Long Beach State University Athletics
Photo by: John Fajardo
Dirtbags Add Eight Players in 2019 Signing Class
11/29/2018 11:57:00 AM | Baseball
Long Beach State Baseball welcomes in a talented crop of players in the 2019 Signing Class, bringing in a balanced group of four pitchers and four position players to the Beach.
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State Baseball has announced the signing of eight student-athletes to National Letters of Intent during the fall signing period. The Dirtbags are bringing in four pitchers and four position players, hailing from California, Arizona and Nevada.
"This 2019 recruiting class should satisfy some definitive needs and also upgrade our depth and create more internal competition," said Dirtbags head coach Troy Buckley of the incoming recruits. "We are looking forward to tracking their growth and excited to have them be a part of our future."
The players will join the Dirtbags program for the 2019-20 school year, and the signing class includes a pair of junior college transfers and six high school players. Below is a list of the incoming players, including a quote about the player from either Dirtbags pitching coach Dan Ricabal, or associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, Greg Bergeron.
Toren Craig, SS, South Mountain CC/Queen Creek HS (Queen Creek, Ariz.)
Craig is an out-of-state junior college transfer from South Mountain Community College, where he is an elite defensive prospect at the shortstop position. In his first year with the Cougars, he played in 60 games with 32 runs scored, 20 RBIs and 11 stolen bases offensively. He had 11 multi-hit games for South Mountain, helping the Cougars to the NJCAA Division I, Region 1 finals.
As a high school player at Queen Creek High School in Queen Creek, Ariz., Craig hit .385 his senior season. In 29 games, the infielder racked up 35 hits, 29 runs, 32 RBIs, six home runs, and 18 stolen bases in 19 attempts.
Bergeron: "Toren could possibly be one of the best fielding JUCO shortstops in the country. He has tremendous hands, range and a great internal game clock. He has tremendous baseball IQ which allows him to make difficult plays look routine. We are very excited to have him."
Joey Estes, RHP, Paraclete High School (Lancaster, Calif.)
Estes is a four-year letterwinner at Paraclete HS and is an exciting prospect on the mound for the Dirtbags. He posted a 1.05 ERA as a freshman pitcher, then went 9-1 as a sophomore with a 0.31 ERA in 12 starts, with five complete games. He also struck out 97 batters in 90 innings during that breakout sophomore campaign. After posting another sub-2.00 ERA as a junior last season for the Spirits, he was named First Team All-Gold Coast League.
He is a two-time Perfect Game Preseason Underclass All-American, earning High Honorable Mention honors in 2018, when he was also ranked a Top 500 player in the nation. Estes was invited to compete in the States Play Tournament, hosted by Major League Baseball at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, pitting the best high school seniors from California against the best from Texas. In August of 2018, he was also a member of the Brewers team at the prestigious Area Code Games, hosted annually at Blair Field bringing together top high school talent from across the country.
Ricabal: "Joey is a really talented pitcher out of Paraclete High School. His talents are two-fold. First, he has above average stuff. His fastball is in the 89-92 MPH range and he pounds the strike zone. He has command of his secondary pitches, and he has the ability to get the big strikeout when needed. Second, he has athleticism and feel for pitching. He varies his deliveries and throws any pitch in any count. He's a competitor who is not afraid of the big stage. Joey will come in and compete for a spot in our rotation right away."
Devereaux Harrison, RHP, Vacaville High School (Vacaville, Calif.)
Harrison is an exciting pitching prospect from Northern California, where he pitches for Vacaville HS. As a junior for the Bulldogs last season, the righthander was 5-2 in 14 appearances with a 1.19 ERA. He made just one start, picking up a pair of saves in relief and collecting 45 strikeouts in 35.1 innings pitched. Harrison also played outfield for Vacaville, hitting .314 in 33 games played with 28 runs, 19 RBIs, a pair of home runs and 10 stolen bases in 11 tries.
