WSU BASEBALL: Ben Roberts, Tanner Chleborad Officially Join Cougars

by Jeff Nusser on Sep 20, 2011 8:15 PM PDT in WSU Baseball News

In a bit of "news" that's completely unsurprising to anyone who follows WSU baseball closely, coach Donnie Marbut announced today that a 15-man freshman class -- which includes unsigned major league draft picks Ben Roberts, Tanner Chleborad and Joe Pistorese -- has officially joined the team.

All of these guys signed letters of intent last year, but per Marbut's policy, the class was not announced until today.

Roberts, an outfielder, was a seventh round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He'll almost certainly compete for a starting spot immediately. Cleborad is a lanky right-hander who profiles as a future ace of the staff; he was selected in the 24th round by the Seattle Mariners. Pistorese is a left-handed pitcher who was selected in the 44th round by the Chicago White Sox.

They join a squad that lost only a few major contributors and got a boost when outfielder Derek Jones and first baseman Taylor Ard -- the number three and four hitters last year -- failed to come to terms with the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox.

Full class listed after the jump.

Right-handed pitcher Tanner Chleborad (Rapid City, S.D.)
Second baseman Jordan Copeland (University Place, Wash.)
Right-handed pitcher Sean Hartnett (Kent, Wash.)
Left-handed pitcher Bryce Jackson (Kennewick, Wash.)
Right-handed pitcher/first baseman Ty Jackson (Kennewick, Wash.)
Catcher P.J. Jones (Vancouver, Wash.)
Right-handed pitcher Avery Kain (Kent, Wash.)
Catcher Bryan Karwacki (Spokane, Wash.)
Left-handed pitcher Nick LaRoy (Kalama, Wash.)
Left-handed pitcher Joe Pistorese (Kalispell, Mont.)
Outfielder Ben Roberts (Missoula, Mont.)
Outfielder Yale Rosen (Oak Harbor, Wash.)
Infielder Ian Sagdal (East Wenatchee, Wash.)
Right-handed pitcher Kyle Swannack (Renton, Wash.)
Third baseman Nick Tanielu (Federal Way, Wash.).

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I think I beat you by about 15 minutes :)

But it doesn’t matter, because you get way more traffic than me.

I’m really impressed with the incoming class, and so is Marbut. I’ve talked to him three times this year and he can’t stop talking about how excited the staff is about next season. But then, he told me the same things this time of year last year too…

Brett Gleason | Twitter | WSU Baseball Blog | Daily Evergreen

by Brett the 49er on Sep 20, 2011 10:18 PM PDT reply actions

I followed your link at your blog and it takes me to a betting site

CougCenter | Cougar Sports Weekly | @NussCoug

by Jeff Nusser on Sep 20, 2011 11:30 PM PDT up reply actions

Oh geeze

That’s because we’re sportsminds.org, not .com. Thanks for the catch. Gotta fix that.

Brett Gleason | Twitter | WSU Baseball Blog | Daily Evergreen

by Brett the 49er on Sep 20, 2011 11:47 PM PDT up reply actions

Are there any sites that track baseball recruiting?

Seems the two main ones only do football and basketball.

I miss *REAL* Four Loko

by B-Lot tailgater on Sep 21, 2011 9:45 AM PDT reply actions

Baseball America

But they typically focus only on the top 100 players and top 25 signing classes. Not much info on anyone not part of the top 100.

CougCenter I Twitter

by Mark Sandritter on Sep 21, 2011 10:07 AM PDT up reply actions

Kind of what I figured

Thanks for the info

I miss *REAL* Four Loko

by B-Lot tailgater on Sep 21, 2011 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions

There's just too many guys to keep track of

And there’s very little interest in college baseball compared to football and basketball. Heck, there’s very little interest in basketball when you compare it to football.

CougCenter | Cougar Sports Weekly | @NussCoug

by Jeff Nusser on Sep 21, 2011 2:55 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, that makes sense

I was looking at one player in particular and maxpreps had him ranked in the 1400s over all. I cringed at the idea of having to call that many kids to find out who has offered them, etc.

I miss *REAL* Four Loko

by B-Lot tailgater on Sep 21, 2011 3:41 PM PDT up reply actions