Garrido announces signing of 12 for UT baseball

By Steve Lansdale

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas baseball head coach Augie Garrido announced Thursday that 12 players — five pitchers and seven position players — have signed national letters of intent to play next season at UT.

"We are extremely excited for this class to be a part of the Longhorn family," Garrido said. "(Recruiting coordinator) Tommy (Nicholson) and (associate head coach) Skip (Johnson) did an excellent job finding the right kids for our program. This group will play an integral part in helping carry on the winning tradition and prestige of our historical program.

"This group has a great balance of pitching and offensive players that will complement what we currently have on campus. This group has several players who have grown up playing on winning teams together and their bond coming in is already very strong. We look forward to them being Longhorns and representing The University of Texas with class and integrity."

Nicholson said that the class was constructed with one goal in mind: regular appearances in the College World Series.

"We're very pleased with this class, and we're looking forward to getting them on campus next fall," Nicholson said. "We signed a good mix of pitchers and position players that should help get us to Omaha on a consistent basis. This is a group that we feel very confident will excel on and off the field."

The Longhorns added four right-handed pitchers — Blair Henley from Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth, Texas, Kevin Roliard from Klein High School in Spring, Texas, Tate Sanford of Lake Travis High School in Austin and Mason Thompson of Round Rock High School — and left-hander Kyle Muller of Jesuit College Prep in Dallas. They also signed outfielders Connor Capel of Seven Lakes High School in Katy, Texas, and Austin Todd of Round Rock High School; infielders David Hamilton of San Marcos High School, Austin McNicholas of Austin’s Akins High School, Ryan Reynolds of Ouachita Christian High School in Monroe, La and Andres Sosa of San Antonio’s Reagan High School; and catcher Jaxx Groshans of Magnolia (Texas) High School.

Two of the signees have fathers who played for Texas: Capel’s father, Mike, played in 1982 and 1983, posting a 13-1 record for the 1983 national championship team, while Reynolds’ father, Shane, played for Texas in 1989 after transferring from Faulkner University, eventually playing professionally for 13 years (1992-2004) for the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks.