Baseball Signs 11 Student-Athletes to National Letters-of-Intent
6/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina University baseball team and head coach Gary Gilmore have signed 11 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent for the 2007-08 academic year. Joining the Chanticleers in the fall are Tucker Frawley (Lexington, S.C./Lexington), CJ Gillman (Littleton, Colo./Columbine), Keith Hessler (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook), Rico Noel (Lawton, Okla./Lawton), Matthew Rein (Houston, Texas/Langham Creek), Adam Rice (Murphy, Texas/Elgin C.C.), Brandon Stagliano (Springfield, Pa./Springfield), Caleb Sutton (Raeford, N.C./Scotland), Cody Wheeler (Spotsylvania, Va./Spotsylvania), Rich Witten (Danville, Ky./Danville) and Scott Woodward (Markle, Ind./Norwell).
Frawley, a catcher, hit .347 and drove in 19 runs his senior season at Lexington High School in Lexington, S.C. He was named to the All-State Team by the High School Sports Report and was an All-Area AAAA Team by The State Newspaper. Frawley will play in the 2007 North-South All-Star Game and was named to the All-Academic Team at the International Paper Tournament and by Diamond Prospects. Frawley also earned the Allen Whitacre Award for the highest grade-point-average on the Lexington baseball team. He earned three letters for the Wildcats and helped Lexington to the Region 4 AAAA championship his junior year. Frawley played for the Palmetto Sandgnats in the summer of 2006.
Gillman, a catcher, hit .447 with 12 doubles and three home runs his senior year at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. He was a First Team All-Colorado selection for the second year in a row for the Rebels. Gillman also was the quarterback on Columbine’s football team, earning First Team All-State honors and the Most Valuable Player award in the State Championship game. Gillman was a three-time varsity letterwinner for the Rebels and played summer baseball for the Rocky Mountain Diamondbacks and the Colorado Khaos. He was an Academic All-State selection both his junior and senior seasons at Columbine.
Hessler, a lefthanded pitcher, hit .449 with seven doubles, five triples and 16 RBI his senior season at Springbrook High School in Silver Spring, Md. He was an All-Examiner First Team selection and was honorable mention by the Washington Post. Hessler was an All-County Second Team selection and was the Blue Devils Most Valuable Player for the second time in three years. Hessler did not pitch his senior year due to injury, but struck out 78 batters in 52.1 innings his junior season at Springbrook. He hit .424 as a sophomore and drove in 26 runs as a junior. He also struck out 96 batters and had a 1.51 ERA his sophomore season. Hessler was an Honor Roll student while at Springbrook.
Noel, an infielder/outfielder, hit .375 with six home runs, nine doubles and 37 stolen bases in 2006 and was an All-Southern Conference performer for Lawton High School in Lawton, Okla. He is a two-time All-Area performer by the Lawton Constitution and was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Sunbelt Classic. Noel also played football at Lawton and was an All-State Honorable Mention selection by the Daily Oklahoman his junior season. He is a member of the National Honor Society at Lawton and was on the Principal’s Honor Roll.
Rein, a lefthanded pitcher, went 14-0 with a 1.08 ERA his senior season at Langham Creek High School in Houston, Texas. He helped the Lobos to a regional semifinal berth and a national ranking as high as second in the country and a final ranking of 20th in the country by USA Today. Rein was a First Team All-District selection and was part of both the Texas and Houston All-Stars as a senior. Rein lettered all four years at Langham Creek and was 8-2 with a 1.27 ERA his junior season. He was invited to a Texas Area Code tryout and played for Team Texas at the Junior Sunbelt Classic. That Junior Sunbelt team finished first in a tournament in McAllister, Okla. Rein earned the Duke T.I.P. Academic Award at Langham Creek.
Rice, a first baseman/outfielder, was a First Team All-Skyway Conference and the Region 4 Most Valuable Player while at Elgin Community College in 2007. He was a First Team All-Region performer as well while at Elgin. Rice went to Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he hit .505 with 14 home runs, 16 doubles, 28 stolen bases and set school records in batting average, hits and home runs his senior season for the Cougars. Rice was a First Team All-State, All-Metro, All-District and All-Iowa/Mississippi Valley Conference honoree and was named to the Iowa All-Star Game. He helped the Cougars to a state runner-up finish his senior season. Rice hit .424 his junior year and had seven home runs, 18 doubles and 11 stolen bases. He was a First Team All-District, Metro and Conference that year. Rice was a four-year member of the National Honor Society and was on the Dean’s List this year at Elgin. Rice is the cousin of former Chanticleer Kevin Entsminger.
