Saluki Baseball signs 10 for 2018

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Saluki Baseball signed 10 players to National Letters of Intent during the signing period, head coach Ken Henderson announced on Tuesday. Southern Illinois signed four infielders, two outfielders, three pitchers and one two-way player for the 2018 SIU baseball team.

"This is a talented and athletic group, but the thing I am most excited about is their work ethic and approach to the game," Henderson said. "We worked hard to make sure we signed guys that came out of good programs, from good families and that will continue to fit in with our vision for Saluki Baseball. I give a lot of credit to our assistant coaches, PJ Finigan and Ryan Strain, for identifying the kind of young men that know how to play hard and that will continue building on the foundation that our current players have established."

Grey Epps – 6-1 – 180 – R/R – INF – Clarksville, Tenn. – Rossview HS
Grey Epps was one of the top-ranked shortstops in the state of Tennessee. He was his team's Most Valuable Offensive Player in 2013-14 and helped lead his team to regular season and regional championships in 2015-16 and a District Tournament championship in 2014-15. He is a four-year honor roll student.

COACH HENDERSON ON GREY EPPS
"Grey is blessed with tremendous defensive skills. He is the prototypical middle infielder, long and loose with great actions. When we saw Grey play, he was always the first one on the field and the first one off. He will play with great energy and effort, and Saluki fans will enjoy his approach to the game."

Noah Farmer – 6-4 – 185 – R/R – RHP/OF – Metropolis, Ill. – Massac County HS
Noah Farmer is a top-20 pitcher in the state of Illinois by both Perfect Game (No. 16) and Prep Baseball Report (No. 15). He was named to Perfect Game's Underclass All-American team and the WWBA All-Tournament Team. In addition to his pitching, he hit .471 for Massac County last year with three home runs. He is a three-sport star at Massac County, also playing soccer and earning All-Conference honors in basketball.

COACH HENDERSON ON NOAH FARMER
"We have followed Noah closely over the last couple of years and always thought he had a great upside on the mound. Those thoughts came to fruition this summer, when he exploded while playing some of the best competition in the country as a member of the Nashville Knights. Noah has a great feel for pitching and a very loose arm, and we are confident he will make an immediate impact on the program."

Bradley Hudson – 5-10 – 165 – R/R – OF – Allen, Texas
Bradley Hudson is one of the top outfielders in the Texas Class of 2017. Hudson is the No. 40 outfielder by Perfect Game and a top-500 outfielder nationally. Hudson was an AABC All-American in 2015 and was a member of the AABC National Team. In the summer of 2015, Hudson hit .449 with 14 doubles and a .532 on-base percentage.

COACH HENDERSON ON BRADLEY HUDSON
"Bradley possesses the one tool you can't teach: speed. In fact, he will be one of the fastest players to put on a Saluki uniform in many years. He plays extremely hard and can put an enormous amount of pressure on a defense. It will be fun to watch him fly around the field."

Nolan Johnson – 6-0 – 170 – L/L – LHP – Owensboro, Ky. – Daviess County High School
Nolan Johnson is one of the best left-handed pitchers in the state of Kentucky. Prep Baseball Report ranked Johnson as the No. 4 left-handed pitcher in the Kentucky Class of 2017 and Perfect Game ranked him No. 7. He's a consensus top-30 player in Kentucky and top-300 pitcher nationally.

COACH HENDERSON ON NOLAN JOHNSON
"Nolan has an outstanding feel for pitching and a great understanding of the game. He reminds us of former Saluki great, Cody Forsythe. Nolan can really spin a breaking ball, has tremendous command of all of his pitches and pitches with confidence. Guys will love to play behind him"

Alex Lyon – 5-11 – 185 – R/R – INF – White House, Tenn. – White House High School – Volunteer State
Alex Lyon was a three-year starter and three-time first-team All-District honoree at White House High School. He hit over .400 twice and collected 126 hits, 24 doubles, and 73 RBIs in his three years as a starter. Lyon went on to Volunteer State College, where he hit .348 with 46 hits, 10 doubles, two triples, two home runs and 16 RBIs.

COACH HENDERSON ON ALEX LYON
"With the expected loss of so many talented infielders at the end of this year, we needed to add some experience. Alex is as gifted, well-rounded and versatile as anyone we saw this fall. In addition to his defense skills, he is a plus runner and has the ability to make an immediate impact with his bat as well."

