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NIU Recruiting Class Earns Recognition From Collegiate Baseball

Huskie newcomers listed as the nation's 72nd best class



Ed Mathey's newcomers were his third recruiting class to earn a national ranking from Collegiate Baseball.

Sept. 23, 2008

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DeKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois' crop of newcomers earned recognition from Collegiate Baseball newspaper in its national recruiting rankings announced Tuesday. The Huskies 11 incoming players for the 2009 season were tabbed as the 72nd best class in the nation by the publication, ranking ahead of such notables as Michigan, Tulane, Ohio State, Illinois and Nebraska.

NIU had the highest ranking of any state school and only four Big Ten or Mid-American Conference institutions placed ahead of the Huskies in Collegiate Baseball's ratings. During the spring, NIU's high school signees garnered a No. 63 national ranking from Perfect Game Crosschecker, best among both MAC and state schools.

Mathey's NIU recruiting classes also earned national rankings from Collegiate Baseball in both 2005 and 2006.

"We are excited about this group and it has a lot of the characteristics you need to be a successful baseball team," said head coach Ed Mathey, NIU's career wins leader. "We've added solid pitching from both sides of the rubber, players who can play solid defensively and can run well and offensively, there are good hitters from both sides of the plate who can hit for both power and average."

Northern Illinois' newcomers include a pair of players selected in the Major League Draft in infielder Troy White (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young), a 48th round choice by the Kansas City Royals in 2008, and outfielder/catcher Nick Morreale (Vernon Hills, Ill./Mesa C.C.), a 46th round choice by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2006. NIU also inked pitcher Kyle Stroup (Ingleside, Ill./Fox Lake Grant), who elected to sign with the Boston Red Sox after being selected in the 50th round of the June draft.

 

 

"Coach [Steve] Joslyn did a great job in identifying kids who fit in our system, want to be at Northern Illinois and can hopefully help us to a MAC title and an NCAA Tournament berth," said Mathey.

The Huskies brought in four all-state selections in White, infielder Alex Beckmann (Batavia, Ill./Batavia), outfielder/pitcher Jake Hermsen (New London, Wisc./New London) and infielder/pitcher Chris Wakefield (Cherokee, Ga./Cherokee).

Also joining the Huskies as freshmen in 2009 are pitcher Zach Badgley (McHenry, Ill./McHenry), who becomes the fourth brother in his family to play for NIU, pitcher Tom Barry (Orland Park, Ill./Providence Catholic), catcher Brett Frantini (Minooka, Ill./Minooka), pitcher Kyle Glancy (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) and infielder Alex Jones (Kansas City, Kan./Piper).

Morreale joins pitcher Chuck Lukanen (Lombard, Ill./North Iowa Area C.C.) as transfers from the junior college ranks.

After a second consecutive MAC Tournament berth and school-record MAC winning percentage in 2008, the Huskies are holding fall practice ahead of the annual Red/Black best-of-five intrasquad series set to begin on Sunday, Oct. 5 at Ralph McKinzie Field.

-NIU-