Baseball: Three JUCO standouts add beef to UL's Class of 2010

[NewsCopy]

Baseball: Three JUCO standouts add beef to UL's Class of 2010

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[CajunRed]

_ _

These seem to be three pretty signees. Did the sky stop falling yet? Or at least... did it slow down?

[CajunT]

Cajuns Baseball Adds Three Late Signees

By BJ Thompson
Cajun RedZone Publisher
Posted Jul 16, 2009


Louisiana's Ragin Cajun Baseball completed it's 2010 recruiting class, adding three late signees and one transfer.

Louisiana's Ragin Cajun Baseball program confirmed three late signees to the 2010 class in junior college products Lance Marvel (Texarkana Junior College), Trask Switzenberg (Chandler-Gilbert CC) and Daniel Nichols (Wabash Valley Junior Community College). The transfer of former LSU pitcher Jordan Nicholson was also announced by Coach Robichaux.

The Daily Advertiser reported all three signees and transfer Wednesday morning.

The Cajun RedZone confirmed all three letter-of-intents with the Cajun coaching staff had been received Wednesday afternoon.

Cajun RedZone insiders were informed in June that the Cajun baseball program had two confimed commitments from an outfielder and corner infielder. The Daily Advertiser had reported the early commitment of Daniel Nichols, but the Cajun RedZone was told by a member of the coaching staff that they had not received any letter-of-intents and could not comment on any commitments at that time.

The 6-3, 220, Lance Marvel split time between catching and playing the outfield with Texarkana Junior College. He batted .368 with seven home runs and 37 runs batted in. Marvel with give the Cajuns some versatility on the roster at catcher and at first base.

Marvel was a member of Perfect Games All Southeast Region Team as a high school senior in 2007. Marvel's scouting report on Perfect Game stated,"he combines speed (6.98), size and strength at a premium position; catcher. He has plenty of arm for the position and hits the ball consistently hard at the plate.

Trask Switzenberg 6-3, 205, INF, was a member of the number one ranked 2009 recruiting class for Arizona State, according to Collegiate Baseball. A 2008 graduate of Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Chandler, Ariz...hit .344 with 10 doubles, two triples, one home run, 17 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 2008.

Sources close to the Arizona State program confirmed Switzenberg did not make the final roster for the Sun Devils after fall ball last year and returned to Chandler-Giblert Community College for the 2009 season.



Trask Switzenberg is the son of former Sun Devil two-sport athlete Don Switzenberg. He is a physically strong athlete who is capable of playing several positions, but is projected as a corner infielder at third base for the Ragin Cajuns.



Daniel Nichols 6-1,195 ,OF from Wabash Valley community College hit .398,17 HR, 79 RBI, and 10 SB in 2009. Nichols earned All-Great Rivers Athletic Conference and All-Region 24 honors last season, helping the Warriors advance to the NJCAA Division I region tournament title game.

Nichols had been recruited by NCAA Division I schools,Creighton, Cincinnati, Eastern Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas-Little Rock and Southeast Missouri State.



The Morning Advocate first reported in a July 1st article, that Jordan Nicholson did not meet academic requirements and would transfer to another program. But sources close the the LSU program told the Cajun Redzone that Nicholson Was upset with the Tiger coaching staff and requested his release to transfer after being demoted to the bench from the bullpen rotation after poor performance during the 2009 season.

The 6-1,170, Jordan Nicholson finished the 2009 season with a 9.64 ERA. He had 12 appearances, pitched 14 innings. He did have a 1-0 record. He gave up 27 hits (4 HRs), 16 runs, only 3 BBs with 14 SOs. Opponents batted .397 against him.

In 2008, Nicholson Made 12 relief appearances, recording no decisions with a 4.26 ERA in 12.2 innings ... posted two walks and eight strikeouts and limited opponents to a .265 batting average.

Nicholson was a highly decorated pitcher from Ruston High School ... a Class 5A first-team all-state selection in 2007 ... a member of the All-Northeast Louisiana team ... earned the All-Area Pitcher of the Year honors from the Shreveport Times ... voted the district 1-5A player of the year ... also named to the district 1-5A first-team as a pitcher ... a member of the LHSAA All-Star team ... was Ruston High School’s baseball MVP ... had a 7-6 record on the mound during his senior season with a 2.49 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 70 innings ... earned Academic all-state honors with a 3.11 GPA ... as a junior, posted an 8-3 mark and a 1.88 ERA with nine walks and 58 strikeouts.

[Dad04]

The position players sound promising. ASU is one of the toughest rosters to make with only two D1 programs in a very baseball rich state. Hopefully Jordan can shake of his sophomore slump.

[wcd35]

_ The position players sound promising. ASU is one of the toughest rosters to make with only two D1 programs in a very baseball rich state. Hopefully Jordan can shake of his sophomore slump. _

Yep a ray of hope after losing some of our most promising young players. Lets hope they perform right away. We dont want to waste the dynamic duo of Osbourn and Robe in their final year.

[bballholic]

I hope that Nicholson can turn it around and be a contributor for UL. He was pretty highly touted coming out of high school, but he got shelled in pretty much every appearance this past season.

[Dad04]

_ I hope that Nicholson can turn it around and be a contributor for UL. He was pretty highly touted coming out of high school, but he got shelled in pretty much every appearance this past season. _

It is a process and a journey for most. Rare is the player who is lights out Day 1 through the last day. He won't get much of a break from seeing good hitters though. He's got a year to fix it.

[bballholic]

_ It is a process and a journey for most. Rare is the player who is lights out Day 1 through the last day. He won't get much of a break from seeing good hitters though. _

Very true, and hopefully this change will put him back on track. He was certainly more effective his freshman year and hopefully Robichaux can help him regain his confidence. He did pitch against UL last season so Robichaux obviously sees some potential in the kid. LSU has a couple of very talented pitchers coming in next year and the kid obviously saw the writing on the wall.

[Dad04]

_ Very true, and hopefully this change will put him back on track. He was certainly more effective his freshman year and hopefully Robichaux can help him regain his confidence. He did pitch against UL last season so Robichaux obviously sees some potential in the kid. LSU has a couple of very talented pitchers coming in next year and the kid obviously saw the writing on the wall. _

I read on TD he was cut, not that it matters because it happens everywhere. He made two Tiger rosters, and was recruited heavily. I'll trust he can pitch. He just needs to get dirty again.

[bballholic]

_ I read on TD he was cut, not that it matters because it happens everywhere. He made two Tiger rosters, and was recruited heavily. I'll trust he can pitch. He just needs to get dirty again. _

There is no doubt he still has the physical ability to play at this level. Coming into this past season, he was expected to contribute significantly out of the pen and even earned a start early in the season. He has an interesting delivery that should make it even harder on opposing hitters. This kids career is far from over and Louis Coleman should help prove that. Coleman was hit pretty hard his first two years at LSU but he really turned it on during his junior season.

[Dad04]

Coleman is a good example of a kid "getting it"