Marshall University Athletics
Baseball Announces Signing of 10 Student-Athletes
9/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Sept. 2, 2005
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall baseball head coach Dave Piepenbrink has announced the signing of 10 student-athletes for the 2005-06 school year.
Jimmy Mathias (Stephens City, Va.), Brit Vincent (Bowling Green, Ky.), Brendan Murphy (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Alan Gentry (Stuttgart, Kan.), Sean Holliday (Moon Township, Pa.), Adam Kuhr (Mason, Ohio), Jarred Johnson (Fort Worth, Texas), Clay Maddox (Huntington, W.Va.), Mike Gielarowski (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Jimmy Stanley (Lexington, Ky.) will join the Thundering Herd for the upcoming 2006 season, the Herd's first in Conference USA.
The newcomers join new Marshall pitching coach Rick Reed, a 17-year MLB veteran and two-time all-star, in the Herd baseball program.
"We are very excited for our incoming recruiting class," Piepenbrink said. "We are not looking to redshirt any of these guys right now. We're looking for all of them to come in and play. We feel that we're going to travel more pitchers than we ever have before for the simple fact that we will have to match up with Rice, Tulane, Southern Miss, East Carolina and those types of teams. We want to try and match up as well as we can out of the bullpen."
Player Breakdowns:
Alan Gentry, RHP, 6-4, 220 (Stuttgart, Kan./Pratt Community College/Stuttgart)
Attended Pratt Community College prior to transferring to Marshall ... posted 2.32 ERA with Wichita Rattlers summer league squad ... won state championship in football.
"He will probably be in the bullpen," Piepenbrink said. "He hasn't developed a changup just yet, but we think two pitches will keep him in the bullpen."
Mike Gielarowski, RHP, 6-2, 175 (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley)
Notched 6-1 record and 1.20 ERA with 98 strikeouts in senior season ... named to Post Gazette and Tribune Review all-area teams.
"Mike's got enough arm strength and a pretty good slider to be in our top four of the rotation, either a midweek starter or on the weekend," Piepenbrink said. "We have high expectations for Mike and think he is going to be a very good pitcher for us."
Sean Holliday, LHP, 6-2, 195 (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area)
Posted 7-1 record and 4.26 ERA as senior ... earned team's Special K Award for most strikeouts in a season ... set single-season school hit record with 36 ... member of Western Pennsylvania runner-up squad.
"He had a very good year last year and has a live arm," Piepenbrink said. "He throws anywhere from 84 to 87. He will be the fifth lefthander on our staff and he is going to be one of those guys that with Rick (Reed), he is really going to develop and turn into a very good pitcher for us."
Jarred Johnson, RHP, 6-3, 179 (Fort Worth, Texas/R.L. Paschal)
Earned first-team all-district honors as pitcher ... notched first-team all-district honorable mention laurels as senior ... recorded 1.42 ERA as senior and 1.92 ERA as junior ... racked up 69 strikeouts during senior campaign ... played for Dallas Mustangs club team, posting 6-0 record, 1.89 ERA and 28 strikeouts.
"He needs to add a little bit of weight," Piepenbrink said, "but he's got a live arm with a good breaking ball. He's another righthander that we have high expectations for."
Adam Kuhr, RHP, 6-10, 235 (Mason, Ohio/St. Catherine's C.C./Mason)
Transfer from St. Catherine's Community College ... posted 0.94 ERA and 5-1 record last season.
"He was very low velocity early and had an ankle injury that kind of slowed him down toward the end of the year," Piepenbrink said. "But he pitched very well at the end of the year and touched 90 five times in one game. He's got very good arm action and I think Rick (Reed) will be able to help him out a lot."
Clay Maddox, C, 5-6, 160 (Huntington, W.Va./Spring Valley)
Batted .365 with 21 stolen bases and just six strikeouts as senior ... named first-team all-state ... team earned a sectional championship ... also played in the 2004 West Virginia North-South football game ... grandfather, Jim Maddox, played football at Marshall from 1957-59.
"Clay is an athletic kid who is local product," Piepenbrink said. "Right now he would be our No. 4 catcher, but we're going to work him out a little bit in the outfield. We're a little bit thin depth-wise in the outfield and we think he's a good enough athlete that he should work out well there. He should be our long-term catcher down the road."
Jimmy Mathias, SS, 6-3, 188 (Stephens City, Va./Appalachian State/Notre Dame Academy)
Transfer from Appalachian State ... batted .296 as sophomore and started 48 games as freshman ... in high school, named first-team all-county and honorable mention all-metro.
"He's a good-sized, athletic shortstop," Piepenbrink said. "He's going to provide depth and push for one of those infield spots. We've got some guys returning, but early on he looks like he will be a pretty good player for us."
Brendan Murphy, 1B, 6-3, 221 (Chattanooga, Tenn./Southwest Tennessee C.C./Grace Academy)
Went to Garden City J.C. in 2004 and Southwest Tennessee C.C. in 2005 ... as senior in high school, batted .630 with 13 HR ... named an All-American and Gatorade Player of the Year.
Brit Vincent, OF, 6-2, 180 (Bowling Green, Ky./Southwest Tennessee C.C./Bowling Green)
Batted .444 with 3 HR and 45 RBI as senior ... earned all-district and all-region honors as junior and senior.
"Brendan was second-team all-conference at Southwest Tennessee," Piepenbrink said. "He's a good-sized kid and a very physical first baseman. He had a great year for Southwest. He and Brit Vincent played together there. They batted 3-4 in the order for them and we feel they will be good run producers for us. Brendan had a few triples last year and is very athletic for a big kid. Brit probably will play left field. He had great numbers and swung the bat very well, and I think he will push to start every day in left field."
Jimmy Stanley, RHP, 5-9, 195 (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Christian Academy) Posted 24-6 career record ... notched 1.34 ERA as senior ... member of state championship team ... semi-state MVP, first-team all-city in 2005 and second-team all-city in 2004 ... named to all-state tournament team.
"Jimmy's a two-way guy," Piepenbrink said. "He plays middle infield, but we signed him as a pitcher. He was undefeated in two years in the postseason in Kentucky. He pitched in the Kentucky championship game and won it, so he's got that special knack. He throws a lot of strikes and doesn't beat himself."
