking into the door on his God-given ability. Brad Goldberg is going to be another guy who is going to be a big thrower here. I haven’t had a below three-quarters guy like TJ Swank at Coastal that have started that way. He’s going to be a stellar guy with a different look and good velocity. “The thing that quantifies this whole class is that there are as many immediate impact guys as I’ve ever had in a recruiting class. Kevin Schnall and Brendan Dougherty did an absolutely tremendous job. I feel very good about those guys. We’ll add another piece or two before it’s over with. We’re extremely excited about the quality of talent that we have here.” Coastal opens the 2008 season Friday, Feb. 22 against Maryland at 4 p.m., in Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field. The Chanticleers return 15 lettermen from last year’s 50-13 team that hosted the 2007 Myrtle Beach Regional.
CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina University baseball team and head coach Gary Gilmore have announced the signing of seven student-athletes to National Letters-of-Intent. Set to join the Chanticleers in 2008-09 are Daniel Bowman (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby), Steve Davis (Steubenville, Ohio/Steubenville), Brad Goldberg (Beachwood, Ohio/Beachwood), Anthony Meo (Cranston, R.I./Cranston West), Taylor Motter (North Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Palm Beach Gardens), TJ Swank (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) and Tommy Winegardner (St. Leonard, Md./Riverdale Baptist). Bowman, an outfielder, is a three-year letterwinner at Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater, Va. He hit .491 with eight home runs and 35 runs-batted-in his junior season. He helped the Knights to a second-straight state championship in 2007 while being named to the All-State, All-Region and All-District First Teams. He hit .419 his sophomore season with 26 RBI while being named to the All-Valley District Second Team. Bowman and the Knights have amassed a 52-2 record in the last two seasons. He played his summer baseball with the Mid-Atlantic Rookies and participated in the 2007 Area Code Games. Bowman also is an Honor Roll student at Turner Ashby. Davis, an infielder, hit .395 with 24 runs scored, 21 stolen bases and 30 RBI his junior season at Steubenville High School in Steubenville, Ohio. He was a First Team All-Ohio Valley Athletic Conference and a First Team All-East District member in 2007. He has a .379 batting average with 64 RBI in his three years with the Big Red. Davis also plays football and basketball at Steubenville and played summer baseball for the Steubenville American Legion Post 33. Goldberg, a righthanded pitcher, was 5-1 with a school-record 64 strikeouts his junior season at Beachwood High School in Beachwood, Ohio. He also hit .450 with 35 RBI and was named to the All-Chagrin Valley Conference First Team. He helped the Bisons to a sectional championship and a #13 ranking in the state while being named the team’s Most Outstanding Player and Pitcher of the Year. Goldberg was a Baseball America Pre-Season All-American and is a 2008 Under Armour Preseason All-American. He was selected to the All-Scout Team from the Buckeye Scout Elite Showcase and was part of Team Ohio during the summer. Goldberg is a two-time All-Sun Press Southeast Pitcher and was a Cleveland Plain Dealer Player of the Week in 2006. He played fall baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals Scout team and was a Top Prospect by Perfect Game Showcase. Meo, a righthanded pitcher, has helped Cranston West High School in Cranston, R.I., to back-to-back state championships. He was the state championship’s Most Valuable Player and was an All-Rhode Island performer after going 9-0 with a 0.77 earned-run average his junior year. He earned the teams and the division’s MVP and has been the Falcons’ Pitcher of the Year the past three seasons. Meo played on the New York Yankees team at the Area Code Games in California and is an Honor Roll student at West. Motter, an infielder, hit .397 with 10 RBI and a .529 slugging percentage at Palm Beach Gardens High School in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He had a .960 fielding percentage at shortstop and was named a Second Team All-Area and the Most Improved Player for the Gators in 2007. Motter was 8-of-10 in stolen bases and was on base over 49 percent of the time. He earned honorable mention All-Area as a sophomore and plays summer baseball for the Central Florida Renegades. Swank, a righthanded pitcher, was 3-2 with a 1.10 ERA and hit .420 his junior year for Prairie Ridge High School in Crystal Lake, Ill. He was a First Team All-Fox Valley League selection as a designated hitter in 2007. Swank missed six starts due to injury his junior year. As a sophomore, he was named both First Team All-Conference and All-Area while going 8-3 with a 1.04 ERA. He also hit .440 and had 52 strikeouts compared to just seven walks. Swank played summer baseball for the McHenry County Hurricanes and was 25-3 with a 1.08 ERA from 2005-07. He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers fall team in September of 2007. Swank is an Honor Roll student at Prairie Ridge. Winegardner, an infielder/righthanded pitcher, was the Most Valuable Player of the Maryland Private School State championship game in 2007, helping Riverdale Baptist to its third straight championship. He is a Preseason All-State nominee in 2008 and has been an Under Armour All-American the past two seasons. Winegardner is ranked as the second-best player in Maryland and is 134th nationally by Perfect Game. He earned All-County honors his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons for the Crusaders. Winegardner played summer baseball for the Southern Maryland Tigers and North Hurricanes and is an Honor Roll student at Riverdale Baptist. “We feel as far as a team, we addressed some needs we had,” Gilmore said. “We feel like we’re going to lose some guys in the draft, so we went out and addressed those issues. We signed three outstanding infield guys. All have played shortstop, second and third. That was something we really thought was a distinct need because of Derek Martin graduating and Tyler Bortnick being a pretty good draft guy. Tommy Winegardner also has a chance to be a dominant closer. He has a chance to be a great two-way guy for us. Taylor Motter has a chance to be one of the best defenders we’ve ever had. Steven Davis is extremely athletic that I think can play anywhere on the field. I feel Daniel Bowman can be one of the best outfielders that come into our program. He has a tremendous upside to him. On the mound, Anthony Meo is a guy that where he’s at right now, has a chance to be one of the more prolific guys walking into the door on his God-given ability. Brad Goldberg is going to be another guy who is going to be a big thrower here. I haven’t had a below three-quarters guy like TJ Swank at Coastal that have started that way. He’s going to be a stellar guy with a different look and good velocity. “The thing that quantifies this whole class is that there are as many immediate impact guys as I’ve ever had in a recruiting class. Kevin Schnall and Brendan Dougherty did an absolutely tremendous job. I feel very good about those guys. We’ll add another piece or two before it’s over with. We’re extremely excited about the quality of talent that we have here.” Coastal opens the 2008 season Friday, Feb. 22 against Maryland at 4 p.m., in Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field. The Chanticleers return 15 lettermen from last year’s 50-13 team that hosted the 2007 Myrtle Beach Regional.
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