Baseball announces 2013 signing class

FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas baseball team added 19 players during the early signing period, as announced on Tuesday by head coach Dave Van Horn.

“This class is dominated by pitching,” Coach Van Horn said. “We know that after the 2013 season we’re going to lose six or seven of our top pitchers, either through the draft or graduation, and we needed to fill some of those spots. We feel like we’ve done that with a good mix of right- and left-handed pitchers. We feel like we have a good opportunity to get most of these guys. We also went after a couple of infielders and a couple of other players that can play both infield and outfield. We do have some fairly young position players in our program so this class was dominated by pitching.”

The 2013 signing class includes outfielder Andrew Benintendi of Cincinnati, Ohio, infielder Matt Brown of St. Louis, Mo., outfielder/infielder Corey Campbell of Pottsville, Ark., catcher Jon Denney of Yukon, Okla., outfielder/infielder Clark Eagan of Appleton, Wis., infielder Tre Edwards of Moore, Okla., left-handed pitcher Chris Falwell of Round Rock, Texas, catcher Alex Gosser of North Little Rock, Ark., right-handed pitcher Zach Jackson of Berryhill, Okla., right-handed pitcher Andrew Kelley of Houston, Texas, infielder Aaron Kincaid of Prairie Grove, Ark., left-handed pitcher Nolan McCutcheon of Glenpool, Okla., right-handed pitcher Alex Phillips of Nacogdoches, Texas, right-handed pitcher Parker Sanburn of Kokomo, Ind., right-handed pitcher Teddy Stankiewicz of Keller, Texas, right-handed pitcher Jacob Stone of Fort Worth, Texas, right-handed pitcher/first baseman Dominic Taccolini of Sugar Land, Texas, right-handed pitcher James Teague of Bartlesville, Okla., and right-handed pitcher Lawson Vassar of Little Rock, Ark.

Andrew Benintendi
OF – 5-10 – 170 – Cincinnati, Ohio (Madeira HS)

Madeira HS
Ranked as the 308th-best recruit nationally and the fourth-best recruit in the state of Ohio in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Named to 2012 Perfect Game preseason underclassmen All-American second team … Named Ohio Division III Player of the Year and selected as the Cincinnati Enquirer Division III Player of the Year as a junior … Earned all-state honors as a sophomore and a junior … Three-time first-team All-Cincinnati Hills league … Has hit over .500 each year in high school … Batted .564 with 10 homers, 47 RBI, 54 runs scored and 23 stolen bases as a junior … Also pitches for his high school team and went 6-2 with a 1.94 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 43 innings during his junior season … Also plays basketball for his high school team and was named Ohio Division III Co-Player of the Year after averaging 24.2 points per game as a junior.

Personal
Son of Chris and Jill Benintendi … Has two sisters, Olivia and Lilly.

Coach Van Horn on Benintendi
“Andrew is a very polished outfielder that is a top of the order hitter. He plays centerfield for his high school and summer league team. He’s also an outstanding basketball player.”

Matt Brown
INF – 6-2 – 208 – St. Louis, Mo. (St. John Vianney HS)

St. John Vianney HS
Ranked as the 486th-best recruit nationally and the seventh-best recruit in the state of Missouri in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Named to 2012 Perfect Game preseason underclassmen All-American high honorable mention team … Three-time all-conference selection, including earning first-team honors as a freshman and junior … Earned second-team all-state recognition following junior season … Selected as a finalist for the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame Rising Star Award … Hit .320 with seven home runs and 21 RBI as a sophomore and batted .350 with two home runs and 31 RBI as a junior … Has also played football and hockey in high school.

Personal
Son of Scott and Wendy Brown … Has one brother, Chris.

Coach Van Horn on Brown
“Matt is a big, physical player that can play first base and third base. He also might work behind the plate a little bit in the future. He has some good power.”

Corey Campbell
OF/INF – 5-11 – 185 – Pottsville, Ark. (Pottsville HS)

Pottsville HS
Ranked as the 357th-best recruit nationally and the top recruit in the state of Arkansas in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Named to 2012 Perfect Game preseason underclassmen All-American third team … Named an Under Armour preseason All-American as a sophomore and a junior … Earned all-state honors as a junior after hitting .352 with three home runs, 25 RBI and 16 stolen bases … Hit .455 as a sophomore with two home runs and 22 RBI … Also plays football in high school.

Personal
Son of Marc and Mona Campbell … Has two sisters, Skylar and Aspen.

Coach Van Horn on Campbell
“Corey is a very good athlete. He plays shortstop, second base and center field in high school and in summer ball. He can really run. He’s a good hitter and a very good player.”

