Three walk-ons could help Texas baseball

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ElginHotSausage

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Three walk-ons could help Texas baseball
By Alan Trubow | Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 10:47 PM

A while back on while on the recruiting trail, Texas pitching coach Skip Johnson noticed a few infielders at Arlington Heights.

Johnson took note, but he moved onto his purpose of recruiting pitchers.

Recently, Johnson was talking to the players’ coach and asked where one of the players was attending college.

The coach replied, “They all went to Texas.”

Longhorn fans, meet John Biggs, Chris Ryan and David Shipman.

All three are walking onto the Texas baseball team, and all three have been performing very well in practice.

The Longhorns are short on infielders this year and the three amigos from Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth could help solve that problem.

Biggs is a first baseman. Ryan a second baseman and shortstop. Shipman is a third baseman.

How new are these players to the team?

One Texas official closely associated with the baseball team said, “I didn’t even meet them until Monday.”

Still, with the season right around the corner, these unknown walk-ons are garnering some attention.

The Longhorns begin official season practices Friday and will play their annual alumni game Saturday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
 
These guys are pretty good. Biggs can flat out swing the stick. He is the only person I know that has hit for the HR cycle (solo, 2-run, 3-run, Grand Slam) in the same game. Best of luck to these guys and the rest of the team.
 
I dunno who these kids are or how good they are, but if we have infield struggles this year, it could be a VERY good thing to have 3 infielders who have played together for years before coming to Texas.
 
Barton...How do you know about Etier having it locked down?

I know Loy is good but I haven't seen Etier, have you seen him play a lot or you just going by what others have said?
 
I've talked to several people who speak highly of him. He also performed well in spots for Tucker last year, notably in the Stanford series.

Word is he has a great glove and is a very solid 2nd baseman. I expect good things from him.
 
I doubt the validity of this. I think one is a SS, one plays 3rd, and one plays 1B.

Loy has SS on lock. Last I heard Lusson has solidified 3rd, and we just heard reports this week from Augie that Tant will take over at 1B.

Wouldn't be surprised though to see the first baseman get some playing time as Tant's back-up.
 
I thought in the interview that Augie said one of the walk-ons had one of the best bats in fall practice. He didn't directly say that is why he would start but you could imply that.

Can Feb 19th get here soon enough?
 
Three Texas baseball walk-ons will redshirt
By Alan Trubow | Friday, February 12, 2010, 01:42 PM

Recently the Longhorns surprised many people by adding three walk-ons from one high school.

First baseman John Biggs, 2B/SS Chris Ryan and 3B David Shipman, out of Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth, all were attending Texas when Texas pitching coach Skip Johnson asked the Arlington Heights baseball coach where the trio ended up.

Johnson had noticed them when he was out on recruiting trips but he didn’t have scholarships to give.

When Johnson found out the trio was in Austin, he invited them to be walk-ons.

All three will make the team this year. However all three will redshirt.

“That should tell you that we think they’re good players who can develop into really good players,” Texas coach Augie Garrido said. “If we didn’t think they could play we wouldn’t bother redshirting them. But we think a redshirt year will help them get bigger and stronger.”The Link
 
It is hard to not root for a walk-on. I hope that they do get stronger and help us out next year.
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