Athletic Communications
A pair of junior college pitchers join five prep signees for BYU baseball from the November signing period.
Utahns Bret Lopez, Daniel Sechrest and Brock Whitney join right-handers Jeremy Toole from Alvin Community College and David McKnight from Salt Lake Community College along with California prep pitchers Adam Miller and Nik Turley as Cougar signees.
'We are bringing in some high velocity arms in the program with these and we are excited about the position guys we signed too,' BYU coach Vance Law said.
Lopez, a 6-foot, 187-pound infielder, batted .450 with 10 doubles, three triples, seven homers and 36 RBI last year for Timpanogos High in Orem. Lopez was the Utah Valley Player of the Year, is currently student body president and was recruited by Washington State, Cal-Fullerton, Stanford, Pepperdine, Army and Utah. Lopez was first-team all-state and all-region.
Sechrest is a 6-foot-8, 245-pound right-hander from Lone Peak High in American Fork and was recruited by Oregon State, Texas, LSU, Baylor, and Clemson. He was 10-2 as a sophomore and in 2007 had a 1-1 record, a 2.00 ERA, seven saves and was all-region and second-team all-state. He pitched in the Mariner Cup at Safeco Field this past fall.
Whitney, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound infielder/pitcher from Bingham High in South Jordan, was a second-team all-state performer last year. He was all-region and twice received the team leadership award. He was recruited by USC, Mesa State and UVSC. Whitney batted .373, with six doubles and four triples to go along with 21 RBI. He was as 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA as a pitcher with 26 strikeouts in 24 innings.
Toole, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound pitcher from Alvin CC near Houston, was a 41st -round draft of the Kansas City Royals in 2006. He had a 5-2 record last season with an ERA in the low 4.00 range. He prepped at Huntsville High were he is a member of the Hornet Baseball Hall of Fame. He was elected for the JUCO all-star team and was two-time all-district as a prepster.
McKnight, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound pitcher from SLCC, had a 4-2 record at SLCC with a 1.64 ERA in 14 appearances, striking out 22 batters in 22 innings with seven saves. He is a team captain this year and was recruited by Arizona, Arkansas and St. John's. He prepped at Chaparral High in Parker, Colo., where he was second-team all state, All-Continental Conference and 11-2 with a 1.20 ERA as a senior.
Miller is a 6-foot, 175-pound pitcher/infielder following a long line of players from Yucaipa, Calif., to BYU. Current star Kent Walton and former players Ryan Chambers and Matt Carson all hailed from Yucaipa. The right-hander has a 94 mph fastball and had eight saves and a 2-0 record with a 2.10 ERA in 25 innings with 45 strikeouts. Miller was second-team All-Citrus Belt League and team rookie of the year. He was recruited by Stanford, UC Riverside, Kansas and UCLA. He has a 3.9 GPA with an academic letter and bar.
Turley is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound lefty from Harvard Westlake High in La Canada, Calif. He had a 5-3 record with a 4.25 ERA in 51 innings with 57 strikeouts. He was named to the Valley Invitational Summer League All-Star team. He participated in several showcase events: the California Baseball Coaches Association North/South Tryout, the Area Code Games and the Atlanta Braves Scout Team. He was recruited by Loyola Marymount, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Cal-Fullerton, Pepperdine and UNLV.