I may do something more in-depth after the summer ends, but below is an overview going into this summer. In terms of decommitments, we have lost three JUCO pitchers recently (RHP Luke Hayhow, LHP Jason Berglund and LHP Gage Goldman), but given how they performed this spring, I would assume all were initiated by our coaching staff. Catchers • C Justin Munoz (6’0” 200 | R-R | Millbrook School | Hackensack, NJ) Munoz is a power-hitting catcher with a strong arm. He will need to continue to refine his defense and will need to prove he can make enough consistent contact at the plate in college, but he has the potential to be an impact player. Will likely be our #3 catcher as a freshman (assuming we bring in a veteran catcher in the portal this year), but could vie for meaningful playing time as a sophomore and beyond. Infielders • 3B Palmer Hornick (5’11” 175 | L-R | Dorman HS | Moore, SC) • SS/2B Lucas Delacruz (6’0” 175 | S-R | Marvin Ridge HS | Marvin, NC) • 2B John Michael Szefc (5'10" 165 | L-R | The Miller School of Albemarle | Blacksburg, VA) Hornick is the most well-regarded recruit amongst our infielders. Given our likely returning experience across our infield in 2027, he may not break through for significant playing time as a freshman, but he has good potential as a hitter to carve out a meaningful role during his collegiate career, likely as a 3B/DH. Delacruz is a switch-hitting middle infielder with some good defensive potential but will likely face a battle to earn a roster spot as JM Szefc is Coach Szefc’s oldest son and a late addition to the class. He projects strictly as a 2B, but he is a fundamentally sound player who has had a nice start to summer league play in the Appalachian League and is already 19 yr 4 mo old. Outfielders • OF Connor Guy (5’11” 175 | L-R | St. John’s River State College | Keystone Heights, FL) • OF Brady Elrod (6’1” 185 | R-R | Hanover HS | Mechanicsville, VA) • OF Owen Green (6’1” 185 | L-L | Ardrey Kell HS | Charlotte, NC) • UTL Aiden Arnett (5’11” 170 | R-R | Trinity Christian Academy | Stoughton, WI) Connor Guy is our lone JUCO hitting recruit. He projects as a CF defensively with limited power at the plate. After a really nice freshman year at Daytona State College (.368 avg, .472 obp, .479 slg, .951 ops, 10 sb in 176 pa), he struggled a bit at St. John’s River State College this year (.266 avg, .396 obp, .344 slg, .740 ops, 5 sb in 194 pa) and hasn’t done much in the Northwoods League so far this summer (.231 avg, .367 obp, .231 slg, .598 ops, 3 sb in 49 pa). He’ll likely be given a shot to earn the starting CF role, but we could explore bringing in a veteran OF via the transfer portal to compete with him or he could even get passed up by one of our HS recruits. Amongst our HS OF, Aiden Arnett is a former Florida commit and originally a member of our 2025 class that has shown good production in two summers in the Northwoods League. Given his age (already 19 yr, 2 mo), he could push Guy for playing time in CF. Our other two OF in the class are Brady Elrod and Owen Green. They are both pretty well-rounded prospects, but will likely be competing for roster spots this fall with possibly only one of them making the roster in the spring. Pitchers • LHP Drake Purvis (6’1” 210 | R-L | Gaston College | Silver City, NC) • RHP Talan McConnell (6’0” 170 | R-R | Gaston College | Belmont, NC) • RHP Alex Hoffman (6’3” 210 | R-R | Charlotte Catholic HS | Charlotte, NC) • RHP Ethan Lee (6’2” 210 | R-R | Don Bosco Prep | West Nyack, NY) • RHP Joshua Perez (6’1” 225 | R-R | Spotsylvania HS | Spotsylvania, VA) • RHP Will Vetter (6’0” 192 | R-R | Cary HS, Cary, NC) • LHP/UTL Camden Hayworth (6’5” 215 | L-L | Dobyns-Bennett HS | Kingsport, TN) LHP Drake Purvis has been a good pitcher the last two seasons at the JUCO level (7-0 w-l, 3.33 era, 1.09 whip in 2025…3-0 w-l, 4.24 era, 1.29 whip in 2026) that despite a poor showing in the Coastal Plain League las summer (0-3 w-l, 8.10 era, 1.97 whip in 23.1 ip), he has enough of a pitch arsenal (low 90’s fastball with competitive secondary pitches) to contribute as a weekend pitcher either as our Sunday starter or as a high-leverage reliever. RHP Talan McConnell didn’t pitch this past season after transferring to Gaston College from Wingate, presumably due to injury. He struggled in limited innings his freshman year at Wingate (10.57 era, 2.22 whip in 7.2 ip as a reliever), but he sports a mid-90’s fastball that should allow him to compete for a key bullpen role if he is healthy. Amongst our high school pitching recruits, RHP Alex Hoffman and RHP Ethan Lee are the most well-regarded and both have the size and pitching profiles (low 90’s fastballs with good breaking pitches) to compete for the Sunday starter role or the Weekday starter role their freshman seasons. Joshua Perez, Will Vetter and Camden Hayworth are more developmental prospects that will have to compete for roster spots, with Hayworth also potentially getting a look as a hitter.

up a catcher in the Portal capable of significant innings? I know the staff loved Cooke behind the dish defensively, but man he caught a lot of innings. Hoping Oxendine is ready for a role back there.

a third catcher and I think with the youth/inexperience of Oxendine and Munoz, it feels like we would need to bring in an experienced catcher that can at least be a meaningful contributor/part-time starter to rotate with Oxendine and allow for Munoz time to adjust to the college level.

Seems like with these guys and the returners, especially if we get Ball back, we’re going to be solid

mark right now. Eisenreich and Grim should be competitive Friday/Saturday starters if they can stay healthy but we have a ton of question marks right now after that. JUCO transfer Drake Purvis should be a capable arm but we will be very short on experience unless we can land at least 3 to 5 transfer arms.