Trey McDaniel – 5-11 – 200 – R/R – RHP – Williamsville, Mo. – Greenville HS
Trey McDaniel has piled up 549 career strikeouts at Greenville while leading the Bears to a 123-30 record over the last four years. McDaniel is a two-time All-State and three-time All-Conference and All-District pitcher for Greenville. He was the winning pitcher for two District and two OFC titles for Greenville, and he was the MVP of the MidWest Plains Regional for the Wayne County Lumberjacks. Prep Baseball Report ranks him as a top-30 player in Missouri and the 11^th-best pitcher in the state.

COACH HENDERSON ON TREY MCDANIEL
"Trey already has the tools that are required to be an outstanding pitcher at this level. He is blessed with a live arm and has a great feel for his breaking ball. However, the thing that is most exciting is his toughness and how competitive he is. Trey is a great fit with Saluki Baseball."

Stephen Mogged – 6-0 – 180 – R/R – OF – Lindenhurst, Ill. – Lakes Community HS
Stephen Mogged was an All-Conference selection at Lakes Community High School in 2016, helping the program win the Lake Villa Regional and to a runner-up finish at the Arlington Heights Sectional. Prep Baseball Report ranks Mogged as the 11^th-best outfielder in the state of Illinois. Mogged also played soccer and basketball at Lakes Community.

COACH HENDERSON ON STEPHEN MOGGED
"Stephen is a great athlete, with a combination of strength and outstanding speed. He is another guy that will get your attention by how hard he plays the game. Stephen has an aggressive approach at the plate and should contribute immediately, both offensively and running balls down in the outfield."

Jack Radford – 6-3 – 200 – L/L – LHP – CO – Lakewood, Colo. – Bear Creek High School
Jack Radford is a top-40 prospect in Colorado's Class of 2017. Radford was one of 10 players named a "Top Riser" after jumping 10 spots in Prep Baseball Report's 2017 Colorado prospect rankings, and he's the No. 3-ranked left-handed pitcher in the state of Colorado.

COACH HENDERSON ON JACK RADFORD
"We have had a good track record with Colorado pitchers and Jack fits right into that mold. He comes out of an outstanding Slammers summer program, has a great feel for pitching and as we had hoped, saw his fastball make a significant jump this fall. Jack has everything we look for in a pitcher; and at 6-3 and left-handed, it is going to be fun watching him develop as a Saluki."

Nikola Vasic – 5-9 – 160 – R/R – INF – New Berlin, Wis. – Eisenhower HS – McHenry County College
Nikola Vasic was the fourth-best middle infielder in the state of Wisconsin class of 2015 (Prep Baseball Report) before playing last year at McHenry County College. At McHenry, Vasic hit .394 with a .490 on-base percentage and 31 stolen bases on a team that went 50-12 and was a World Series Qualifier. He was a second-team All-Conference and first-team All-Region selection. In high school, Vasic went 73-for-74 in stolen base attempts and hit .494 as a senior.

COACH HENDERSON ON NIKOLA VASIC
"Nick, like so many guys in this class, is blessed with outstanding speed and knows how to play hard. Although not a big guy, he is very aggressive and will not get cheated at the plate. Nick has a passion for the game and will bring a great deal of energy to the field every day. He will be fun to watch in a Saluki uniform."

JT Weber – 6-2 – 200 – R/R – INF – Metropolis, Ill. – Massac County HS
JT Weber led the Nashville Knights 17u team in batting average (.380) and finished top-16 in the WWBA National Championship for Knights Platinum 17u. He was a Perfect Game Underclass All-American and earned a spot on the WWBA National Championship All-Tournament Team. He also excels at basketball and was an All-Conference selection in both basketball and baseball last year.

COACH HENDERSON ON JT WEBER
"JT is the guy that can bring a physical presence to our offense. He has a lot of tools, including plus bat speed and a big-time arm. He, like Grey (Epps) and Noah (Farmer), has benefitted greatly from spending the last couple of summers playing for the Nashville Knights. We see JT as eventually being a middle of the order bat and big run producer for us. It's always good to keep the best local kids around and we feel as if we've done that with JT and Noah."

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