The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Baseball Signing Class Summary
12/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - While recruiting never really ends in the competitive nature of Division I athletics, the Thanksgiving holiday provided a small break for the UAB coaches to catch their breath and reflect on this past season's recruiting efforts.
Following a five-month stretch of intensive recruiting that included travel, sitting through hundreds of games, home visits and numerous phones calls to prospects, coaches and scouts, the Blazer program has signed seven young men to NLIs for the 2015 early signing period. With only 2 percent of high school athletes getting the opportunity to play at the Division I level it is even more crucial for staffs to go above and beyond to find the right players for their program, something UAB head coach Brian Shoop and his staff accomplished for this signing class.
"We have a great staff at UAB," said Shoop. "Coaches Perry Roth and Josh Hopper work tirelessly to ensure that UAB is represented in such a classy way and we are so blessed to have them in our Blazer family. Our recent successes are largely due to being able to have the same staff in place for the past six years. That consistency has led to some great recruiting classes and some tremendous player development. I am sure there are many people who don't realize just how hard they work and how much they mean to UAB and Blazer baseball. I know that I am so grateful to work with Josh and Perry on a daily basis."
With coach Shoop at the helm, the UAB baseball program has achieved their two highest RPI (Ratings Power Index) rankings in the 37-year history of the UAB Baseball program the past two seasons. In addition, the Blazers earned their highest regular season finish in 20 years in C-USA (second in 2014), and have played for the C-USA Championship in two of the last four years (2012 and 2015), winning UAB's only C-USA championship in 2012 and finishing runner-up last year.
"Going into this recruiting class we knew we would lose two middle infielders (Adam Smith and Evan Peterson), two catchers (Esteban Tresgallo and Mitch Williams), our starting right fielder (Griffin Gum) and three valuable Pitchers (Nick Altobella, Stephen Baggett and Justin Kemp)," added Shoop. "We are very excited about this signing class and believe all seven will play big roles in future additions of UAB baseball."
The Blazers added talent to all aspects of the team, including three quality position players, one dual player (pitcher, hitter) and three frontline junior college pitchers.
Tyler Tolbert will begin his third spring of starting in the middle infield for Jeff Mauldin at Hewitt-Trussville High School. He played travel ball this summer for Jamie Crane and the East Cobb Astros and is a great athlete who can play any infield position as well as hit and run.
Colton Schultz is a three-year starter for David Sharp at Huntsville High School and played summer baseball for Scott Luke and the SoCal National Travel Team. He can play anywhere on the field and brings that rare combination of a left handed power bat and speed on the bases.
Thomas Johns is another local talent, starting four years at Clay-Chalkville High School while also playing for the East Cobb Astros and for GCBD Elite under coach Travis Coleman. Thomas is one of the premier left-handed power bats in the state of Alabama and should hit in the middle of the Blazer lineup-up as a catcher and first baseman.
Sylvester Toe is a true two-way player from Landmark Christian High School where he played for Jason Godbee and Tanner Bryant as well as for East Cobb Patriots where he played for Jim Lovejoy. He is a power right-handed arm who also plays outfield, and he is projected to hit in the middle of the order for Landmark High School.
Tyler Gates is the No. 1 pitcher at Shelton State Community College for coach Bobby Sprowl. He dominated Alabama high school baseball at Tuscaloosa County High School and has consistently improved at the junior college level. He is seen as one of the top junior college pitcher in the state of Alabama.
Carson Jones is the ace at Calhoun Community College where he was the Most Valuable Pitcher last season for Coach Mike Burns, while also serving as the team captain. Jones is Division I ready and will play a huge role for coach Shoop and his staff.
Isaiah Gonzales-Montoya is a weekend starter for B.J McVay at Butler Community College, one of the mid-west's best junior college programs. Gonzales-Montoya, a sinkerball pitcher, that will fit perfectly into the Blazer's ground ball inducing staff in 2017.
"These seven players are all strong students and great young men who the Blazer faithful can be proud to root for," Shoop said. "We are not completely done with recruiting for next fall. We will still plan to add an additional middle infielder and another catcher and hope to announce them in the April signing window. For now, we are thrilled that these seven young men have officially joined our UAB baseball family. They will be joining the 10 talented freshmen we currently have on our roster and give us great hope for the future of UAB baseball. We firmly believe we will compete for championships the next four years."
Fans can find the full release on each signee on the UAB baseball home page.
For more information on the UAB baseball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_Baseball). For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official social media accounts of UAB Athletics on Twitter (@UABAthletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uabathletics) or on Snapchat (@uabathletics).