During the summer, Harrison was invited to play for the Athletics team at the prestigious Area Code Games in Long Beach, representing a team of the best high school players from Northern California.
Ricabal: "Dev is another extremely good athlete with above average arm strength who comes to us from Vacaville High School in Northern California. He can run his fastball up there in the 90-92 MPH range, with command of his secondary pitches. He has a clean delivery, which allows him to repeat, and makes him an immediate candidate to contribute as a freshman. His high school team competes for championships, so he brings with him the pedigree of a winner."
Nolan Kutcher, OF, Saugus High School (Saugus, Calif.)
Kutcher is a left-handed outfielder at Saugus HS, where he is a four-year letterwinner at the varsity level. He hit .350 in 29 games as a sophomore, then upped his average to .379 as a junior last season for the Centurions. He scored 22 runs and stole 11 bases last season as an 11th grader, with an impressive .538 on-base percentage and a 1.023 OPS.
Nolan's father, Randy, had a five-year major league career with the San Francisco Giants and the Boston Red Sox, playing from 1986-1990 after he was a 4th Round pick out of Palmdale High School.
Bergeron: "Nolan is a BASEBALL PLAYER. He plays the game fast and loves to compete. He is a slashy player that can handle the bat and cover a lot of ground in the outfield. He also brings great baseball IQ which allows him to play the game as fast as he does."
Jesse Lopez, OF, Cypress College/El Dorado HS (Placentia, Calif.)
Lopez is a local talent out of Cypress College, where he played 40 games for the Chargers last season. He hit .301 with an impressive 57 runs scored, 14 doubles, four home runs, 29 RBIs and eight stolen bases. He had 13 multi-hit games and 18 games with multiple runs scored. Lopez scored four runs in a game three times, including in back-to-back contests. At one stretch near the start of the season, Lopez scored at least one run in 16 consecutive games, scoring a staggering 36 times over that stretch.
Prior to his junior college success, Lopez had three terrific varsity seasons at El Dorado High School in Placentia, Calif. He was a .367 career hitter, posting a .379 batting average in 31 games as a senior in 2016-17. He scored 24 runs that season with 19 RBIs and four home runs, with a .508 OBP, a .610 slugging percentage and a 1.119 OPS. He also made just one error as a senior with three outfield assists, resulting in a .986 fielding percentage.
Bergeron: "Jesse comes from a great junior college program and will be game-ready once he steps on campus. Jesse will be one of our stronger players pound for pound. He has outstanding speed and a very strong arm from the outfield. He should be a top-of-the-order type bat for us."
Alex Pimentel, OF, Villa Park High School (Villa Park, Calif.)
Pimentel is a talented and versatile athlete out of Villa Park HS, projecting to play the outfield at Long Beach State. As a junior for the Spartans last season, he put up a .388 batting average in 27 games played, scoring 10 runs with nine RBIs and 15 stolen bases. He was also named a Top 500 national recruit by Perfect Game, playing summer ball with the West Coast Braves in the Perfect Game Baseball Association.
Bergeron: "Alex has tremendous speed that allows him to be a constant threat on the bases and cover a ton of ground in the outfield. He has a strong arm and has shown the ability to handle the bat against high-level pitching. We look forward to watching Alex grow and develop in our program."
Luis Ramirez, RHP, Salesian High School (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Ramirez is a righthanded pitcher and infielder at Salesian HS, where he has been on varsity for his entire high school career. After making six starts as a freshman, he transitioned to more of a relief role as a junior when he struck out an impressive 46 batters in just 24.1 innings pitched. His best performance last season came in his first trip to the mound, as he threw seven innings of three-hit ball, striking out an impressive 18 batters in a 2-1 win over Cathedral.
