Baseball Adds Five Athletes During Early Signing Period
11/28/2001 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
Nov. 28, 2001
Carbondale, Ill. - Southern Illinois University head baseball coach Dan Callahan announced the addition of five athletes to the Saluki baseball program on Wednesday. SIU signed prep stars Erik Alvarez, Nathan Emrick, Brendan Lutz, Tyler Norrick and Adam Synder during the early signing period that ended last week to represent the 2002-2003 freshman class.
"We are once again excited about what we feel is another strong recruiting class. As high as we are on this year's group we feel our 2002-2003 class will rival that one. In addition, all five are outstanding students, which we made a prerequisite," Callahan stated.
"Because of this year's seniors and next year's incoming class, this is a great opportunity for a number of these young men. Some of them will have a great chance to contribute immediately and we're excited about their present abilities and future upside."
Alvarez, a 6-1, 200 pound third baseman, is from Miami, Florida and attends Coral Gables High School. As a junior he hit 5 home runs and drove in 48 RBI's. He was also selected to play in the Team One Showcase.
Emrick, a 5-11, 160 pound middle-infielder, is from Griggsville, Ill. and attends Griggsville-Perry High School. He hit .474 as a junior with 12 home runs, 43 RBI's, 43 runs scored, stole 47 bases and struck out just four times last year. Emrick was also named all-conference.
Emrick is also a member of the National Honor Society, has started all four years on the basketball team and holds the state record for steals with 160.
Lutz, a 6-1, 195 pound catcher, is from Ingleside, Ill. and attends Grant High School. He hit .389 as a junior with two home runs, 30 RBI's, and 12 doubles and was named all-conference, all-county and all-area as well as team MVP. The strong-armed Lutz was also named a Northwest Suburban Junior Showcase All-Star.
He is a member of the National Honor Society and won the Grant H.S. Scholar-Athlete award. Lutz also plays on the basketball team and participated in the Summer Baseball League National Championships in 2001.
Norrick, a 6-3, 170 pound left-handed pitcher, is from Festus, Mo. and attends Festus High School. As a junior he went 7-1 with a 0.74 earned run average and a save. Norrick added 68 strike outs in just 47 innings of work to earn Jefferson County First-Team pitcher, first-team all-conference, all-district, St. Louis Post Dispatch All-Jefferson County Team and Class 3A Second-Team All-State honors.
He is an honor roll student and an Eagle Scout.
Snyder, a 6-4, 170 pound left-handed pitcher, is from Pittsburgh, Pa. and attends Mount Lebanon High School. He went 6-1 as a junior with a 2.59 earned run average and two shutouts. Snyder struck out 45 in 54 innings and only walked four batters. He was also selected to play in the Team One Showcase, led his team to a section runner-up spot, the state semifinals and Western Pennsylvania League Finals.
He is an honor roll student with a 3.6 grade point average.
Callahan plans to add an outfielder, a middle-infielder and a pitcher to the 2002-2003 class.
