Baseball Raids Sunshine State to Round Out Recruiting Class
6/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate head baseball coach Matt Fincher announced today the signing of seven additional players for the class of 2015. Six of the seven recent signees hail from the State of Florida.
Set to arrive on campus this fall is: Ben Augenstein (Sebastian, Fla.), Lee Dunnam (Maitland, Fla.), Brandon Lee (Palatka, Fla.), Kyle McKay (King City, Ontario), Brandon Patterson (Polk City, Fla.), Chad Sobotka (Sarasota, Fla.) and Jordan Stampler (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).
Augenstein will join Upstate after a two-year stint at Hillsborough Community College. As a sophomore Augenstein was named the Hawks' Male Scholar Athlete of the year and was a Phi Theta Kappa Honoree after pitching 81 innings with 70 strikeouts.
Prior to his time at HCC, Augenstein was a four-year letterwinner at Sebastian River High School. During his final season, the right-hander was named the squad's Most Outstanding Pitcher. He also earned First-Team All-Treasure Coast Conference honors as well as First-Team Scripps Treasure Coast accolades. He also earned the team's Most Outstanding Pitching award as a junior and was named to both the All-Treasure Coast Conference team and the Scripps Treasure Coast team. He picked up MVP honors as part of the Florida Stars WABA Woodbat National Runner-up team.
Lee Dunnam will arrive on campus after wrapping up his prep career at Winter Park High School. Dunnam earned letters in both football and baseball during his time at Winter Park. As a senior, he batted .352 with five home runs and led the team in both RBI and stolen bases. He earned the team's Best Hitter award and was a First-Team All-Metro selection as an outfielder. In the district playoffs he owned a .500 batting average. The dual-sport athlete earned All-6A Orange County honors as a safety/wide receiver after a strong senior campaign.
Brandon Lee will join the Spartan baseball program after two seasons at Daytona State College. The pitcher/utility player totaled 117.2 innings on the mound in two years, compiling a 6-4 record with 90 strikeouts and 24 walks. During his time at Daytona State, he earned Second-Team All-Conference honors and made an appearance in the Mid-Florida All-Star game on the mound and at third base. Lee picked up a trio of honors off of the field as he earned Mid-Florida Conference Scholar Athlete honors as well as a spot on both the President's and Dean's Lists.
Lee was a four-year letterwinner at Palatka High School where he saw action at a variety of positions (P, C, 2B, 3B). He owned a career 2.30 ERA with a career batting average of .310. He earned Putnam County Player of the Year honors in 2008 and 2009, becoming just the second two-time winner of the award. During his high school career he also earned All-First Coast Team honors, All-County Player of the Year accolades and a spot on the All-State team. The incoming Spartan also was named to the Suns Area Baseball team and was a member of the Florida Athletic Coaches Association North All-Star team. He was part of Palatka's team that made it to the Final Four in 2008. He graduated from Palatka with a 4.1 weighted GPA and graduated Summa Cum Laude. Lee was named a Top-50 Scholar and was the recipient of both the Florida Bright Future award and the Florida Times Union Scholar Athlete award.
Kyle McKay will arrive on campus this fall after two seasons at Kaskaskia College. McKay earned votes for the Great Rivers All-Conference team after posting a 3-3 mark in 45.2 innings of work with 58 punch outs. He finished the regular season ranked 23rd nationally for strikeouts per nine innings (11.4). During the summer of 2010, McKay was a starting pitcher for the Kitchener Panthers Inter-county summer baseball team. He earned Most Valuable Pitcher honors after finishing 5-1 with three complete game shutouts, including one one-hitter and one two-hitter.
McKay was a four-year letterwinner at King City High School which earned a pair of runner-up finishes in the York Region Championships. He also played with the Thornhill Reds baseball team, winners of back-to-back provincial championships. McKay hurled a complete game shutout to help Thornhill pick up its first title. He delivered a walkoff hit in extra innings in one tournament game and threw a no-hitter in the semi-finals as the team went on to claim its second straight title.