At the plate, Ramirez is a .300 career hitter in 78 games played the past three years. He has scored 48 runs and driven in 52 more with 11 stolen bases in his high school career. He also plays travel ball for Blackhawks National and competed at the 2018 WWBA World Championship this past October in Jupiter, Fla. He also participated in the 2018 Perfect Game National Showcase in St. Petersburg, Fla. and played in the 2017 and 2018 17U Perfect Game World Series Arizona.
Ricabal: "Luis is a big, strong right-handed pitcher out of Salesian High School in Los Angeles. Luis has a chance to be a power arm on our staff. His fastball has been up to 93-94 MPH with a tight, late-breaking curveball. He is athletic for a big, strong kid and he also plays shortstop and third base on his high school team. We look for Luis to compete for significant innings immediately, and he has the potential to be a key component to our pitching staff as a freshman."
Shane Spencer, RHP, Basic High School (Henderson, Nev.)
Spencer comes to Long Beach State from out of state, pitching for Basic HS in Nevada. The Wolves were ranked the No. 2 team in the state last season after posting a 32-7 overall record and making their third straight appearance in the Class 4A state title game. Basic had won consecutive state titles in 2016 and 2017, with Spencer a big part of the title run as a sophomore in 2017. The righthander led the Wolves to a 7-2 win in the state semifinals as a 10th grader, allowing two unearned runs over six innings, allowing five hits with nine strikeouts and no walks.
Outside of high school ball, Spencer led Henderson, Nev. Post 40 to the 2017 American Legion World Series championship, earning American Legion Baseball's George W. Rulon Player of the Year award. He allowed just four hits in 14 innings of work at the American Legion World Series and he was honored in Cooperstown, N.Y. by a group of baseball legends at the Hall of Fame Classic in May of this year.
Ricabal: "Shane is an athletic right-handed pitcher that comes to us from Basic High School in Las Vegas. He is a big-time competitor who has already pitched, and won, big games. He possesses a fastball in the 88-92 MPH range, with swing-and-miss secondary pitches. He is versatile, which will allow him to compete for a role in our rotation, or in the back end of our bullpen. We are excited about Shane's future as a Dirtbag, and look for big things out of him as our 2020 pitching staff begins to take shape."
"This 2019 recruiting class should satisfy some definitive needs and also upgrade our depth and create more internal competition," said Dirtbags head coach Troy Buckley of the incoming recruits. "We are looking forward to tracking their growth and excited to have them be a part of our future."
The players will join the Dirtbags program for the 2019-20 school year, and the signing class includes a pair of junior college transfers and six high school players. Below is a list of the incoming players, including a quote about the player from either Dirtbags pitching coach Dan Ricabal, or associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, Greg Bergeron.
Toren Craig, SS, South Mountain CC/Queen Creek HS (Queen Creek, Ariz.)
Craig is an out-of-state junior college transfer from South Mountain Community College, where he is an elite defensive prospect at the shortstop position. In his first year with the Cougars, he played in 60 games with 32 runs scored, 20 RBIs and 11 stolen bases offensively. He had 11 multi-hit games for South Mountain, helping the Cougars to the NJCAA Division I, Region 1 finals.
As a high school player at Queen Creek High School in Queen Creek, Ariz., Craig hit .385 his senior season. In 29 games, the infielder racked up 35 hits, 29 runs, 32 RBIs, six home runs, and 18 stolen bases in 19 attempts.
Bergeron: "Toren could possibly be one of the best fielding JUCO shortstops in the country. He has tremendous hands, range and a great internal game clock. He has tremendous baseball IQ which allows him to make difficult plays look routine. We are very excited to have him."
Joey Estes, RHP, Paraclete High School (Lancaster, Calif.)
Estes is a four-year letterwinner at Paraclete HS and is an exciting prospect on the mound for the Dirtbags. He posted a 1.05 ERA as a freshman pitcher, then went 9-1 as a sophomore with a 0.31 ERA in 12 starts, with five complete games. He also struck out 97 batters in 90 innings during that breakout sophomore campaign. After posting another sub-2.00 ERA as a junior last season for the Spirits, he was named First Team All-Gold Coast League.
