FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion University head baseball coach Jerry Meyers announced the signing of the 2010-11 recruiting class to national letters of intent. Meyers and the rest of the ODU coaching staff will welcome Joey Burney (INF, Gloucester HS, Gloucester, Va.), Cody Cox (RHP, Grassfield HS, Chesapeake, Va.), Brandon Stahl (INF, St. Dominic HS, Oyster Bay, N.Y.), Ben Verlander (RHP/INF, Goochland HS, Goochland, Va.) , Gary Ward (LHP, Pitt Community College/Hickory HS, Chesapeake, Va.) and Ty Yesensky (INF, Maine-Endwell HS, Endwell, N.Y.) to play for the Monarchs in the 2010-11 season.
"We are very pleased with the group of young men that will be joining our program here at Old Dominion in the Fall of 2010," said Coach Meyers. "It is a signing class that is well-rounded and very talented. It will provide us with a good mix of both left- and right-handed pitching and hitting. Assistant coach Nate Goulet has done an outstanding job in identifying and securing this incoming class. Along with assistant coaches Tag Montague and Travis Huffman, we look forward to working hard toward their development as student-athletes in our program. It is an excellent start as we look to add to this class heading into the spring."
Joey Burney is a 6’2", 195 lb. left-handed hitting infielder from Gloucester High School, where he plays for Coach Derek Kibler. Burney is a two-time All-Daily Press All-Star, hitting .478 and going 4-1 on the mound with an ERA of 2.10 last season. He has been selected First Team All-District, Second Team All-Region and helped his team win the gold medal at the Coventry Commonwealth Games.
Cody Cox is a right-handed pitcher from Grassfield High School, coached by Shawn Todd. The 6’5", 195 lb pitcher finished his junior season with a record of 7-2, recording 78 strikeouts in 44 innings pitched. He pitched a perfect game against Oscar Smith HS, recording 12 strikeouts in five innings. Cox was selected as an All-Southeastern District pitcher, voted his team MVP and was a 2009 Perfect Game 17U WWBA All-Tournament Selection, as well as being a 2010 Under Armour Pre-season All-American selection.
Also joining the ODU infield will be Brandon Stahl, a 5’11", 160 lb. left-handed hitting shortstop from St. Dominic High School in New York. He hit .348 with 21 stolen bases and an on-base percentage of .454 last season for Coach Rick Garrett. Stahl was selected as an All-County League player as a sophomore and a junior and ranks in the Top 25 players on Long Island. He was selected to play on the Under Armour National Team in the Arizona Fall Classic and was selected as a 2010 Under Armour Pre-season All-American.
Ben Verlander, a 6’3", 170 lb. right-handed pitcher and infielder from Goochland High School is coached by Wes Farkas. Verlander batted .440 while going 9-2 and posting an ERA of 1.98 last season. In 2008, he was the team offensive MVP, earning First Team All-District and First Team All-Region honors as an infielder. Last season, he was his team MVP again, the James River District Player of the Year while also garnering First Team All-District honors and First Team All-Region honors as both a pitcher and an infielder. He played for the Richmond Baseball Academy and was selected to play in the Commonwealth Games.
Gary Ward will join the ODU program as a transfer from Pitt Community College where he is playing for coach Tommy Eason. A 6’1" left-handed pitcher, Ward finished the 2009 season with a 5-2 record and an ERA of 1.99. He helped Pitt to rank 29th nationally in the final poll. As a senior at Hickory High School in Chesapeake, Ward finished the year with an 8-0 record and a 0.62 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 56 innings pitched. He was the District and Tidewater Player of the Year and was named First Team All-State. He finished his high school career with a 20-2 record and a 1.93 ERA, while playing for coach Steve Gedro.
Rounding out the Monarch signees is infielder Ty Yesensky from Maine-Endwell High School in New York. Yesensky is a 5’11", 190 lb. right-handed hitter coached by Gary Crooks. In 2009, he hit .360 with 17 RBI and an on-base percentage of .512, leading his team to the Section IV Championship. He led his team in hits in 2008 and 2009 and was voted team captain of the Metro Division All-Star team, after breaking the single-season hits record in 2008. A New York Scholar Athlete Award winner, he was selected as a 2010 Under Armour Pre-Season All-American.
