Tigers announce Irwin commitment as season readies to begin

Knoxville Bearden RHP Ben Irwin had committed to Chattanooga State for the 2005-06 season. Ben has been the ace of the Bearden staff for the past 2 years and will be counted on by Coach Matt Buckner to continue to lead his team. He is a 6'2" 184 lb right hander who is a control type pitcher with great movement. Tiger's coach Greg Dennis is excited about adding Irwin who he feels will be a solid compliment to the returning sophomores we should have next year. "I think Ben should compete right away for quality mound time. He is a very complete pitcher who has a huge up-side in ability and command."
The Tigers are hoping to begin their season on the 5th ( Saturday ) when they host Truett-McConnell for a doubleheader at CSTCC's field. The games should start at 1 pm.

Ben Irwin signs CSTCC scholarship for 2005-06 season.

More Signings Announced for the CSTCC Baseball Program

Head Coach Greg Dennis and the Chatt State Baseball program would like to announce some further signings to the Tiger's baseball family.

Alex Hall, a catcher from state-ranked Harriman HS, has announced his commitment to attend and play for Chattanooga State. Recognized as one of the best catch-throw catchers in the state he has held down the position for Harriman since his sophomore season. A solid hitter who the Tigers see as a "line-drive" type hitter, Hall has a long history of success everywhere he has played.

Trey Burstrom- Middle infielder from William Blount HS. Trey is playing shortstop at William Blount but could see action at any number of places for the Tigers. Another solid fielding infielder who runs well, Trey should follow right in line of Chatt State players like Chad Cunningham and Tyler Champion athletically.

Zach Burns - One in the line of fine players from Greg Payne's fine Gordon Lee HS baseball program. Zach has garnered many awards both from the school, district and area and is regarded as one of the best athletes in north Georgia. He runs extremely well and has a very good arm, but it is at the plate and on the bases where he has made the most noise. Hopefully, he will step in and replace former Gordon Lee product and current Chatt State outfielder, Adam Cross.

Nick Sholtz - Another real find in the north Georgia area. Nick comes from Lafayette HS where he has been a RHP / 3B for them for a while. He is viewed as a very competitive pitcher on the mound who brings a solid fastball with location to the table. He is also a strong hitter who loves to compete in the field.

Ian Barsch and Trey Curtis - 2 north Texas products from Plano, Texas where Coach Dennis came from before returning to Chattanooga. Barsch is a fine fielding infielder with a very solid bat. He runs well and led his team in batting average in his junior season. Curtis is a fleet footed outfielder who also pitches for his Plano East HS team. Curtis has already seen great success this spring hitting the ball, having already hit a HR off of future top round pick Kyle Hancock in an earlier game this spring. Both these guys bring a real athleticism and desire to the program.

Chattanooga State looks to ink 2 more pitching prospects

Chattanooga State baseball is announcing the commitment of 2 more pitchers for the upcoming season. Mickey Campeanu ( RHP Ontario, Canada ) and Landon Chester ( LHP, Knoxville Karns ) have announced their intentions of attending Chattanooga State for the upcoming season. Both of these are fine pitching prospects that should make an immediate impact on the baseball program.

Tigers ink another Texas product

Coach Greg Dennis has once again gone back to his North Texas roots and plucked another potential star for the Chattanooga State Tigers. He is pleased to announce the addition of Nate Batenfield to the CSTCC program. Nate is currently playing shortstop and hitting 3 hole for the Rowlett HS baseball team in Rowlett Texas. They are leading their district and Batenfield is currently hitting over .470 and listed in the top 5 of the Dallas Metroplex in hitting. Coach Dennis states " we are so excited to be bringing a player of Nate's obvious abilities in here and know that he will blend in well with what we have going on. He is an outstanding student and person as well as player and will be a huge part of our success' the next few seasons." We are certainly not through recruiting and have our eyes on a few more guys that should make a huge difference in our future success'.

Cunningham named Player of the Week

Chad Cunningham has been named the TJCCTA player of the week by TBCA. He had an outstanding series vs. Volunteer State where he went 7-13 overall and drove in 5 runs. He is currently hitting .339 and among the team leaders in runs scored and RBI's. He follows Andy Simunic who was awarded this honor earlier in the year for his work against Hiwassee College. Coleman McKellar and Adam Knight have both also been awarded the Pitcher of the Week on consecutive weeks. The most exciting part of this is that ALL 4 of these young men are freshmen players for the Tigers. CONGRATS to ALL of them!!

3 named All Conference from CSTCC

3 members of the 2005 Chattanooga State baseball team have been named All Conference for this spring. Sophomore catcher, Bucky Strickland, has been named 2nd team All Conference catcher. Bucky hit .372 for the season and caught 51 games. He led the team in RBI's with 42 total. Also making 2nd team is Adam Knight. Adam, a freshman right handed pitcher from Ridgeland HS, led the conference with 7 saves and finished with a 4-3 record overall. He appeared in 21 games total and had 45 strikeouts in 41 innings pitched. Coleman McKellar was named 3rd team pitcher despite the fact that he had one of the best seasons in conference of any pitcher. He started a game in every conference series and recorded quality starts in all of them. He finished with a 8-3 record and a 3.41 ERA in 92 1/3 innings pitched. He also completed 4 starts on the season including a 2 hit shutout vs. Roane State.