(June 29, 2007 - Ann Arbor, Mich.) -- The Concordia baseball team continues to deepen its roster as head coach Karl Kling signed a handful of players that will all battle for starting spots this coming season. Kling signed a trio of high schoolers and several junior college players to the team in the last few days.

 

 

With the graduation of All-Conference catcher Jason Christopoulos, Kling looked for experience to bolster the catching position and did so with the signings of Tim McEvoy of Henry Ford Community College and Chris Conner of Sinclair Community College.

 

Both McEvoy and Conner will see significant time this season behind the plate for the Cardinals as well as both spending time as the team's designated hitter. McEvoy played for both Henry Ford and Macomb Community Colleges after a stellar prep career at Royal Oak Shrine. The 6-1, 200 pound catcher will move to Concordia along with former Henry Ford CC head coach Mike Kaczmarek, who will join the Cardinal coaching staff as an assistant coach this season.

 

"We are ecstatic to have Tim behind the dish for us providing a great deal of leadership as we look to have our strongest pitching staff to date," said Kling. "During our conversations with Coach Kaczmarek regarding Tim and possibly another signing, we closed in on an agreement to add Mike to our staff giving us an exceptional baseball mind in our dugout. We couldn't be happier with the addition of these two men."

 

In addition to McEvoy, Kling was equally excited about the signing of Conner, a native of Reading, Ohio.

 

"Chris comes from one of the Midwest's top junior college programs in Sinclair," said Kling. "He platooned last season for Coach Mike Goldschmidt, and did an exceptional job. He has a very strong arm and a great defensive presence and will give us a two-headed monster at catcher for us next year. Both he and Tim are all-conference caliber."

 

Conner hit .321 for a squad that finished last season with a 39-9 record and can easily shut down any opponent's running game with his strong arm.

 

Joining Conner in his trek north will be Sinclair teammate Trevor Porginski, an extremely fast outfielder from Mainesville, Ohio. After a season at NCAA Division II Ashland, Porginski spent one season at Sinclair hitting .238 with a broken wrist for much of the season after a spring trip injury in Florida.

 

"We recruited Trevor out of high school and we are fully aware of his talents and his injury severely hampered him last season," Kling said. "Cardinal fans should ready themselves for a breakout season from Trevor in 2008."

 

Not to be outdone by Sinclair is a contingency from Lansing Community College in Adam Goodwin and Ben Sprague.

 

Goodwin, who prepped at Portland High School, is an offensive minded player who hit .305 last season with two home runs and 25 RBI. In addition, Goodwin swiped five stolen bases for the Stars last year. With the graduation of All-Conference second basemen Rob Baker, Goodwin is among a handful of players looking to fill that void in 2008.

 

Joining Goodwin is Sprague, who will see time on the mound and in the infield for the Cardinals next season.  Sprague, a former DeWitt High School standout, hit .308 for LCC knocking in 17 runs in 2007, while also picking up innings out of the bullpen finishing with a 1-2 record.

 

Joining Sprague on the pitching staff will be Tom Colbary of Oshawa, Ontario. Colbary spent two seasons at St. Clair Community College and had a very good '07 campaign with a 3-2 record and a 4.03 ERA in 44.2 innings of work. Colbary, who keeps bases on balls to a minimum, may be a contender for a starting position but will most definitely give much needed depth on the hill for the Cards as he also saved two games for the Skippers last year.

 

"While we are excited about the addition of these fine young men, we are also very close to announcing the signings of several more players from both the junior college and high school ranks," said Kling. "What is important is that no matter where these players hail from, we believe they all can compete for a starting spot next season. With our strong returning base, we expect great things in 2008."

 

Three recent high school signings are indicative of the strong young talent Kling mentioned earlier. The Cards signed Jon Hull of Chicago Christian High School, who will work as a utility player seeing time in the infield and possibly behind the plate, giving Concordia depth in more than one position.

 

Also signed this week was Mike Music of Utica High School and Blake Thomas of Charlotte High School.

 

"Mike is a quality infielder who shows great leadership and composure on the field," said Kling. "I see great things in Mike's future and he definitely is a guy to watch."

 

Music spent the majority of the season as the Chieftain's second basemen, but also has spent time on the bump, although Kling believes his upside is a top of the order hitter who could combine with returning shortstop Tony Pounders to provide the Cards with a young, but talented, middle infield duo.

 

"We have returners and experience kids coming in for the infield, but they will most definitely be challenged by Mike each and every day," Kling said.

 

Joining Music and several other incoming freshmen to form a solid class is Blake Thomas, a right-handed hurler from Charlotte High School.

 

"Blake comes from an exceptional program under the guidance of Coach Bill Whitely," Kling said. "Blake really developed in his senior season and if he can continue to grow as a pitcher he will have a tremendous upside. He already has experience in big games, and we expect him to be a strong contributor to our program in a short amount of time."

 

Kling expects to announce further signings in the next few weeks, with a good mix of junior college and high school players.

 

"We will be very deep and pretty talented in 2008," Kling said. "I wish we could start today."