He is a two-time Perfect Game Preseason Underclass All-American, earning High Honorable Mention honors in 2018, when he was also ranked a Top 500 player in the nation. Estes was invited to compete in the States Play Tournament, hosted by Major League Baseball at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, pitting the best high school seniors from California against the best from Texas. In August of 2018, he was also a member of the Brewers team at the prestigious Area Code Games, hosted annually at Blair Field bringing together top high school talent from across the country.
Ricabal: "Joey is a really talented pitcher out of Paraclete High School. His talents are two-fold. First, he has above average stuff. His fastball is in the 89-92 MPH range and he pounds the strike zone. He has command of his secondary pitches, and he has the ability to get the big strikeout when needed. Second, he has athleticism and feel for pitching. He varies his deliveries and throws any pitch in any count. He's a competitor who is not afraid of the big stage. Joey will come in and compete for a spot in our rotation right away."
Devereaux Harrison, RHP, Vacaville High School (Vacaville, Calif.)
Harrison is an exciting pitching prospect from Northern California, where he pitches for Vacaville HS. As a junior for the Bulldogs last season, the righthander was 5-2 in 14 appearances with a 1.19 ERA. He made just one start, picking up a pair of saves in relief and collecting 45 strikeouts in 35.1 innings pitched. Harrison also played outfield for Vacaville, hitting .314 in 33 games played with 28 runs, 19 RBIs, a pair of home runs and 10 stolen bases in 11 tries.
During the summer, Harrison was invited to play for the Athletics team at the prestigious Area Code Games in Long Beach, representing a team of the best high school players from Northern California.
Ricabal: "Dev is another extremely good athlete with above average arm strength who comes to us from Vacaville High School in Northern California. He can run his fastball up there in the 90-92 MPH range, with command of his secondary pitches. He has a clean delivery, which allows him to repeat, and makes him an immediate candidate to contribute as a freshman. His high school team competes for championships, so he brings with him the pedigree of a winner."
Nolan Kutcher, OF, Saugus High School (Saugus, Calif.)
Kutcher is a left-handed outfielder at Saugus HS, where he is a four-year letterwinner at the varsity level. He hit .350 in 29 games as a sophomore, then upped his average to .379 as a junior last season for the Centurions. He scored 22 runs and stole 11 bases last season as an 11th grader, with an impressive .538 on-base percentage and a 1.023 OPS.
Nolan's father, Randy, had a five-year major league career with the San Francisco Giants and the Boston Red Sox, playing from 1986-1990 after he was a 4th Round pick out of Palmdale High School.
Bergeron: "Nolan is a BASEBALL PLAYER. He plays the game fast and loves to compete. He is a slashy player that can handle the bat and cover a lot of ground in the outfield. He also brings great baseball IQ which allows him to play the game as fast as he does."
Jesse Lopez, OF, Cypress College/El Dorado HS (Placentia, Calif.)
Lopez is a local talent out of Cypress College, where he played 40 games for the Chargers last season. He hit .301 with an impressive 57 runs scored, 14 doubles, four home runs, 29 RBIs and eight stolen bases. He had 13 multi-hit games and 18 games with multiple runs scored. Lopez scored four runs in a game three times, including in back-to-back contests. At one stretch near the start of the season, Lopez scored at least one run in 16 consecutive games, scoring a staggering 36 times over that stretch.
Prior to his junior college success, Lopez had three terrific varsity seasons at El Dorado High School in Placentia, Calif. He was a .367 career hitter, posting a .379 batting average in 31 games as a senior in 2016-17. He scored 24 runs that season with 19 RBIs and four home runs, with a .508 OBP, a .610 slugging percentage and a 1.119 OPS. He also made just one error as a senior with three outfield assists, resulting in a .986 fielding percentage.
