ACU Baseball Recruiting News

ACU Baseball adds 13

Courtesy ACU
Release 7/1/2008

ABILENE -- ACU head baseball coach Britt Bonneau announced Tuesday that the Wildcats have added 13 players – including nine junior college transfers – for the 2009 season.

The Wildcats' nine junior college transfers are second baseman Steven Camalucci (American River College), pitcher Cooper Page (Tyler Junior College), utility player Davis Page (Tyler Junior College), outfielder Travis Latz (Richland College), first baseman / pitcher Brett Bochsler (Columbia Basin College), pitcher Brad Rutherford (Columbia Basin College), outfielder Ruben Perez (Solano College), outfielder Cory Kelly (Navarro College) and pitcher Cameron Aspaas (Palomar College). The Wildcats are also getting pitcher Alec Marsh to transfer to ACU from NAIA powerhouse Oklahoma City University.

The Wildcats' three high school signees are first baseman Slade Brown (Keller High School) and catchers Joel Warren (Boerne High School) and Heston Foster (Waxahachie High School).

Latz should be an immediate impact player in the outfield for the Wildcats after hitting .431 and driving in 83 runs for the Thunderducks as he earned first team all-America honors. Latz, the MVP of the Metro Athletic Conference (MAC), led Richland College to the District C Tournament championship and a third-place finish at the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) Division III World Series.

His .431 average in 2008 is a Richland College single-season record, and his 18 home runs is the second-best single-season total in school history.

Marsh is a left-handed pitcher out of Grapevine High School who helped lead Oklahoma City to a third-place finish at the NAIA World Series in 2008. As a sophomore in 2008 he was 5-1 with a 5.64 ERA in 49 2/3 innings of work. He started 10 games and allowed 33 runs while striking out 35 opposing batters.

As a freshman at Howard College in Snyder, Marsh was 8-1 with a 2.89 ERA, earning first team all-conference honors. In 74 2/3 innings of work, he struck out 76 batters. As a senior at Grapevine HS in 2005, Marsh was 8-2, earning District 5-5A Pitcher of the Year honors as well as first team all-district, all-area and all-state honors. As a high school player, Marsha played in two Connie Mack World Series as a member of the Lake Highlands Wildcats.

Rutherford was the closer at Columbia Basin College in 2008, and that's the role he'll likely fill in 2009 for the Wildcats. Last season at CBC he was 3-4 with 11 saves to go along with a 1.72 ERA. In 36 2/3 innings of work he allowed just 28 hits, 12 runs and nine walks while striking out 30 batters.

Bochsler was a two-year starter at Colbumia Basin College, compiling a 7-2 record with a 2.39 ERA in 79 innings of work over two seasons. Last year as a sophomore he was 4-1with a 2.80 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 45 innings of work. He was a redshirt freshman on the 2006 Oregon State team that won the first two straight NCAA Division I College World Series titles.

Cooper and Davis Page are twin brothers who helped Tyler Junior College win the NJCAA Division III World Series championship in 2008. As a sophomore in 2008, Cooper Page was 5-2 with a 5.79 ERA in 56 innings of work on the mound. He struck out 42 batters while walking just 14 batters in his sophomore campaign. As a freshman in 2007, Cooper Page was 6-0 with a 3.19 ERA as he earned first team all-MAC honors.

Davis Page hit .319 with one home run, 28 RBI and 10 stolen bases as a utility player. As a freshman he hit .312 with one home run and 25 RBI.

Camalucci was an honorable mention all-Big 8 Conference selection as a sophomore in 2008. He hit .331 with one home run and 23 RBI as he played in all 43 games for American River.

Perez could also be an impact player in the outfield for the Wildcats after he earned second team all-Bay Valley Conference honors as a sophomore in 2008. Kelly was a starter in the outfield for Navarro College, and Aspaas was 4-3 with a 3.91 ERA on the mound in 2008 after posting four saves and a 2.95 ERA as a freshman in 2007.

Brown led Keller to a District 5-5A championship in 2008, while Foster was the starting catcher on a Waxahachie team that finished the season as the runner-up at the Class 4A state tournament.