MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama baseball 2011-12 recruiting class earned a top-50 ranking from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper in the publication’s recent recruiting evaluations.

South Alabama was ranked 47th in the evaluations in what was head coach Mark Calvi’s first recruiting class at USA.

“We were basically replacing a whole team. As a pitching staff we were returning about 30 innings, so we had to replace our whole pitching staff,” Calvi said. “We needed depth in the infield, some guys in the outfield and we needed to bring in two or three catchers. I think we did that; I think we’re solid behind the plate. We now have some depth at infield, so we can move Logan Kirkland back to second base. We brought in a couple of guys who can play shortstop, and a couple who can play third base and outfield so there’s some versatility.

“We now have depth at every single position. I’m not saying we are where we need to be yet, but an injury is not going to kill us like it did last year. I feel like we have some depth on the mound and we should be solid defensively, so I feel pretty good about the class.”

Seventeen newcomers signed National Letters of Intent to join the program for the 2011-12 season. Only three of those 17 joined the program as freshmen:  Colin Bray (Vancleave, Miss.), Cole Jarman (Spanish Fort, Ala.) and Taylor Nichols (Faith Academy).

Bray was named the Mississippi Boys Athlete of the Year by The Mississippi Press as a senior at Vancleave High School where he batted .364 with three home runs, 17 RBI, 32 runs scored and 12 stolen bases while posting a .475 on-base percentage. Bray, the son of former Jaguar all-SBC right-hander Scott Bray (1988-89), also went 3-2 with a 2.66 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 11 appearances last season.

Jarman helped lead Spanish Fort High School to back-to-back 5A state championships in 2010-11. As a junior, Jarman batted .366 with 49 runs scored, 10 doubles, four triples, four homers, 29 RBI and 14 stolen bases. He earned all-Baldwin County honors as a junior and senior.

Nichols ranked 17th among high school catchers eligible for the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft by The Baseball Draft Report. The Faith (Ala.) Academy product batted .470 with 14 doubles, three triples and 10 stolen bases as a junior. In 2010, he was named an Under Armour Preseason All-American.

The Jags added depth to the pitching staff with left-hander Kyle Bartsch (Hurst, Texas) and right-handers Jarron Cito (Johnstown, Colo.), Jaime Dennis (Madison, Ala.), Chris Doyle (Adelaide, Australia), Payton Gardner (Birmingham, Ala.), Tyler Huffer (Kingman, Ariz.), Anthony Izzio (Grand Bay, Ala.) and Ryan Wysocki (Keller, Texas).

Dennis tied for the national lead in saves last season with 16 at Northwest Shoals (Ala.) Community College. Doyle earned the Fireman of the Year award in the Panhandle Conference as a freshman at Northwest Florida State Junior College in 2010. Cito was named first-team all-Mid-Florida Conference last season at Daytona State (Fla.) Junior College after going 8-4 with a 3.40 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 97 2/3 innings pitched.

Gardner ranked 11th nationally in ERA (1.77) last season as a sophomore at Shelton State (Ala.) Community College, where he earned first-team all-region honors after going 5-1 and leading SSCC in strikeouts (77) and innings pitched (76.1). Huffer was twice named Arizona Community College Athletic Conference Division I Pitcher of the Week as a sophomore. The right-hander recorded a 2.48 ERA and struck out 40 batters in 65 1/3 innings pitched. As a freshman, Huffer went 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 64 1/3 innings.

Izzio went 7-4 with two saves and a 2.62 ERA in 75 2/3 innings as a sophomore last season at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College where he earned first-team Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges honors after striking out 82 batters against 26 walks. He led MGCCC in ERA, strikeouts and innings pitched last season. Wysocki went 1-1 with three saves and a 3.24 ERA as a freshman at Navarro (Texas) College in 2010, and helped Navarro capture the 2011 NJCAA JUCO World Series.

The Jags added six junior college position players for 2011-12:  Robby Campbell (Niceville, Fla.), Trey Cockrell (Mobile, Ala.), Dustin Dalken (Cumming, Ga.), J.T. Files (Mesquite, Texas), Neil Hudson (Excel, Ala.) and Nick Zaharion (Stuart, Fla.).

Campbell batted .370 with six doubles, three triples and 38 RBI as a sophomore at Northwest Shoals Community College where he was a teammate of Dennis’. He earned second-team all-Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) and second-team all-Northern League honors after scoring 47 runs and stealing 28 bases in 29 attempts.

Cockrell batted .284 with four doubles, two triples, 17 RBI and 21 runs scored in 40 games as a freshman at Pensacola State (Fla.) College last season where he earned second-team all-Panhandle Conference honors.

Dalken was named a National Junior College Athletic Association first-team All-American after hitting .416 with 10 homers and 52 RBI as a sophomore at Gordon (Ga.) College. He recorded 17 doubles and scored 42 runs while posting a .486 on-base percentage en route to being named the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Year. Dalken batted .337 with 12 home runs and 56 RBI and posted a 1.088 OPS, including a .650 slugging percentage, as a freshman.

Files, a teammate of Wysocki’s at Navarro College, was named most valuable player and most outstanding defensive player of the 2011 JUCO World Series. Files clinched the title with a two-run, walk-off homer in the 10th inning of the championship game. He batted .380 with 10 doubles, one triple, two homers, 30 RBI and 36 RBI as a freshman in 2010, while posting a .557 on-base percentage.

Hudson hit .440 with six home runs, five doubles, two triples, 28 runs scored and 42 RBI as a freshman in 2010 at Alabama Southern Community College. He drove in 11 runs in just nine games as a sophomore before suffering a season-ending injury.

Zaharion earned second-team Florida College System Activities Association all-state and first-team all-Southern Conference honors as a sophomore at Palm Beach State College last season where he batted .354 with 11 doubles, six home runs, 27 RBI and 37 runs scored. As a freshman at St. Petersbug (Fla.) Community College, Zaharion hit .400 with 22 doubles, seven homers, 65 RBI and 48 runs in 57 games. He was a 29th-round selection by the Kansas City Royals in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft following his senior season at South Fork High School in Stuart, Fla.

“About 90 percent of the class is composed of junior-college kids,” Calvi said. “I just figured with as many guys as we had to bring in, we couldn’t afford to be young so we went the older route with guys who are a little more experienced and have played at the junior-college level. Plus, when I got here, a lot of the high school recruiting circuit was over. It was basically done and a lot of those kids were committed, so we had to go the junior-college route which is fine with me because we got a more experienced-type player.”

South Alabama is joined by Sun Belt Conference members Florida International, Troy, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe in the rankings, with FIU (43rd) as the only school ranked ahead of the Jaguars.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).