Bergeron: "Jesse comes from a great junior college program and will be game-ready once he steps on campus. Jesse will be one of our stronger players pound for pound. He has outstanding speed and a very strong arm from the outfield. He should be a top-of-the-order type bat for us."
Alex Pimentel, OF, Villa Park High School (Villa Park, Calif.)
Pimentel is a talented and versatile athlete out of Villa Park HS, projecting to play the outfield at Long Beach State. As a junior for the Spartans last season, he put up a .388 batting average in 27 games played, scoring 10 runs with nine RBIs and 15 stolen bases. He was also named a Top 500 national recruit by Perfect Game, playing summer ball with the West Coast Braves in the Perfect Game Baseball Association.
Bergeron: "Alex has tremendous speed that allows him to be a constant threat on the bases and cover a ton of ground in the outfield. He has a strong arm and has shown the ability to handle the bat against high-level pitching. We look forward to watching Alex grow and develop in our program."
Luis Ramirez, RHP, Salesian High School (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Ramirez is a righthanded pitcher and infielder at Salesian HS, where he has been on varsity for his entire high school career. After making six starts as a freshman, he transitioned to more of a relief role as a junior when he struck out an impressive 46 batters in just 24.1 innings pitched. His best performance last season came in his first trip to the mound, as he threw seven innings of three-hit ball, striking out an impressive 18 batters in a 2-1 win over Cathedral.
At the plate, Ramirez is a .300 career hitter in 78 games played the past three years. He has scored 48 runs and driven in 52 more with 11 stolen bases in his high school career. He also plays travel ball for Blackhawks National and competed at the 2018 WWBA World Championship this past October in Jupiter, Fla. He also participated in the 2018 Perfect Game National Showcase in St. Petersburg, Fla. and played in the 2017 and 2018 17U Perfect Game World Series Arizona.
Ricabal: "Luis is a big, strong right-handed pitcher out of Salesian High School in Los Angeles. Luis has a chance to be a power arm on our staff. His fastball has been up to 93-94 MPH with a tight, late-breaking curveball. He is athletic for a big, strong kid and he also plays shortstop and third base on his high school team. We look for Luis to compete for significant innings immediately, and he has the potential to be a key component to our pitching staff as a freshman."
Shane Spencer, RHP, Basic High School (Henderson, Nev.)
Spencer comes to Long Beach State from out of state, pitching for Basic HS in Nevada. The Wolves were ranked the No. 2 team in the state last season after posting a 32-7 overall record and making their third straight appearance in the Class 4A state title game. Basic had won consecutive state titles in 2016 and 2017, with Spencer a big part of the title run as a sophomore in 2017. The righthander led the Wolves to a 7-2 win in the state semifinals as a 10th grader, allowing two unearned runs over six innings, allowing five hits with nine strikeouts and no walks.
Outside of high school ball, Spencer led Henderson, Nev. Post 40 to the 2017 American Legion World Series championship, earning American Legion Baseball's George W. Rulon Player of the Year award. He allowed just four hits in 14 innings of work at the American Legion World Series and he was honored in Cooperstown, N.Y. by a group of baseball legends at the Hall of Fame Classic in May of this year.
Ricabal: "Shane is an athletic right-handed pitcher that comes to us from Basic High School in Las Vegas. He is a big-time competitor who has already pitched, and won, big games. He possesses a fastball in the 88-92 MPH range, with swing-and-miss secondary pitches. He is versatile, which will allow him to compete for a role in our rotation, or in the back end of our bullpen. We are excited about Shane's future as a Dirtbag, and look for big things out of him as our 2020 pitching staff begins to take shape."
Friends Welcoming TJ Bruce to the Beach
Tuesday, July 02
Dirtbags Baseball Head coach TJ Bruce Welcome Celebration
Thursday, June 27
Dirtbags Baseball: Head coach TJ Bruce Welcome Celebration
Tuesday, June 25
Dirtbags Baseball Game Highlights vs UC Riverside 4/19/2024
Saturday, April 20
