5 WARRIORS SIGN EARLY WITH DIVISION I
SCHOOLS

(L-R) Joe Devine,Casey Dishman,Julio Morales,Blake Drake,JT Stenftenagel

*Photo and article courtesy of Mt. Carmel Republican Register - Writer Bob Livingston*

The list keeps getting longer, and longer, and longer.
And Wednesday, it grew even more as five Wabash Valley College baseball Warriors ended all speculation and signed with four-year schools.
Four of the five, Joe Devine, Julio Morales, Blake Drake, and J.T. Stenftenagel, are right-handed pitchers. The fifth, Casey Dishman, is a third baseman.
Devine, of Owensboro,KY., is headed to the University of Kentucky. Dishman, a Saline,MI.native, is returning home to Michigan State University. Morales, from San Juan, Puerto Rico, will be going to Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach,FL. Drake, from Louisville,KY., is headed to the University of Arkansas. And Stenftenagel, from Jasper,IN., is going to Indiana State University.
"Today's a big day for the whole program," said Warriors Head Coach Rob Fournier. "We couldn't be prouder of all five of these young men. They've worked hard, especially in the classroom, overcame a lot to get to this point.. They've all had a rough time trying to pick a school, but they have all made great decisions. "
Fournier said the players all chose great conferences with all the teams being at the Division I level.
"It's a tribute to the program and a tribute to themselves that they accomplished their goals and that's why they came here," the WVC coach said. "That was their goal in the first place - to be a Division I player - and right now they are officially accomplishing that so we are all very proud of them," he concluded.

Congratulations to the newest Warriors to move on to the Division I level!!

3 Current and 2 Future Warriors selected by Major League Baseball in Amateur Draft

WVC was well-represented in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft on June 5 and 6th. Warriors who just completed their seasons Aaron Barrett (SO.) was selected in the 20th Round by the Minnesota Twins, or he will be at Ole Miss in the fall. Josh Godfrey (SO.), a University of Cincinnatti signee, was picked up by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 38th round. Toby Matchulat (FR.) will be leaving WVC after one year after being selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 11th round. Matchulat has already signed his contract and is being shipped out soon.

WVC had 2 future Warrior signees picked up in Roberto Feliciano, a pitcher from Puerto Rico, in the 21st round. He has already signed a contract and is being sent to a rookie league team soon. Derrick Phillips, JR, an outfielder was selected by the Washington Nationals in the 22nd round and is still undecided on coming to school or being a pro.

Congratulations to all Warriors that were selected! Wabash Valley College had the most Junior College draft selections in the country!

 

Warrior Baseball Well-Represented in Baseball America Draft Preview

Baseball America, one of the nation's leading publications on amateur baseball, has recognized 3 Warriors in their annual MLB draft preview. In ranking the top 25 prospects for professional baseball for the state of Illinois (all levels: JUCO,High School, Divison I), BA recognized 3 WVC pitchers. Aaron Barrett, who recently completed his Sophomore campaign at WVC was ranked as the #4 prospect for Illinois. Barrett has already committed to go to Ole Miss next year, depending on where he gets selected in the draft. 2008 Freshman Toby Matchulat and Joe Devine were ranked #21 and #24 respectively. The Warriors are proud that the hard work of these young men are getting them recognition on a national level.
The MLB draft begins Thursday June 5 and concludes Friday June 6.

 

Jared Delong--GRAC Player of the Year!

Congratulations to Jared Delong, a sophomore outfielder from Evansville Reitz High School, on being named 2008 GRAC conference player of the year. Delong, who has already committed to Division I Austin Peay University for next fall, was also an all-region performer for the GRAC conference champion Warriors.

3 Warriors earn All-Conference nods

Sophomores Josh Godfrey, Jared Delong; and Freshman Joe Devine were named to the GRAC All-Conference team for 2008. Delong and Godfrey were also all-region team members. Next year Godfrey is heading to the University of Cincinnatti, while Delong is going to Austin Peay University and Devine will be back with the Warriors for his sophomore campaign.

 

2008 Spring Wrap-Up

Another spring is in the books and the WVC Warriors had a year to remember. 42-17 overall, GRAC Conference Champions, and 3 players named to the All-Region team. Although they fell short in the tournament, going 2-2, the coaching staff is extremely pleased with the season overall. The hard work by all of the players in the classroom, on the field, and during community volunteer work is greatly appreciated. The Warriors staff would like to extend congratulations to Jared Delong, Juan Alvarez, and Josh Godfrey for being named to the All-Region 24 team. The All-GRAC conference team will be announced after Tuesday.

 

WVC WARRIORS
2008 GRAC Conference Champs!

Wabash Valley College Baseball continued a tremendous 2008 yesterday with a 9-2 win at Lakeland, which completed the 3 game sweep of the Lakers. The win moved WVC to 17-7 in GRAC play, assuring them of the GRAC regular season championship and a #1 seed at the Region 24 tournament this week.