Jon Denney
C – 6-3 – 205 – Yukon, Okla. (Yukon HS)

Yukon HS
Ranked as the 24th-best recruit nationally and the top recruit in the state of Oklahoma in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Ranked as the 10th-best high school prospect nationally in the class of 2013 by Baseball America … Named to 2012 Perfect Game preseason underclassmen All-American second team … Named a first-team All-American in 2012 by Louisville Slugger … Hit .327 in his junior season with 12 homers and 36 RBI … As a sophomore, batted .405 with nine homers and 45 RBI … Hit .448 with eight home runs and 41 RBI as a freshman.

Personal
Son of Robert Denney and Dawn Maslar.

Coach Van Horn on Denney
“Jon is one of the top catchers in the country when you look at the total package. He can really throw. He’s a big, strong, physical kid with a lot of power.”

Clark Eagan
OF/INF – 6-2 – 180 – Appleton, Wis. (Appleton North HS)

Appleton North HS
Ranked in the top 1000 recruits nationally in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Named second-team all-state as a junior and was honorable mention all-state as a sophomore … Twice named first-team all-conference and was selected as the District 4 player of the year as a junior … Hit .586 as a junior with three homers and 16 RBI … Batted .544 in his sophomore season and drove in 20 runs … Has also played basketball, football and volleyball in high school … Earned first-team all-conference honors on the football field as a junior.

Personal
Son of David and Susan Eagan … Has one brother, Chase.

Coach Van Horn on Eagan
“Clark is probably the top hitter in the state of Wisconsin. He hits left handed and throws right. He plays outfield and first base. He’s a good runner. He’s a really good athlete.”

Tre Edwards
INF – 5-9 – 173 – Moore, Okla. (Southmoore HS)

Southmoore HS
Holds school record for highest single-season batting average after hitting .461 in his sophomore season … Also had three homers, 27 doubles and 56 RBI in his sophomore year … As a junior, batted .397 with 34 doubles and 59 RBI … Hit .371 as a freshman with four homers and 41 RBI … Helped his team to a district title in his junior season … Has also been a four-year starter for the football team … Holds the school record for most passing yards and most touchdowns.

Personal
Son of Larry and Pam Edwards … Has a brother, Tallen, and a sister, Trenity.

Coach Van Horn on Edwards
“Tre is a switch-hitting infielder. He’s a very good hitter from both sides of the plate. He’s also the starting quarterback for his high school team.”

Chris Falwell
LHP – 6-5 – 170 – Round Rock, Texas (Round Rock HS)

Round Rock HS
Ranked in the top 1000 recruits nationally in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Played for the North Texas team in the 2012 USA Baseball 17U/16U National Team Identification Series … Named to the all-tournament team at the Perfect Game WWBA Tournament.

Personal
Son of Jeff and Maureen Falwell … Has two brothers, Jeffrey and Brian.

Coach Van Horn on Falwell
“Chris is a tall, skinny lefty that has good mechanics. We have to get him stronger and get his velocity up a little bit.”

Alex Gosser
C – 5-11 – 210 – North Little Rock, Ark. (North Little Rock HS)

North Little Rock HS
Ranked in the top 1000 recruits nationally in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Named honorable mention all-state as a junior and earned all-conference honors as a sophomore and a junior … Hit .349 in his junior season with two homers and 21 RBI … Batted .337 with 23 RBI as a sophomore … Also plays football at North Little Rock and earned all-state honors in 2011.

Personal
Son of Bobby, Jr. and Donna Gosser … Has a brother, Trey, and a sister, McKenzie.

Coach Van Horn on Gosser
“Alex is a left-handed hitting catcher. He’s a very strong player, who had a great summer this year. We’re excited to get him in the program.”

Zach Jackson
RHP – 6-3 – 195- Berryhill, Okla. (Berryhill HS)

Berryhill HS
Ranked in the top 500 recruits nationally and as the ninth-best recruit in the state of Oklahoma in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Named to 2012 Perfect Game preseason underclassmen All-American high honorable mention team … Earned first-team all-metro honors from the Tulsa World as a junior and was Tulsa World all-metro honorable mention as a freshman and sophomore … Named Tulsa 7 Conference Player of the Year as a junior after finishing the season with an 11-0 record and a 0.68 ERA … In his high school career, has a 25-3 record with a 2.04 ERA and 277 strikeouts … Also plays football in high school.

Personal
Son of Kevin and Gina Jackson … Has one sister, Chelsea.

