MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama baseball signed four student-athletes to National Letters of Intent for the 2018-19 academic year, as announced Friday by head coach Mark Calvi.

The Jaguars inked a total of 13 student-athletes to NLIs for 2018-19 between the fall and spring signing classes.

NAME – POS. – B/T – HT,WT – HOMETOWN (PREVIOUS SCHOOL)
Kaleb DeLaTorre – INF – L/R – 6-0, 190 – Fort Scott, Kan. (Neosho County Community College)
Lettered two seasons for the Panthers … Earned all-conference honorable mention as a second baseman last season after batting .335 with 11 doubles, three triples, six home runs, 29 RBIs, 56 runs scored and a .440 on-base percentage … Helped lead NCCC to the Central District championship appearance … Batted .367 with 18 doubles, four triples, 11 home runs, 70 RBIs, .459 OBP and .668 slugging percentage through 56 games this season … Lettered four years in baseball, football and basketball at Fort Scott High School in Fort Scott, Kan. … Helped FSHS capture four consecutive Southeast Kansas league titles … Hit .463 with five doubles, three home runs, 14 RBIs, 30 runs scored and .537 OBP as a senior … Batted .347 with nine doubles, three triples, one home run, 24 RBIs, 23 runs scored and .429 OBP as a junior … Hit .384 with 10 doubles, one triple, one home run, 33 RBIs, 30 runs scored and a .430 OBP in his sophomore season.

Recruiting Coordinator and Assistant Coach Chris Prothro on DeLaTorre: - "Kaleb is a good offensive player. He's a left-handed hitter, solid defender at third base and played some second base as a freshman so he can move around a little bit on the infield. One thing for sure we try to have with our infielders is versatility, and Kaleb fits that mold. He has a very good stroke from the left side. He had two years of production at Neosho County (Community College), which is historically one of the better programs in the state of Kansas. His coach has said Kaleb is his all-time favorite player to have coached in that program, and he's been there for over 20 years and won a lot of games. He had a lot of great things to say about Kaleb's makeup, and it seems like he will fit in very well with us. And obviously production from the left side is important as well."

Dakota Dailey – INF – R/R – 6-1, 195 – Holly Springs, Miss. (Northwest Mississippi Community College)
Lettered two seasons for the Rangers … Batted .315 with seven doubles, one triple, four home runs, 16 RBIs, 42 runs scored, 12 stolen bases and a .452 OBP through 39 games this season entering the NJCAA Region 23 playoffs … Hit .295 with four doubles, 22 RBIs, 36 runs scored and eight stolen bases in 38 games played as a freshman last season … Played basketball at Delta State in 2015-16 … Lettered in baseball, basketball and football at Marshall Academy in Holly Springs, Miss. … Earned first-team all-Mississippi Association of Independent Schools honors from 2012-15 in baseball … Also a four-time all-MAIS selection in basketball, and a two-time MAIS Class A most valuable player … Helped Marshall Academy capture state titles from 2011-15, and was named the MAIS basketball player of the year as a junior … First-team all-MAIS as a quarterback in 2014 and '15.

Prothro on Dailey – "Dakota (Dailey) meets the criteria we look at for our position players; he is strong, fast and very athletic. He was a very good basketball player out of high school, and actually signed with Delta State to play basketball and ended up playing a little baseball there as well. He decided he wanted to focus exclusively on baseball, so he went to junior college to be able to do that. He has two years of production at a very good junior college in the state of Mississippi, and is really kind of just scratching the surface of who he can be as a baseball player. We're excited because we feel like there is still some upside with Dakota. This was his first full year of playing only baseball, and the sky should be the limit for him. He's a very good runner with very good defensive numbers at second base, but has some arm strength to move around a little bit. It wouldn't surprise me if he played some center field for us as well. We recruited him as a second baseman, and he has a chance to be offensive and an above-average defender as well. His makeup is off the charts. He was a high school quarterback, and won a bunch of state championships in basketball with his dad being the coach in high school. He's a winner who has a chance to help us moving forward."