REGION TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

WVC will take on the winner of the Rend Lake/Southeastern game in the 1st round. RLC and SIC play on Tuesday at RLC. WVC will play the winner on Wednesday in Marion, IL at the Southern Illinois Miners Ballpark @ 7 PM. Thursday the Warriors have off and a Wednesday win means a game at 7 PM Friday at the same venue, a 1st round loss puts the Warriors at John A.Logan's campus for a 12 PM game Friday.

*Additional details will be posted as they come available*

Address to Miners Park:
http://www.southernillinoisminers.com/p_contact.php

Address to John A. Logan CC:
700 Logan College Road Carterville, Illinois 62918

 

Baseball Warriors Excel in Classroom

Coach Rob Fournier and his staff would like to congratulate the entire WVC Baseball team on achieving a 3.27 team grade point average for the 2007 fall term.

New Additions to Warrior 3.0 Club

These WVC Baseball players achieved classrooms success to the tune of a 3.0 grade point average or higher. That included 3 students with a 4.0.

Chase Davenport, Chad Taylor, Juan Alvarez, JT Stenftenagel, Jared Delong, Sean Falvo, Kevin Mann, Moises Rodrigues, Ernesto Gonzales, Aaron Barrett, Andrew Bryant, Marlon Storrs, Michael Schrader, Tyler Russell, Brad Mangold, Chris Ulrich, Nathan Humphrey, Matt Boyd, Jordan Jones, Jovan Gonzales, Blake Drake, Raul Vega, Julio Morales, Adam Hayes, Daniel Nichols, Chris Stallion, and Matt Klees.

 

 

WARRIOR SUCCESS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL AMATEUR DRAFT

Current and former WVC Baseball players are trading in their schoolbooks for long trips and paying their dues in the minor leagues as they were either drafted or signed professional contracts with Major League Baseball teams recently.

Ben Norton, a 2005 graduate of WVC and most recently a pitcher at Evansville University, was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 2007 MLB draft. He was instantly shipped out to Idaho Falls, ID to begin play for their short season Class A team.
Toby Matchulat, who just completed his senior high school season in Detroit, MI was selected by his hometown Detroit Tigers. Toby has signed to play for the Warriors next season and the staff feels he can be a difference maker on the mound for them.
In addition, two Warriors from this year's squad signed professional contracts with the teams that drafted them a year ago.

Reece Cheatam, and Indianapolis native and All-Region performer for WVC has signed a contract with the Chicago White Sox. Reece is currently playing for their Rookie team in Virginia.

Axel Gonzalez, a Puerto Rican native, signed with the Houston Astros and was sent to their Rookie team in Greenville, TN.

The Baseball staff at WVC wishes for great success to all alumni that have put in the work to make their professional baseball dreams come true.

 

5/30/2007
More Ex-Warriors Earn Awards

Josh Yates and Asif Shah have kept the Warrior alumni going strong in post-season awards. Yates was named to the All SunBelt Conference second team as a DH. Shah was placed on the 1st team All Ohio Valley Conference team. The senior was also nominated for National Player of the Year. Yates attends Arkansas State, while Shah attends Southeast Missouri State.

5/22/2007
Former Warriors Gain Recognition

A couple of former Warriors have gained recognition for their efforts at Missouri Valley Conference schools. Outfielder Dave Brumagin gained 2nd team all MVC conference honors in his first year at Indiana State University. In addition, pitcher Ben Norton was also placed on the MVC 2nd team for his performance at Evansville University in his senior year. Wabash Valley College is extremely proud of these alumni efforts and look forward to their continued success.

 

5/22/2007
Wabash Valley College Baseball Warriors Excel in Classroom

The Baseball program at WVC is excited to announce that once again they have achieved a team Grade Point Average over 3.0 for the semester. The hardballers ended up with a 3.02 team GPA for the spring semester, very impressive while they are in season. Head Coach Rob Fournier is very happy with this group saying, "We will continue to recruit not only solid baseball players, but solid students as well. Next year we will set our sights on a 3.2 GPA to put us in contention for academic team of the year."

 

5/8/2007
WVC BASEBALL LOCKS UP 3RD
Rob Fournier's Warrior Baseball squad clinched the 3 seed in the conference tournament on Sunday with a 6-4 victory to finish a sweep of Southwestern Ill. College. This marks the 10th straight year that Fournier's teams have finished in the top 4 of the highly competitive GRAC conference.

 

 

Head Coach Rob Fournier is looking to generate a new baseball alumni mailing list through his Wabash Valley College Baseball Office.
He is looking for all former players, if interested in getting their names on the list, to e-mail their information to him at:
wvcrob@yahoo.com or bartmana@iecc.edu