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Coach Mahan lands 5 recruits for 2002, bulks up baseball roster with pitchers

December 4, 2001

The MSU baseball team signed five recruits for 2002, coach Ted Mahan announced Friday.

“The five early signees are all good students along with being outstanding baseball players,” Mahan said in a released statement. “We are excited about them attending MSU. These five provide a great start for what could be one of our best recruiting classes ever..”

In his sophomore and junior seasons, lefty John Dwan of Libertyville, Ill., compiled a 17-2 record and filed a 157 strikeouts and a 1.63 ERA in 128 innings.

“(Dwan is) one of the top pitchers in the state of Illinois,” Mahan said. “He throws strikes and is very competitive. He will have a great opportunity to work his way into our starting rotation as a freshman.”

Right-handed pitcher Jeremy Dow of Lakewood, enters his third year of varsity play with a 6-4 record. In his junior season, Dow had 95 strikeouts and was named to the All Barry-Ionia County and All-District teams for the second year in a row.

“Jeremy has a very high ceiling as a pitcher who, through hard work, can become a great college pitcher,” Mahan said. “He is very competitive with a good fastball and breaking ball.”

Chris Shea of Birmingham is a two-way player, playing both pitcher (left-handed) and outfielder. During the spring and summer, Shea completed a 15-6 record and batted .350 for Brother Rice High School and his summer team, the Rochester Yankees.

“Chris will be very valuable to MSU baseball because he is a two-way player,” Mahan said. “He is very aggressive offensively, can steal bases and is also a good hitter.”

Right-handed pitcher Chris Toepper joins the Spartans from Portage where he earned All-Big 8 first-team pitcher and All-District honors as a junior. In the same season the National Honor Society student compiled a 7-3 record, with a 1.51 ERA and 71 strikeouts.

“Chris is one of the best pitchers in the state of Michigan and he helps to make this class of pitchers one of the best we have ever recruited,” Mahan said. “We feel he can contribute right away, eventually becoming an outstanding collegiate pitcher.”

Infielder Alan Cattrysse from Chatham, Ontario, was a member of the 2001 Canadian National Junior Team, batting .339. On the Tecumseh Thunder summer team, Cattrysse batted five home runs and hit .500.

“Alan is one of the top players in Canada,” Mahan said. “Alan will have the opportunity to play a lot as a freshman due to our losing many senior infielders. He is also an outstanding student, making him a true student-athlete.”

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