Sunday, Sep. 07, 2008

Local players select their college homes

Collinsville pitcher will go to Arkansas

A productive summer following up a strong high school season helped Collinsville High senior pitcher-shortstop Erik Shannahan land a baseball scholarship to Arkansas.

The hard-throwing right-hander recently committed to the Southeastern Conference school, whose pitching coach is O'Fallon native Dave Jorn.

The metro-east already has several Division I baseball recruits with Edwardsville High senior outfielder-pitcher Dane Opel (Missouri), former Triad High and current Heartland junior college player Ty Wiesemeyer (Illinois State) and former Belleville West and current Springfield junior college pitcher Randy Hoelscher (Southern Illinois University Carbondale).

"I really liked the coaches and the conference, especially. pitching coach Dave Jorn," Shannahan said. "I sat down with him the longest and that's who I talked to the most."

Shannahan committed even before taking his official visit to the Arkansas campus Oct. 3-5. He pitched at the Razorbacks' stadium this summer with the St. Louis-based Rawlings Prospects travel team.

Shannahan (6-foot-3, 200 pounds) said he also considered Missouri, Nebraska, Louisville and Texas Christian.

"I've been hitting the weights trying to get the velocity up a little," he said.

Shannahan was 6-1 for the Kahoks last spring, compiling a 1.30 earned-run average with 101 strikeouts and just 26 walks in 70 innings. He helped Collinsville to regional and sectional titles.

The Kahoks lost to (Naperville) Neuqua Valley in the Class 4A Champaign Super-Sectional.

"They're just looking at him as a pitcher -- and possibly being a weekend pitcher for them -- which is big in that conference," Collinsville coach Pete Trapp said.

Trapp said Shannahan's combination of intensity and talent make him a special player. Shannahan also hit .391 as a shortstop with six doubles and 16 RBIs,

"He's a competitor," Trapp said. "He's the type of kid that goes out to the mound and regardless of whether he has good stuff or bad stuf, he'll leave it all out there.

"I think that will help him out a lot when he gets to college."

Opel, who played for another Rawlings Prospects team, was invited to the prestigious Area Code Games with some of the nation's top prospects Aug 5-10 in Long Beach, Calif.

Both Opel and Shannahan are expected to be possible selections in the 2009 Major League Draft.

Opel hit .439 last spring for Edwardsville with nine home runs and 36 RBIs. He had 14 doubles, four triples, 39 runs scored and nine stolen bases.

Wiesemeyer was named to the the 2008 Rawlings Gold Glove team while playing for Heartland (37-15) last spring. He also was an honorable mention all-conference selection.

Wiesemeyer hit .401 in 49 games with 13 doubles, four triples, one homer and 47 RBIs. He also scored 48 runs and stole 12 bases.

Columbia High senior infielder-pitcher Joel Greatting, another Rawlings Prospects player, has narrowed his choices to SIU Edwardsville, Murray State and Evansville.

Contact reporter Norm Sanders at nsanders@bnd.com or 239-2454.