Cal Baseball Signs Six to Letters of Intent

BERKELEY – The California baseball program continued its strong recruiting efforts by signing six talented athletes to national letters of intent – featuring three pitchers and three position players– it was announced today by Golden Bear head coach David Esquer.

Included in Cal’s incoming class for fall 2016 is Tanner Dodson, a 6-2, 175-pound right-handed pitcher/switch-hitting outfielder from Elk Grove (Jesuit High School); Tyrus Greene, a 5-11, 160-pound left-handed hitting catcher from San Diego (St. Augustine High School) and Jeffrey Mitchell, a 5-10, 170-pound outfielder from Pleasant Hill (College Park High School).

As a junior in 2014, the switch-hitting Dodson batted .348 with two home runs, and on the mound the right-hander had a 1.32 ERA for Jesuit High School. A member of Perfect Game’s 17U World Series all-tournament team, his fastball has been clocked at 92 mph and he also features a curveball, slider and change-up.

Greene hit .375 with two home runs, 23 RBI and 16 stolen bases last year as a junior. Over his three varsity seasons at St. Augustine High School he has hit .353 with four home runs, 48 RBI and 31 stolen bases.  Greene was an All-Eastern League catcher and a member of the San Diego All-Academic Team as a junior year. This past summer, he was a catcher on the 17U USA National Developmental Team and his club team, CBA Marucci, was ranked sixth in the nation.

Speedy outfielder Mitchell has amassed 58 career steals and 68 career runs at College Park High School, helping his team to the Division II North Coast Section title. He was first-team all-league and honorable mention All-East Bay as a junior. Additionally, he was part of the NorCal State championship basketball team during the 2012-13 season.

Also signing national letters of intent with the Bears were Ripken Reyes, a 5-10, 170-pound switch-hitting infielder from Stockton (St. Mary’s High School); Aaron Shortridge, a 6-2, 165-pound right-handed pitcher from Napa (Vintage High School) and Michael Soroka, a 6-4, 200-pound right-handed pitcher from Alberta, Calgary, Canada.

Reyes is a standout switch-hitting infielder for St. Mary’s High School, producing a .342 career batting average in his two varsity seasons with a .440 on-base percentage with 64 hits, 50 runs and 27 RBI in 67 games. As a junior in 2014 he hit .408 in 33 games with 12 doubles, three triples and 18 RBI, earning TCAL MVP honors.

A top right-hander at Vintage High School, Shortridge has been a member of his school’s varsity squad ever since his freshman year and as a junior was named the Spalding Most Outstanding Pitcher award at the Bay Area World Series. He was a finalist for Player of the Year on the 2014 All-Napa County team and had his team’s best record (6-4), most innings pitched (58.0), most strikeouts (72) with just 20 walks and a 1.33 ERA.

Soroka is a top right-hander out of Alberta, Canada where he is a member of the Canadian Junior National Team and the Calgary PBF Redbirds. He threw two no-hitters this past summer and was a member of the All-Area Code Team. Soroka also traveled with the Canadian Junior National Team to the Pan Am Games in Mexico, starting versus Panama and against Mexico in the bronze medal game. He threw 3.0 innings with one hit and two strikeouts in an exhibition game against the Oakland A’s Double A squad last spring as well.

“This is the most complete class we’ve had in several years,” said Esquer, the 2011 National Coach of the Year. “We have three arms – Dodson, Shortridge, Soroka – with the talent to be weekend starters for us right away, and our three position players – Greene, Reyes, Mitchell – give us strength through the middle of the diamond as a catcher, shortstop and center fielder.”

CALIFORNIA’S 2014 BASEBALL RECRUITING CLASS

Name                                    Pos                          B/T         Last School (Hometown)

Tanner Dodson                    RHP/OF                 S/R         Jesuit HS (Elk Grove, Calif.)

Tyrus Greene                        C                             L/R         St. Augustine HS (San Diego, Calif.)

Jeffrey Mitchell                      OF                           R/R         College Park HS (Pleasanton, Calif.)

Ripken Reyes                       INF                          S/R         St. Mary’s HS (Stockton, Calif.)

Aaron Shortridge                 RHP                        R/R         Vintage HS (Napa, Calif.)

Michael Soroka                    RHP                        R/R         Bishop Carroll HS (Alberta, Canada)