By Greg Williams
PA Director of Scouting

In 2011 the Millersville Marauders advanced to the DII College World Series. In 2012 the West Chester Golden Rams not only advanced to the DII College World Series, they won the National Championship. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) has always been highly respected on the national scene, but the recent success has vaulted the conference into one of the elite conferences in DII baseball in the country.

The Millersville University coaching staff recently announced its group of recruits who signed to join the Marauders baseball program during the early signing period in November. Commitments include: C Mitch Stoltzfus from Pequea Valley HS, OF A.J. Hammond from York Suburban HS, RHP Brandon Miller from Ephrata HS, LHP Alex Barr from the Haverford School, LHP Enzo Esposito from Notre Dame HS in New Jersey and SS Sam Stark from Towson, Maryland. The group includes four players from Pennsylvania among the six high school seniors who signed. The other two hail from New Jersey and Maryland.

Brandon Miller, RHP, Ephrata HS
Brandon Miller is a 6-foot-4, 185-pound, RHP with a power arm.  He sits 86-88 with his fastball and is high on many scouts follow list. Miller went 4-1 with a 2.22 era in 2012. He also commands a quality curveball and changeup that should make him an effective conference starting pitcher for the Marauders at some point in his career. Miller is the No. 30 ranked player in the Class of 2013.

Mitch Stolzfus, C, Pequea Valley HS
Stolzfus is coming off an impressive 2012 high school season in which he hit .500. The 6-foot, 185-pound prospect showed good power hitting four home runs with an .803 slugging percentage and 25 RBI. He is a talented receiver who has shown consistent pop times from 1.90-2.00. Stolzfus is ranked No. 81 in the Class of 2013.



A.J. Hammond, OF, York Suburban HS
Hammond is a 6-foot-2, 180-pound left-handed hitter with some pop. The athletic prospect has been recruited to play outfield for the Marauders, but is also a capable catcher. Hammond is ranked No. 86 in the Class of 2013.

Alex Barr, LHP, Haverford School
Barr is a unique prospect in that he is left-handed and delivers strikes from multiple arm angles. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound LHP tops at 83mph with very good command of his complimentary pitches. He is ranked No. 145 in the Class of 2013.

Head Coach Jon Sheehan is in his sixth season at Millersville and has led the Marauders to three PSAC tournament appearances, a school record 44 wins in 2011 and a birth in the 2011 Division II World Series. Sheehan gives much of the credit for this year's recruiting class to assistant coach Nolan Neiman. Neiman, is in his second year as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Millersville.

Prep Baseball Report was able to catch up with Coach Shehan to talk about this recruiting class and the landscape of the ultra-competitive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

PBR: How does your 2013 recruiting class compare to recent classes in regards to the number of players who have signed during the early signing period?

Shehan: We have been fairly steady with the number of early signees over the past four or five years. Our goal is to recruit to our needs annually, which is usually 6-10 players per class—90% of which come from the early signing period. Typically, we work extremely hard during the spring, summer and early fall to find and know the best available high school players in our region. We have found that players that sign in the early period are fully committed to our program from the get go. Many players that sign in the spring had intentions of playing at the D1 level and therefore are not 100% committed to our program from the beginning of the process. It is vital to our success that we find players that want to be a part of our very specific process of development. Last, there are more players available in the fall than in the spring. If we are going to steal a few players who have the ability to play at the mid-major level of D1, the fall is the time to do it. With the new recruiting rules for D2, there is no excuse for not being able to build long term relationships with recruits. We can now make unlimited contacts with players during the summer after their sophomore year, which is also a great advantage for signing championship caliber players in the early period.

PBR:  What do you feel is the strength of this recruiting class and were you able to address the needs you feel you will have going into 2013-2014?

Shehan: The strength of this recruiting class is balance. We felt we needed a catcher, a middle infielder and an outfielder along with a strong core of freshman arms. Specifically, we needed to add a few left-handed pitchers. I am really excited about the position players that we signed. All of them have leadership potential and are hard-nosed, intelligent baseball players. The arms that are on their way in next fall are prototypical signs for our club. Each brings their own individual skill set, however, we have fallen in love with projectable bodies with clean arm actions. I have a tremendous trust in our pitching coach, Erik Supplee to develop those arms into quality pitchers once they get here. We signed one arm that doesn’t meet the tall, lanky build and he is a rare side-arm left-hander that throws a lot of strikes. Coach Neiman, our recruiting coordinator, did a tremendous job putting together this class.

PBR:  Do you have any advice to underclassmen that are just beginning the process of looking at schools and trying to gage a potential college coaching staff’s interest?

Shehan: I give every high school player the same advice when it comes to the recruiting process. First, unless you are being recruited by top 50 D1 programs, do not make the division part of the decision making process. Baseball is unlike any other sport in terms of division. There are D3 teams that would win a series against D1 and D2 programs. The academic offerings of the institution of interest and the process of development offered by the baseball program are far more important to a student-athlete's experience and success than the division of the program. Second, too many recruits commit to programs before observing that program and coaching staff during a practice and a game. I recommend that all prospects take the time to visit programs unannounced and watch practices and games at the institutions that they are interested in attending. Anyone interested in our program is welcome to attend practice, individuals and a game. It’s important for an individual to know what they are committing to and how they will be managed as student-athletes. Once the commitment is made in our program, the work is just beginning.

PBR:  How will the addition of Seton Hill and Pitt-Johnstown to the PSAC in 2013-2014 affect what is already considered one of the top DII conferences in the country?

Shehan: The PSAC is a special conference. It is hard to remember the NCAA D2 World Series without a member of the PSAC participating. I am surprised that the PSAC does not have more than one National Championship, but it definitely speaks to what West Chester was able to accomplish last season. The addition of Seton Hill and Pitt-Johnstown will only create more competition in our league. Both of those programs carry strong winning traditions. Seton Hill has participated in a regional the last three seasons. Competition creates discipline and for the coaching staffs already in the league, it is going to force us to be more innovative and work harder in order to win. I welcome both programs with open arms. Seton Hill and Pitt-Johnstown are great additions and will make an immediately positive impact on the conference.

PBR:  PBR Pennsylvania arrived on the scene in late April of 2012. How have you been able to utilize the information that Prep Baseball Report offers to your advantage?

Shehan: Prep Baseball Report has certainly made a major impact in our region in a very short amount of time. It is a program that is well respected in terms of providing prospective athletes with opportunities to be seen and by providing collegiate coaches with a way to find the best players in their region. For us, we want to know every player that can play at our level or above within two hours of our doorstep and PBR has certainly aided us in that goal. As a Twitter maniac, I personally love following PBR Pennsylvania; it gives me real time updates on players that we have a strong interest in recruiting. I cannot say enough about PBR. I wish it were in Pennsylvania five years ago when I became a head coach.