The Bellevue College Bulldogs are pleased to announce their January 2016 high school signees. This class includes a total of 12 players including four pitchers, two catchers, two middle infielders, three outfielders, and one first baseman. While being one of the smaller signing classes in the NWAC, Bellevue coaches are excited about the dynamic type of players it includes. Below are brief biographies compiled by Bellevue College Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator David Olson along with comments from Coach Mark Yoshino.
Noah Rawls – Pitcher from Nooksack Valley High School
For his high school team, Noah has been a starting pitcher and played shortstop for the past three seasons. In 101 innings pitched, Noah has struck out 102 with an ERA of 2.00 in 24 appearances. Noah also plays basketball for Nooksack Valley and is an honors student. Since his sophomore year he has been in the National Honor Society and became the ASB Activity Coordinator his senior year. “Noah has one of the stronger arms up in the Whatcom County area. While there were many other pitchers who had noteworthy stats last year, Noah projects to be the best potential frontline college arm of the group. He was referred to us from current pitcher from up north, Drew Lomsdalen, and ironically are similar type pitchers; so we feel that getting Rawls is essentially an equal replacement for the quality of arm Lomsdalen has. I think with some additional coaching, Rawls will be a guy. Rawls, I believe is also the most distant recruit we have this year, as Nooksack Valley is way up there near the Canadian border…or at least it seems like it was near Canada since I drove forever the one time I went there,” says Yoshino.
Tyler Williams – Pitcher from Inglemoor High School
Williams plays for Inglemoor High School. He has lettered since his sophomore year and has maintained a 3.54 GPA. For this upcoming summer, Williams plays for the Boys of Summer under coach Kevin Ticen. “Tyler is a bit of an unknown, as he played down on a U17 team last summer. We were very fortunate to see him late in the summer in transition to his new summer team for this year. As many four-year coaches and scouts will agree with, the ease of finding quality arms with arm strength in the class of ’16 was difficult in the state this past summer. It was just one of those years. Tyler, we think will be one of those guys who goes from ‘no name’ to ‘big name’ by the end of his prep and summer seasons. After a couple of years at Bellevue, he could be a guy many four-years will clamor over,” says Yoshino.
Reid Lutz – Pitcher from Mount Si High School.
Lutz plays for Mount Si High School under coach Zach Habben. He has been named captain for both the varsity baseball and football teams. His leadership on and off the field is evident in the way that he conducts himself. Lutz has also been recently named the Rotary student of the quarter, and CTE student of the month. He plans to study Mechanical Engineering in college. In the summers, he plays for the Washington Athletics under coach Kyle Larsen. “Reid follows a long tradition of stellar players with great makeup from Mount Si HS. Guys like Dustin Breshears, Max Brown, Evan Johnson, and Zach Usselman. The end results have been nothing but good for those guys, and we expect the same will happen with Reid once he arrives. He is yet another summer league player who has to be a utility guy, which confuses the recruiting evaluation process when you only see him do one thing, such as hitting, instead of pitching, for example. I was fortunate to see him throw one of his few innings (he threw less than 10 total last summer) as a pitcher. A big 6-3 195 kid with a power arm. WOW! His father was a high school rival of mine who went on to star at Washington and in pro ball. We’re excited that he wants to come in and just pitch, as he knows our track record of our pitchers and where they can go from here, “says Yoshino.
Michael Carter – Catcher from Cascade High School
Carter has been a three-year varsity letterman for Cascade High School coached by Scott Stencil, leading them from behind the plate. While at Cascade, Carter has contributed to three state tournament playoffs and a district championship in 2014. Michael has also been voted Captain for the 2016 squad. In the summer he plays for the Seattle Tides Baseball Club under coach Darren Watkins. “Michael is an up-and-coming catcher. He’s got the left-handed bat now and is improving with his catching and throwing each year. Carter is a bit of a monumental sign for a couple of reasons. He is our very first recruit from the Seattle Tides program. After years of recommendations from my good friend D-Wat of the Tides, we finally found someone that actually fit our needs in all aspects. Michael is also following family tradition as his father, Mark, was also a Cascade grad and catcher for Bellevue in the late 80’s,” notes Yoshino.
Truman Miller – Catcher from Bainbridge High School
Miller, an Honorable Mention All-Metro League catcher for Bainbridge High School, led his team to the Washington 3A State Championships catching 22 games this last year. He batted .382 with a .552 on base percentage with 24 RBI’s. He also threw out 10/14 runners attempting to steal off of him. In the summers Miller plays for Baden’s 18u Premier team. Academically, Miller has been a four-year National Honor Society member with 3.65 cumulative GPA. “Truman is a mirror image of Carter. While Carter swings from the left side, Miller is a righty. With Austin Pinorini, a lefty hitter returning, Truman sort of fell into a perfect home when we had absolutely zero right-handed hitting catchers on our roster. We think with his development under former Bellevue assistant Kevin Miller (no relation to Truman), who recommended Truman through the Baden program, he will be a guy for us down the road. Others have mentioned Truman’s strong work ethic, which is needed out of catcher recruits, so we are excited about that as well,” says Yoshino.
Jack Kennelly – Middle Infielder from King’s High School
2015 was the first season that King’s High School fielded a baseball team, and Jack was proud to be a part of that milestone as a junior for Coach Jake Beattiger. Jack was awarded the team honor of Most Valuable Defensive Player leading his team from the shortstop position. Prior to playing for Kings, Kennelly played for Edmonds-Woodway High School under Head Coach Dan Somoza, a former Bellevue standout player and coach. He also plays for Somoza for the Washington Rush in the summer. “Jack was a late discover for us. As all the college coaches run around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to see every guy on the 70-plus summer programs in the Puget Sound area, we didn’t see Jack until late July. We think he not only has the raw physical tools, but all of the intangibles of what a college shortstop needs. He’s got a special breed of confidence in his ability to own the shortstop position; similar to our current shortstop Jordan LaFave and a former standout now in pro ball, Cory Urquhart,” says Yoshino.
Griffin McCormick – Middle Infielder from Central Kitsap High School
McCormick plays for coach Bill Baxter at Central Kitsap High School and former Bellevue alum Jon Fuller in the summer time for Narrows Baseball Club. Griffin was referred to the program by former Bulldog alum and former coach, Casey Bohlmann, who coached McCormick during his younger days. During his junior year, he batted .360 with a 1.89 ERA on the mound. He also threw 19 scoreless innings during the 2015 state tournament as he helped lead CK to the WIAA state championship final four before finishing third in state. McCormick also has been diligent in the classroom holding a 3.53 GPA with multiple academic honors. McCormick will enter the Bellevue program drawing parallels to Tyler Baumgartner, a BC alum who also hailed from Central Kitsap and later starred at the University of Oregon. Yoshino jokes “Geez, I hate to put pressure on a kid by paralleling him to Baumgartner. After all Tyler not only led us to a national ranking, an NWAC title, was MVP of the championship, and had an illustrious career in the Pac-12 for Oregon. But the parallels are uncanny. Their swings are similar from the left side. They both went to CK and took their teams far in the playoffs. They both played for Narrows Baseball in the summer. They both have ice in their veins; calm and collect performers on the field. Both were left-handed hitting infielders who could hit in high school. Both were being recruited by and choosing between Lower Columbia and Bellevue. Both were guys who could hit, but not sure exactly what position defensively. Both had excellent grades and come from solid families with great parents.”
Grant Harris – Outfielder from Inglemoor High School
Harris has earned three varsity letters in the outfield so far at Inglemoor High School under the direction of Coach Brad Jesernig and is coming off a season leading the prestigious KingCo 4A Conference in batting average, slugging percentage and on base percentage. He also received first team All-KingCo recognition as an outfielder. While doing this, Harris has maintained a 3.7 GPA along with academic honors at his school. He plays summer ball for the Boys of Summer program under coach Kevin Ticen. “We think Grant might be the biggest steal in the state. I think if you were to ask college coaches and scouts who the top hitter was in the KingCo 4A, one of the toughest and most talent-rich conferences in the state, nobody would have said ‘Grant Harris’. He’s a pure hitter from the left side who we think will get stronger and be an impact hitter at the top of the order,” Yoshino says.