Coach Van Horn on Jackson
“Zach is a tall right-handed pitcher with a good arm. He’s also the starting quarterback of his high school football team. He can reach 90 miles per hour with his fastball and has a good breaking ball.”

Andrew Kelley
RHP – 6-7 – 225 – Houston, Texas (Klein HS)

Klein HS
Ranked as the 176th-best recruit nationally and the 21st-best recruit in the state of Texas in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Earned first-team all-district honors as a junior … Posted a 7-1 record with a 1.89 ERA and hit .510 with a homer and 15 RBI in his junior season … Batted .469 in his sophomore season … Has also played basketball and football in high school.

Personal
Son of Drew and Mary Carol Kelley … Has a sister, Caroline.

Coach Van Horn on Kelley
“Andrew is a big, tall right-handed pitcher. He’s got outstanding stuff. He commands the strike zone very well for a young man of his size.”

Aaron Kincaid
INF – 6-2 – 175 – Prairie Grove, Ark. (Prairie Grove HS)

Prairie Grove HS
Earned all-state honors as a junior and was named to the state tournament all-tournament team as a sophomore and a junior … Named to the all-conference team three times in his high school career … As a junior, hit .360 with 28 RBI and went 8-2 with a 1.50 ERA on the mound … Also plays basketball in high school.

Personal
Son of Chris and Bonnie Kincaid … Has one brother, Nick, and two sisters, Keshia and Kaylee.

Coach Van Horn on Kincaid
“Aaron is an outstanding athlete. He’s one of the fastest players we’ve recruited in this recruiting class. He pitches and plays shortstop for his high school team. He’ll continue to work in the infield once he gets to college.”

Nolan McCutcheon
LHP – 6-4 – 175 – Glenpool, Okla. (Glenpool HS)

Glenpool HS
Earned all-district honors three times in his high school career … Has a career record of 16-10 with an ERA of 1.63 and 202 strikeouts in 127 innings … As a junior, went 6-4 with a 2.34 ERA … Posted a 6-4 record with a 1.27 ERA as a sophomore … During his freshman season, compiled a 4-2 record with a 1.93 ERA.

Personal
Son of Steve and Ann McCutcheon … Has a brother, Ryan.

Coach Van Horn on McCutcheon
“Nolan is a left-handed pitcher from Oklahoma that has a mid- to upper-80s fast ball with a good breaking ball. He needs to learn how to command the strike zone a little bit better, but he has all the tools.”

Alex Phillips
RHP – 6-4 – 225 – Nacogdoches, Texas (Central Heights HS)

Central Heights HS
Ranked in the top 500 recruits nationally and the 57th-best recruit in the state of Texas in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Named to 2012 Perfect Game preseason underclassmen All-American high honorable mention team … Selected first-team all-state as a junior and second-team all-state as a sophomore … Named to the state tournament all-tournament team as a sophomore … Has a 22-2 career record with a 1.28 ERA and 238 strikeouts in 159 innings pitched in his high school career … Posted a 10-1 record with a 1.22 ERA as a junior and a 12-1 record with a 1.35 ERA as a sophomore … At the plate, hit .417 with three homers and 21 RBI as a sophomore and .351 with six home runs and 40 RBI as a junior.

Personal
Son of Charles and Pamela Phillips … Has two brothers, Lance and Zane, and one sister, Lauren.

Coach Van Horn on Phillips
“Alex is a very polished right-handed pitcher. He’s a strike thrower and might have one of the best breaking balls of all the pitchers that we’ve signed. He can throw his breaking ball for a strike whenever he wants.”

Parker Sanburn
RHP – 6-1 – 180 – Kokomo, Ind. (Kokomo HS)

Kokomo HS
Ranked as the 364th-best recruit nationally and the fifth-best recruit in the state of Indiana in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Posted a 3-4 record with a 4.95 ERA in his junior season, striking out 65 batters in 41 innings of work … Also plays tennis in high school.

Personal
Son of Dick and Crystal Sanburn … Has two brothers, Nolan and Connor … Nolan played for the Razorbacks from 2011-12 and is currently in the Oakland A’s organization.

Coach Van Horn on Sanburn
“Parker possesses a very good arm. He has a very good curveball. He throws around 90 miles per hour with his fastball. We feel like his better days are in front of him.”

Teddy Stankiewicz
RHP – 6-4 – 215 – Keller, Texas (Seminole State College/Fort Worth Christian HS)

Seminole State College
Stankiewicz is a freshman at Seminole State College and will pitch there this spring.

