The College Baseball Blog has been closely following the monster class that Coach Tim Corbin and Recruiting Coordinator Erik Bakich have been assembling. The class includes an incredible amount of talent and will continue in the tradition of Bakich reeling in top talent. In six years on West End, Bakich has landed a top 25 rated class in each year, including the #1 rated class of 2006 that included current All-Americans Pedro Alvarez and Ryan Flaherty.
The latest HS Senior to commit to Coach Corbin is Joseph Loftus of Academy of Holy Angels (Savage, MN). As a junior, Loftus hit .531 with 9 homers and 34 RBI in 64 ABs. He earned a trip to the Area Code Games and was rated a 10 of 10 by Perfect Game USA. Mike Rapp identified Loftus as one of Vanderbilt’s three remaining targets in a VandySports.com article last month. Mike noted that Loftus was considering offers from Arizona State and Notre Dame.
Loftus and Jason Esposito are expected to battle it out to replace Pedro Alvarez at third in 2009. Alvarez is expected by many to be a candidate for the first overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft. Alvarez’ former teammate, David Price, took that honor in 2007.
Loftus joins the following players in the Commodores class of 2009:
RHP Jack Armstrong (Jupiter, FL)
RHP Will Clinard (Clarksville, TN)
3B/SS Jason Esposito (Bethany, CT)
LHP Grayson Garvin (Atlanta, GA)
RHP Sonny Gray (Smyrna, TN)
OF Matt Marquis (Annandale, NJ)
OF Adam Milligan (Walters State)
RHP Navery Moore (Nashville, TN)
1B/C Dylan Pratt (Walter State)
RHP/OF Ryan Westmoreland (Portsmouth, NH)
LHP Corey Williams (Huntsville, AL)
Of the 10 high school recruits, Perfect Game gave its perfect 10 rating to all but Moore (did not attend showcase), Westmoreland (did not attend showcase, 9 in 2006) and Williams (9.5).