Brandon Patterson makes the move to Upstate from the State College of Florida where he played two seasons as a catcher. As a sophomore he batted .308 with 30 runs and 27 RBI en route First-Team All-Conference honors. He committed just three errors in 2011 and finished with a .994 fielding, a new school record. Throughout the 2011 season the team found itself in the national polls. As a freshman in 2010, Patterson was part of the 2010 Florida Junior College State Championship team. He finished the 2010 season with a .293 average, 15 runs and 13 RBI.
Before joining the JUCO ranks, Patterson was a four-year letterwinner at Auburndale High School. As a senior, he posted a .433 batting average and received the Silver Slugger award while leading his team to the first district championship for Auburndale in 10 years. As a junior, Patterson was named the team's Offensive Player of the Year.
Chad Sobotka will join the Spartans after wrapping up his prep career at Riverview High School. As a senior, he finished with a 4-2 record and a 3.20 ERA and helped Riverview advance to the state playoffs. He earned the team's Most Valuable Pitcher award as a senior as well as Scholar Athlete honors. He was the recipient of the school's Varsity Athletic Award in 2009 and has served as a reading mentor in various elementary schools in the Sarasota, Fla., area.
Jordan Stampler is the final signee of the spring recruiting class for the Spartans and will head north from Brevard Community College. As a sophomore, he finished with a .358 batting average and scored 37 runs while driving in 21. He owned an on-base percentage of .518 and earned 50 free passes of the course of the season (25 BB, 25 HBP). As a freshman, he batted .349 with 30 runs and 21 RBI. He picked up a hit in 30 of 40 games with 11 multi-hit games and reached base safely in 33 games. The middle infielders' .517 on-base percentage ranked seventh best in the Florida Junior College Athletic Association.
Before rising to the JUCO level, Stampler was a three-year letterwinner at Archbishop McCarthy High School. As a senior, he batted .412 with 24 RBI en route to Second-Team All-County honors and Honorable Mention All-State accolades. He also earned the Maverick Award, the Silver Slugger Award and the US Marine Corp Honor, Courage and Commitment Award. As a junior he batted .520 (leading average in Broward County, Fla.) with 22 RBI and he picked up Second-Team All-County honors. As a sophomore, his first season with the varsity team, he batted .400 with six RBI.
Early Signee Update
Anthony Dimino (Charlotte, N.C.) finished his senior season ranking in the top five in the conference in BA (.500), on-base percentage (.597) and slugging percentage (.706). He scored 25 runs in 2011 and tallied 23 RBI. The short stop/catcher swiped a total of 23 bags on the year which also ranked near the top of the conference.
Dimino also picked up Team MVP honors as well as earning a spot on the All-Conference team. The Viking captain also earned a pair of roster spots on postseason All-Star Teams. He will participate in the N.C. Battle of the Border All-Star game on June 12 as well as the Powerade State Senior Games on June 15.
Greg Guers (Washington, Pa.) wrapped up a stellar senior season as the team captain earned First-Team All-Inter-AC honors and was a Carpenter Cup selection. Guers was ranked as one of the top First Basemen in southeastern Pennsylvania by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
LJ Newman (Easley, S.C.) wrapped up his senior season with a 6-2 record on the hill. He was also strong at the dish as he batted .430 with 11 home runs and drove in 41 runs. Newman also picked up All-Area, All-Region, All-State and All-American honors.
David Palladino (Emerson, N.J.) was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 13th pick in the 13th Round (404th overall pick) on day two of the MLB First-Year Player Draft. As a senior at Emerson High School, Palladino earned a pair of postseason accolades and is in the hunt for three others. The 6-foot-9 left-hander earned First-Team All-League and First-Team All-County (Bergen County) after posting a 10-1 record with a 1.07 ERA in 72 1/3 innings on the mound.
Palladino is still waiting for his name to potentially appear on the All-State team and is in the running for Player of the Year in North New Jersey as well as Player of the Year for the State of New Jersey. He allowed just 14 runs (11 earned) on 17 hits over the course of the season while fanning 131 with just 43 walks. He also fired three no-hitters, two one-hitters and two two-hitters this season.
