— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall’s 2027 baseball recruiting class isn’t short on in-state natives.
Veteran head coach Greg Beals announced earlier this week that the Herd had signed seven players to join the program in the near future.
Five of those seven are from West Virginia.
“I am excited about these seven young men and their future,” Beals said. “As we continue to develop as a program it is important to attract the top talent in our state to Marshall University and that we did with five of these student-athletes being from the great state of West Virginia.
“Character, baseball skill, academic success, competitors and winners best describe this recruiting class. This group is obviously talented, but what excites us the most is that their best baseball is still ahead of them and we are excited to be part of that player development.”
The five West Virginians in Marshall’s recruiting class are Tyler Baxter from Hurricane, Bryan Casto from Ripley, Jon Fala from George Washington, Ryan Nipper from Morgantown and Brogan Samms from St. Albans.
From outside the state, Marshall also inked Keegan Reuscher from Pickerington, Ohio and Ryan Wilberding from Libertyville, Illinois.
“Throughout the evaluation process we fell in love with how these guys play the game and during their recruitment we found that they are perfect fits for our program,” Beals said.
Baxter is an infielder Beals described as a “pure hitter” who can hit for both average and power.
Casto is described by Beals as a player not short on versatility with base-stealing skills.
Fala was called a “big baseball talent” by Beals. He has a strong arm on the left side of the infield along with a combination of speed and power.
Nipper will get a look as a right fielder Marshall and Beals says he has a strong arm and the ability to provide extra-base hits thanks to his speed.
Samms, a basketball standout for the Red Dragons, is one of the better all-around athletes in West Virginia who can contribute on the infield and on the mound as a right-handed pitcher, according to Beals.
Reuscher is a left-handed pitcher capable of putting a lot of spin on the ball and Wilberding is a catcher who Beals says has strong skills behind the plate and quality arm strength to control an opponent’s running game.
“I greatly appreciate the support and contributions made by Taylor Kennedy, our academic coach, and Bryan Booth, our athletic trainer,” Beals said. “Our recruiting efforts are led by Tim Donnelly, our associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, but it takes work from the whole team … pitching coach Aaron Blair, assistant coach Blair Everhart and assistant coach Jay Kehoe.”