Fort Worth Christian HS
Ranked as the 96th-best recruit nationally and the 13th-best recruit in the state of Texas in the class of 2012 by Perfect Game … Drafted in the second round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the New York Mets … Named a third-team All-American by Baseball America following his senior season … Went 12-2 with a 1.35 ERA and 135 strikeouts as a senior … Earned first-team all-state honors as a junior when he went 8-3 with a 0.95 ERA and 98 strikeouts and hit .376 with five home runs and 34 RBI … Also played basketball and tennis in high school.

Personal
Son of TJ and Dena Stankiewicz … Has two sisters, Tiffany and Amelia.

Coach Van Horn on Stankiewicz
“Teddy was a high draft choice in the 2012 draft and decided to forego the draft and go to junior college. If he doesn’t get drafted where he wants, he wants to come to Arkansas for his sophomore year. His fastball sits in the low 90s and he can really locate his pitches.”

Jacob Stone
RHP – 6-1 – 205 – Fort Worth, Texas (Weatherford JC/Boswell HS)

Weatherford JC
Earned second-team all-conference honors … Went 5-2 with one save and a 1.83 ERA as a freshman … Had 85 strikeouts in 88.1 innings … Was drafted in the 39th round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds.

Boswell HS
Named to all-district team three times in his high school career … Earned district pitcher of the year honors as a senior … Also was an outfielder in high school and was named defensive MVP of his team as a junior … Posted a 9-1 record with a 1.22 ERA and 105 strikeouts as a junior … Hit over .300 each year of his high school career.

Personal
Son of Craig and Cheryl Stone … Has two brothers, Joshua and Justin.

Coach Van Horn on Stone
“Jacob is a right-handed pitcher with a very good arm. He’s a polished pitcher with a good breaking ball and he throws strikes.”

Dominic Taccolini
RHP/1B – 6-3 – 230- Sugar Land, Texas (I.H. Kempner HS)

I.H. Kempner HS
Ranked as the 119th-best recruit nationally and the 15th-best recruit in the state of Texas in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Named to 2012 Perfect Game preseason underclassmen All-American high honorable mention team … Played for Team USA 18U National Team in the fall and helped the team to the gold medal in the IBAF 18U Baseball World Championship … Earned all-state honors as a junior and was named first-team all-greater Houston … Named all-district as a sophomore … Posted a 9-1 record with a 0.58 ERA and 101 strikeouts as a junior … Also hit .323 with five homers and 34 RBI in his junior season … Has also played football in high school.

Personal
Son of Robert and Rose Taccolini … Has two brothers, Andy and Tony.

Coach Van Horn on Taccolini
“Dominic is a very talented right-handed pitcher. He throws his fastball around 90 miles per hour with a lot of sink. He has some good secondary pitchers. Offensively, he has a lot of power. He has a chance to hit here as well.”

James Teague
RHP – 6-0 – 180 – Bartlesville, Okla. (Bartlesville HS)

Bartlesville HS
Ranked as the 150th-best recruit nationally and the fourth-best recruit in the state of Oklahoma in the class of 2013 by Perfect Game … Has posted a 4-4 record with a 3.16 ERA in his high school career … Pitched in 10 games as a freshman and went 1-2 with a 3.46 ERA … In his sophomore season, went 3-2 with a 2.90 ERA in 13 games pitched … Missed his junior season due to injury.

Personal
Son of Robert and Heather Teague and Keith and Christy McPhail … Has three brothers, Blake McPhail, Parker McPhail, Colton Myers and the late Tyler Teague, and four sisters, Grace McPhail, Madison McPhail, Mary Beth Teague and Courtney Myers.

Coach Van Horn on Teague
“James is a right-handed pitcher with a very good arm. He missed most of his junior year with an injury. He tops out in the low 90s. He has a lot of potential.”

Lawson Vassar
RHP – 6-3 – 190 – Little Rock, Ark. (Pulaski Academy)

Pulaski Academy
Ranked as the 493rd-best recruit nationally and the second-best recruit in the state of Arkansas … Named to 2012 Perfect Game preseason underclassmen All-American high honorable mention team … Earned all-state honors as a junior and has been a three-time all-conference selection … Named to the all-tournament team in the 4A state tournament as a sophomore … Posted a 9-4 record with a 1.7 ERA and 89 strikeouts as a junior … Also is the starting quarterback for Pulaski Academy.

Personal
Son of Rick and Terri Vassar … Has one sister, Lauren.

Coach Van Horn on Vassar
“Lawson is a right-handed pitcher that is a very good athlete. He throws in the upper 80s, low 90s with his fastball and also has a good breaking ball.”