Dominic Marinez – Outfielder from Edmonds-Woodway High School
Marinez is a captain and starting centerfielder for Edmonds – Woodway High School under Somoza. In 2015 he had limited playing time due to a knee injury, but is poised to have a very successful senior season. Dominic also plays in the summer for Washington Rush alongside Kennelly. It was this past summer where Marinez made his impression on several colleges who pursued him including Edmonds and Tacoma Community Colleges. “Dominic is our one true catalyst/top of the order type guy we recruited this year. His style of play is high energy and explosive. He can swipe bags, make highlight plays, and is a threat offensively. He’s the type of guy opposing coaches get nervous about when he comes up not only because the odds of him getting on base are good, but the threat of him wreaking havoc on the basepaths and scoring are present as well. He reminds me of a former NWAC standout named Kaeo Rubin, who was one of Coach Donnie Marbut’s most prolific players at Edmonds CC back in the early 2000’s before he went on to star at Washington State. While most of the newbies in the NWAC have never heard of that guy, the grizzly NWAC vets such as Levi (Lacey, Everett Coach) and Grady (Tweit, Skagit Valley Coach) remember him well I’m sure,” says Yoshino.
Brennen Hancock – First Baseman from Cascade High School
Hancock plays for former Bulldog great, Stencil at Cascade High School, where he prepped along current Bulldog Austin Pinorini and fellow incoming recruit Carter. Hancock slugged for a solid .361 batting average at Cascade last spring. He earned honorable mention All-Wesco honors at first base his sophomore year followed by second team honors during his junior year. He has also been on honor roll all four years in high school and maintains a high grade point average. “Brennen is a prototype first baseman with long levers and bat speed and is a big target at first base who can pick it. Our strength and conditioning program that has transformed so many of our hitters in the program history is something Hancock will likely thrive from. Brennen has good makeup too and is a standout for the state-ranked Cascade basketball team. What appealed to me the most was when I went out to see him last summer, was the first time I hit the trail to see him, he wasn’t playing. But instead of sitting there and not being engaged, Brennen was right up front on the guardrail, and was the first guy to congratulate his teammates each inning. So then I had to stalk him later in the day at another field to see if he would get action. It was on a hot and miserable day on a field that I’ll just say was, not very pleasant. So lousy game setting, and Brennen plays like it’s the state championship with energy and smokes one out to right field. I was sold on that.” notes Yoshino.
Aki Buckson – Outfielder/Pitcher from Central Kitsap High School
Buckson grew up and learned how to play baseball in Japan before moving to the state of Washington during his sophomore year and now plays for Central Kitsap High School under Coach Bill Baxter. During his first year at Central Kitsap, Buckson gained 4A Narrows League Honorable Mention. During his junior year, he led his team in doubles, triples, home runs, stolen bases, average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. He hit .395 and pitched at a 1.15 ERA earning him first team All-Narrows League and All-West Sound honors. Buckson was another referral along with McCormick from former BC player and Coach Bohlmann. He plays for the West Hills Vipers under Coach Josh Kalalau in the summer. “Buckson has the best tool package of our incoming class. With bat speed and major arm strength, Aki could be one of the few who is a legitimate two-way player all the way through four years of college baseball. Coming in, Aki needs a little more polish on the pitching side than the hitting; but the pure physical ability is already there. He also comes in with top notch grades with several AP courses. The academic background and physical tools make him one of our top potential division one prospects right out of the gate,” says Yoshino.
Eli Herrick – Pitcher from Puyallup High School
A late sign was Herrick, who hails from the baseball factory machine known as Puyallup High School, where Herrick plays for legendary Coach Marc Wiese. Herrick, who pitched sparingly for Puyallup last spring, plays for the Seattle Stars in the summer. “Eli is a guy I saw play about 5-6 times last summer, but never pitched…I always saw him as a left-handed hitting outfielder, not even knowing he was a pitcher. Several people, including the Major League Scouting Bureau’s Carl Moesche and Seattle Star coaches Guy Keller and DJ Lidyard made strong recommendations on Herrick’s behalf. Herrick is reminiscent of ex-BC standout Scott Kuzminsky, who also flew under the radar at Puyallup HS. Kuzminsky had so many DI recruiting visits while here at Bellevue, he had to cancel a few since he was missing too much class. Not bad for a guy un-recruited out of Puyallup who went on to a great four-year career and is now pitching professionally. Eli shows a mid 80’s fast ball as Kuzminsky did back in the day, and they both come from good families and from a baseball factory high school that could be college program in their own outright. The similarities are uncanny, so we feel good about the prospectus of having Herrick,” says Yoshino.
Last Updated February 16, 2016
