Key Newcomers
Peyton Stovall: One of the top recruits in college baseball this past season. According to published reports, Stovall turned down offers in excess of $2 million dollars out of high school in Haughton, La., in order to honor his commitment to Arkansas Stovall is the second-highest ranked prep player on the BA 500 not to sign with his MLB team.

Hagan Smith: The other crown jewel of this year’s recruiting class along with Stovall. A loose, athletic low three-quarters lefthander with advanced feel for pitching. In the fall, Smith carved up the zone at 91-93 mph with heavy sink, a sharp slider at 79-82 that he commands very well, and a very good 83-86 changeup with fade and sink that he’ll throw against lefties as well as righties. Though he’s only a freshman and he has yet to proven himself at the D-I level, Smith might have the best combination of stuff and pitchability on the entire staff, and he’s going to be a big star — sooner rather than later. And his high school track record in Texas is loud: he threw seven no-hitters in his career at Bullard High School.

Jace Bohrofen: High School: Rated as the No. 3 player in Oklahoma and No. 38 player nationally by Perfect Game and rated as the No. 3 player in Oklahoma and No. 40 in the nation by Prep Baseball Report … 2019 Area Code Games participant … Perfect Game All-American … Under Armour All-American … MLB Pipeline participant … two-time ABCA Rawlings First-Team All-American … Perfect Game Oklahoma Player of the Year in 2019. 2021 at Oklahoma hit .252, 2 HR, 18 RBI, and .347 OB%. Started 29 of 35 games. Summer Cape Cod: All Star Selection, .313/5HR/14 extra base hits.

Chris Lanzilli: 2019 2nd Team All American. 2019 1st Team All Region. 2019 1st Team All ACC. Appeared in 170 games, making 166 starts... Finished Wake Forest career with a batting average of .298 with 195 hits, 147 RBIs, 42 home runs, 46 doubles and 76 walks... Held an on-base percentage of .375 and a slugging percentage of .561... Finished with the third-most home runs among active Division I baseball players... His 42 home runs also ranked tied for eighth all-time in Wake Forest history for career blasts.

Michael Turner: 1st Team All MAC 2019. Hit .339 w/22 RBI, 6 HR in 2021 at Kent State. Career .322 hitter w/88 RBI, and 11 HR. Career OB% of .413. Started 107 or 118 games at Kent State.

Nick Moten: Moten is capable of starting and likely has a bright future in the rotation at some point, but he might fit best on this year’s staff as a back-end piece with shutdown stuff. An athletic and strong 6-foot-1, 210-pound righty, Moten has a compact high three-quarters arm action that produced 92-95 mph gas in the fall, along with an 83-85 mph slider that flashed plus and a promising changeup at 86-89.

Kendall Diggs: Top 150 prospect. Right handed hitter, hits from a tall, open stance, gets to his front side early and is short and direct to the ball, quick hands that get the barrel to the ball on time, mid field to pull side contact, has a feel for squaring up the ball and has a high hitting ceiling with additional strength and some refinement on his shift into contact. 6.81 runner, moves well to the ball at third base, fields out front with soft hands, has flexibility and can work below the ball, enough arm strength for third base, might be interesting at second base if he can shorten his arm stroke, solid defensive performance in the games.

Lleyton Pinckney: Pinckney was 2 for 9 while playing in 7 games with 2 starts in his lone campaign at Houston in 2021. He began his career at Mercer in 2019 and played the 2020 season at Northwest Florida State Community College. At Northwest Florida, Pinckney he hit .310 (13 for 42) during the season that was cut short by the covid-19 outbreak. As a true freshman back-up catcher at Mercer in 2019, Pinckney started 14 games and hit .203 with 4 home runs and 11 RBI.

Drake Varnado: Drafted by Arizona in the 17th round. Ranked the No. 93 overall player in the 2021 class. Long and slender athletic build, lots of room to fill out and get stronger. 6.71 runner, has very fluid actions in the middle infield on defense, quick feet and really works through balls well, plays fast and under control, gets rid of the ball quickly from multiple slots, pure middle infield actions. Right handed hitter, hits with a high hand start and a hand drop load, has looseness to his hands, gets extended well and hits out front, bat speed will continue to improve as he adds strength in the future.

*Work in Progress*
*Portions taken from D1 Baseball Fall Report

This post was edited on 3/21/22 at 6:00 am