Writing Sample #2

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“U of A Baseball Rounds Out Baseball Recruiting Class”

The University of Arizona has the 2017 baseball recruiting class set.  Head coach Jay Johnson announced the addition of three infielders, two outfielders, and a catcher to add to the 2016 national champion runner up squad.  The new group is mostly from California with Nevada and Texas contributing athletes.  One player is from “up the road” in Glendale. 

The players are Cameron Cannon from Mountain Ridge High School of Glendale, Arizona;  Cal Stevenson from Haywood, California’s Chabot College; Cory Voss out of McLennan College in Waco, Texas; Matthew Fraizer from Clovis North High in Fresno, California; Shane Martinez, a product of Riverside, California’s John North High School, and from Arbor View High School in Las Vegas, Nick Quintana.  

According to Johnson, each player, although taken in the recent Major League draft in various rounds, will be “putting off an entry into the professional ranks by choosing the college path to Major League Baseball.”  Johnson went on to say, “Our coaching staff can’t wait to blend these players in with the great returning players to set the course for the 2017 version of Arizona baseball.” 

The top recruit in the class appears to be Quintana who plays shortstop.  His Baseball America 114^th best ranking, Nevada State Gatorade Player of the Year award, and a robust .449 batting average plus an 11^th round Boston Red Sox pick puts him on top of the list.   Quintana finished off his high school senior season with 15 home runs and 58 RBI.

Another high school shortstop picked up by the Wildcats is Cannon, the player from Glendale.  He was chosen by the Arizona Diamondbacks based on a junior season batting .412 and 6 home runs plus a .353 average senior season.  Cannon is currently playing for the Victoria HarbourCats of the West Coast Conference, which is a collegiate wood-bat league. 

Stevenson and Voss both have some college experience.  In fact, they were the Co-Freshman of the Year in the Division I Mountain West Conference in 2015.  Stevenson played at Chabot College in California after his freshman season for Nevada, where his coach was Jay Johnson, now the head man at Arizona. Stevenson, who is an outfielder and left-handed pitcher was drafted in the 36^th round.  Voss was taken a round later.  

Voss is a catcher.  His freshman year was at New Mexico.  This past season he played for McLennan College in Texas.  Both Voss and Stevenson are playing this summer in the prestigious Cape Cod League for the Cotuit Kettleers.  To this point, Stevenson has tossed a couple of shutout innings, and Voss has a pair of home runs for Cotuit.  

Fraizer is an outfielder who batted .392 as a senior last year while Martinez stoked the ball at a .404 clip along with 25 RBI and six doubles.  Both players were drafted by the Oakland Athletics.  Fraizer went in the 38^th round and Martinez in the 39^th. 

All six new Wildcat recruits are expected to report to Tucson in time for the 2016-2017 academic year which starts next month.