Colleyville Heritage center fielder signs with Aggies

by PegNews wire

Eight student-athletes have signed national letters of intent to play baseball at Texas A&M, head coach Rob Childress announced Monday.

Infielders Scott Arthur (Klein, Texas), Zack Luther (Laguna Niguel, Calif.), Wes Schill (College Station, Texas) and Adam Smith (Klein, Texas), along with outfielder Randall Thorpe (Colleyville, Texas) and pitchers Denny Clement (Tulsa, Okla.), Nathan Eovaldi (Alvin, Texas) and Ross Hales (Mont Belvieu, Texas), make up the class that will step on campus in the fall of 2008.

"This is a pretty special class, and that is a tribute to the very hard work of (assistant coaches) Jeremy Talbot and Matt Deggs," A&M coach Rob Childress said. "We identified guys that fit our mold and style of baseball, and those are the guys that we got. We're really looking forward to getting all eight of these guys to campus."

Randall Thorpe (6-1, 170, R-R) is a center fielder from Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas, who possesses a strong arm and the potential for power and may be the fastest player in the state. Thorpe was rated the No. 10 prospect in Texas by Inside Prep Baseball and the No. 60 prospect nationally by Baseball America. He was a first-team all-district selection for Coach Alan McDougal's Panthers in 2007, hitting .330 and going a perfect 20-for-20 in stolen bases. As a sophomore, Thorpe earned district 5-5A's Defensive Player of the Year honor.

"Positionally, every one of these guys have strength and speed," Childress said. "They all have motors that never stop, and that's what we look for. On the mound, the right handers are both power guys, sinker/slider guys that have the ability to dominate. Our lone lefty has outstanding pitchability and an incredible upside.

"Matt and Jeremy did a great job putting this class together, with a lot of long hours on the road. All their hard work has paid off in this great recruiting class, as we feel like we have addressed our needs and have improved our talent level and our depth."

Source: Texas A&M