Page 73 - 2024 DBU Baseball Media Guide

2024 POSITION OUTLOOK
INFIELD
If there is a glaring strength for DBU entering the 2024 season it’s the talent and experience the Patriots feature across the diamond. Four starters return to DBU’s infield including Luke Heefner, Grant Jay, Tom Poole, and Miguel Santos who accounted for 49 home runs, 180 RBI, and 44 stolen bases in 2023.
Up the middle, DBU brings back catcher Grant Jay as well as the second base and shortstop tandem of Miguel Santos and Luke Heefner. With Poole returning after making 35 starts at first base last year, the lone hole for DBU to fill is at third base where Kodie Kolden graduated after earning Second Team All-CUSA honors his senior season.
Headlining the group of returners is sophomore catcher, Grant Jay who turned in one of the most decorated freshman seasons in program history after earning leading the team in home runs (21) and posting the nation’s 18th-highest slugging percentage (.755). At seasons’ end, Jay was named Conference USA’s Freshman of the Year and became the third player in program history to be named a consensus Freshman All-American.
Miguel Santos also garnered postseason honors as a Second Team All-CUSA selection and was tabbed to the Stillwater All-Regional Team after hitting .600 (12-for-20) with four home runs and 12 RBI in DBU’s journey to the finals of the Stillwater Regional. Since joining the Patriots in 2022 after winning a NJCAA Division I National Championship at McLennan College, Santos has started all 122 games for the Patriots at second base.
At shortstop, Luke Heefner returns for his third season. In 2024, Heefner made the transition from the hot corner to become the team’s starting shortstop. With great range and a strong arm, Heefner posted a .956 fielding percentage, the highest by a Patriot shortstop since Jimmy Glowenke in 2018. Heefner was a Freshman All-American and the Missouri Valley Conference’s Freshman of the Year two years ago and is coming off a season in which he hit .249 with three home runs, 10 doubles, and 12 stolen bases.
Tom Poole was a welcome addition to the lineup last year after spending his freshman year in the junior college ranks. The Calgary, Alberta, native provided the Patriots with a combination of speed and power, hitting 10 home runs and leading the team in triples (4) to go along with nine stolen bases.
DBU also brings back Alex Pendergast and Keaton Grady from last year’s squad. Pendergast saw time in the starting lineup last year, making 11 starts and posting an impressive .297 average to go along with two home runs and 12 RBI. Grady redshirted in 2023 after transferring from Incarnate Word where he made 12 starts as a freshman two years ago.
The Patriots bolstered their roster with the addition of eight players that will compete for time in the
infield. Among those eight newcomers are four transfers and four true freshmen.
DBU landed one of the top players in the transfer portal with the signing of Freshman All-American Michael Dattalo from Northwestern State. Dattalo started all 56 games last year in his rookie campaign and led the team in batting average (.372), hits (83), total bases (125), and slugging percentage (.561) while also hitting eight home runs and racking up 39 RBI.
Along with Dattalo, the Patriots also welcome three junior college transfers in Adam Berghult, Cody Grebeck, and Chayton Krauss. Berghult, a sophomore catcher who spent last year at North Iowa Area Community College, was a Third Team All-American in 2023 after hitting .373 with 13 home runs and 42 RBI. Grebeck began his career at Baylor as a freshman before transferring to Midland College where he compiled a .337 batting average and swiped a team-high 35 bases last year. Krauss could also figure to be an offensive weapon in the Patriot lineup in 2024. The 6’3” 227 pound junior transfer from Grayson College hit .404 last season with eight home runs, five triples, and 58 RBI. Krauss grew up in New Zealand before starring at nearby Coppell High School and played for his native country in the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers.
The Patriots’ freshman class also features four infielders who are coming off heralded high school careers. David Heefner is a two-way player who was ranked the No. 3 third baseman in the state of Texas by Perfect Game following his senior year. Sherman Johnson comes to DBU from the state of Georgia, where he led Loganville High School to back-to-back state championships and was named Georgia’s Class 5A Player of the Year as a senior. Catcher JJ Kennett was a Class 6A First Team All-State selection at Ridge Point High School and was rated the No. 8 catcher in the Lone Star state by Perfect Game. Ben Tryon arrives at DBU from Southlake, Texas, where he helped guide Carroll High School to a Class 6A state title in 2022 and was name to the Class 6A Super Elite Team by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association as a senior.
OUTFIELD
DBU’s outfield should again be a strength of the team in 2024 with the return of last year’s Conference USA Player of the Year, Nathan Humphreys. While DBU must replace Jace Grady, an 11th round of the MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves, the Patriots’ lineup features two of the most explosive offensive players in the country in Grant Jay and Ethan Mann, who both saw time in the outfield last year.
Humphreys, a two-year starter centerfielder, is among the nation’s elite outfielders and is coming off a career season at the plate. In 53 games in 2023, Humphreys ranked in the top 10 in CUSA in six categories, including batting average (.351), on-base percentage (.450), OPS (1.094), runs (58), slugging percentage (.644), and stolen bases (19). Humphrey’s power numbers also soared in sophomore season, hitting a career-high 14 home runs.
Jay and Mann could also find time in the outfield again this year after combining to hit 41 home runs and rack up 142 RBI in 2023. Jay, a sophomore who split time between catcher and left field as a freshman last year, hit .319 with a team-high 21 home runs to garner CUSA’s Freshman of the Year and consensus Freshman All-American honors. Mann also garnered All-American honors and was tabbed the Newcomer of the Year in the conference after driving in 80 runs, the 11th-highest total in the nation. Mann spent most of last year as the team’s designated hitter, but expects to vie for time in the Patriot outfield this season with the departure of Grady and fifth-year senior George Specht.
DBU also returns a pair of underclassmen in Joey Nerat and Jace Russell. Nerat saw action
in 11 games last year and showcased his power with a game-tying two-run homer in a win over Louisiana Tech that helped to spark the Patriots’ school record 14-game win streak. Russell is a redshirt sophomore who was a two-way star at Porter High School and is the younger brother of Zane Russell, who was taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 10th round in last July’s MLB Draft.
The arrivals of three talented freshmen in Aden Howard,
Aiden Pollock and Dylan Schlaegel should also bolster DBU’s
outfield. Howard was a star at nearby Hebron High School,
where he was a Class 6A First Team All-State selection in
2023 and was chosen as one of 44 players from across
the nation to participate in the Hank Aaron Invitational
Showcase Game at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia. Pollock
joins the Patriots from one of the top programs in the nation in Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was rated the No. 3 outfielder from the state in the class of 2023 by Perfect Game. Schlaegel turned down the draft to sign with DBU after the Boston Red Sox called his name in the 17th round of the Draft. Schlaegel led the state in stolen bases (45) as a junior and was named the District’s Offensive Player of the Year and a Class 6A First Team All-State selection as a senior.
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