Drake Nightengale –RHP – R/R – 6-1, 195 – Sumrall, Miss. (Pearl River Community College)
Went 4-3 in 12 appearances with four starts this season for Pearl River CC … Recorded 51 strikeouts against 22 walks with a 4.38 ERA in 38 innings pitched … Finished 2-2 with a 4.88 ERA in seven appearances, including two starts, in 2017 … Recorded 56 batters and issued 12 walks in 31 1/3 innings pitched … Lettered in baseball two years at Sumrall High School in Sumrall, Miss. … Posted a 0.20 ERA and batted .340 as a senior … Finished with a 2.30 ERA and .411 batting average in his junior season while helping the Bobcats capture the state title.

Prothro on Nightengale – "(Former Jaguar) Anthony (Izzio) is Drake's (Nightengale) pitching coach over at Pearl River (Community College), and he raves about his makeup and competitiveness. We saw him a lot this spring. He's coming off of UCL surgery and is about 13 months away from that, and his stuff was really starting to come into its own at the end of the spring. I saw him at the end of the year at the regional tournament, and he was 90 to 92 (mph) and touched 93 with an 84 mile-per-hour slider and a 76 to 77 mile-per-hour curveball – it's two different breaking balls – and shows feel for a changeup. We think Drake could really help us out of the bullpen or as a starter with multiple pitches, so we're excited about him coming in and helping our staff in whatever role fits both him and the team best."

Jack Copley – INF – 6-1, 195 – Columbus, Ga. (Chattahoochee Valley Community College)
Batted .380 with 10 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 39 RBIs, 42 runs scored, 12 stolen bases and .473 OBP through 51 games this season for Chattahoochee Valley CC … Hit .347 with a double, two home runs, 11 RBIs, eight runs scored, three stolen bases and a .443 OBP in 23 games played as a freshman in 2017 … Lettered two seasons in baseball at Columbus High School in Columbus, Ga. … Hit .429 in his career for the Blue Devils.

Prothro on Copley – "Jack (Copley) is very athletic and a very good defender at third base. I think he ended up around .980 (fielding percentage) defensively at third base. He has good arm strength with good range. He played some shortstop last fall, so he is another guy with versatility who can move around the infield. Jack put up really good numbers in his sophomore year, and is a tough kid. He played at the end of the year with a partially pulled quadriceps tendon, or something like that, and a partially torn wrist ligament. He's athletic and has a chance to add some strength to his frame; he could probably put on 10 to 15 pounds. He had good numbers, and he can defend and move around the infield really well."

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Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give. South Alabama Baseball NLI Signees
 Hunter Phillips – 6-2, 190 – RHP – R/R – Chattahoochee Valley (Ala.) CC – Warner Robins, Ga.
 Jase Dalton – 6-2, 225 – RHP – R/R – Hinds (Miss.) CC – Raymond, Miss.
 Joel Cheatwood – 6-2, 185 – RHP – R/R – Snead State (Ala.) CC – Chelsea, Ala.
 Nick Lewis – 6-0, 180 – IF/OF – R/R – Wallace-Dothan (Ala.) CC – Troy, Ala.
 Santi Montiel – 5-10, 165 – IF – R/R – Alpharetta HS – Alpharetta, Ga.
 Zach Young – 6-1, 160 – RHP/IF – R/R – Sebastian River HS – Sebastian, Fla.
 Bennett Shell – 5-10, 175 – OF – L/R – Pace HS – Pace, Fla.
 Ethan Wilson – 6-2, 190 – OF – L/L – Andalusia HS – Andalusia, Ala.
 Herndon Akridge – 6-1, 175 – RHP – R/R – St. Paul's Episcopal School – Mobile, Ala.
 Kaleb DeLaTorre – INF – L/R – 6-0, 190 – Fort Scott, Kan. (Neosho County Community College)
Dakota Dailey – INF – R/R – 6-1, 195 – Holly Springs, Miss. (Northwest Mississippi Community College)
 Drake Nightengale –RHP – R/R – 6-1, 195 – Sumrall, Miss. (Pearl River Community College)
 Jack Copley – INF – 6-1, 195 – Columbus, Ga. (Chattahoochee Valley Community College)