Stagliano, an infielder, hit .431 and had a .667 slugging percentage his senior season at Springfield High School in Springfield, Pa. He holds the school record for hits in a season and was an All-County and All-League honoree after his junior season with the Cougars. Stagliano was a Sporting News of Delaware County All-Star and a Carpenter Cup All-Star and helped the Cougars to the state playoffs his first three years and a state semifinal berth in 2005 at Springfield. Stagliano played summer baseball for the Arizona Clash. He also was an Honor Roll student at Springfield.
Sutton, a first baseman, had a .545 batting average and helped Scotland High School in Laurinburg, N.C., to a 4A State Championship his junior season with the Scots. Scotland was ranked 26th in the nation his junior season. He had a .590 batting average and 11 home runs his sophomore season. Sutton played club baseball for the Uwharrie Anglers, the Sandhill Diamonds and the Carolina Hurricanes. He also played football for Scotland and was an Honorable Mention All-Conference left tackle his junior year. He was on the National Honor Society and made the Honor Roll all four years at Scotland.
Wheeler, a lefthanded pitcher/outfielder, went 10-2 with a 1.59 ERA and hit .529 with 24 RBI his senior season at Spotsylvania High School in Spotsylvania, Va. He set a school record with 112 strikeouts and opponents hit just .123 off of him. Wheeler struck out 22 batters in a nine-inning complete game and was the Free Lance Star Player of the Year. He was the Regional Co-Player of the Year and was a First Team All-Region performer both as a pitcher and an outfielder. Wheeler was an Honorable Mention All-State performer his junior season, hitting .521 with 27 RBI and striking out 80 batters in 51.1 innings pitched. He also had 71 strikeouts his sophomore season and was a First Team All-District pitcher. Wheeler has been part of the Kick-Off Mentorship Program for two years.
Witten, a righthanded pitcher/infielder, hit .535 with 41 RBI and 24 stolen bases for Danville High School in Danville, Ky. Witten was 10-1 with a 0.59 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 70 innings. His 25 home runs his junior season was second-most in a single year in Kentucky history and he finished just six home runs short of the career home run record. He was a Preseason All-America pick by Louisville Slugger and ended his career with a .503 batting average, 235 RBI and 403 strikeouts on the mound. Witten also played football for Danville and was an All-State quarterback his junior and senior seasons for the Admirals. Witten was named the Advocate-Messenger Player of the Year in 2006 and helped the Admirals to the state championship game his senior season. Witten also was a member of the National Honor Society at Danville.
Woodward, an infielder/outfielder, is hitting .462 with 60 runs scored, seven doubles, 24 RBI and 30 stolen bases for Norwell High School this season. He also is 8-0 with a 1.93 ERA on the mound in 2007. He holds school records for stolen bases and runs scored at Norwell and is a First Team Northeast Hoosier Conference outfielder. Woodward was named to the Rawlings/Perfect Game Preseason Central Region All-High School Senior Team in 2007. Woodward has helped the Knights to a place in the State Championship game and the number one slot in Indiana 3A baseball. He hit .402 with seven home runs and 26 RBI his junior season and was a First Team All-Conference performer and a Fort Wayne News-Sentinel All-Area member. Woodward also played football for the Knights and was an First Team Bloomington Herald All-State defensive back and an Honorable Mention All-State kicker. He helped Norwell to a 14-1 record and a state runner-up finish. Woodward was an Honor Roll student at Norwell.
"I feel like we have filled our needs," Gilmore said. "Our athleticism should increase and, pitching-wise, the guys we are bringing in are dynamic. The class could be one of the best of all-time at Coastal. There are a ton of throwback players in this class. The position players will have the dirtiest uniforms on the field and the pitchers have grit and determination. Kevin Schnall and Brendan Dougherty did a great job on recruiting kids with good makeup."
Coastal (50-13) won 50 games in a season for the second time in three years in 2007. Coastal was a top-seed and hosted the 2007 NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional. The Chanticleers also won both the Big South regular season and tournament championship for the first time since 2002.
