The Oglethorpe baseball program’s 2018 recruiting class was ranked as the #1 class in NCAA Division III by Perfect Game, the industry leader in promoting baseball and amateur players.
Perfect Game assigns points to each recruit according to their national ranking, and the Stormy Petrels came out on top with the most points for the new class.
“This class is full of very talented baseball players and, more importantly, exceptional men off the field,” said Oglethorpe head coach Dan Giordano. “Coach Michael Shepherd and Coach Patrick Kulick did an amazing job putting this class together. I can’t say enough about their hard work and dedication to our program. I believe this class is not only a reflection of where we believe our program is headed, but also shows the tremendous momentum, growth and progress at Oglethorpe as a whole. This class has a chance to make an immediate impact in our community and I can’t wait to get them on the field with our returning players.”
The 21-man class features 10 pitchers and 11 position players. The class is made up of members from five states, including 14 recruits from Georgia, four from Florida, and one each from Colorado, Louisiana and Texas. Oglethorpe is coming off a top 20 recruiting class in 2017, as well. They finished 18th in last year’s Perfect Game national rankings.
Three other Southern Athletic Association (SAA) teams earned spots in the national top 25, with Birmingham-Southern coming in at #2, Berry at #11, and Rhodes at #17. Oglethorpe and Berry were also joined by #9 Emory and #10 LaGrange as teams from Georgia to earn their way into the top 25.
The Petrels enter the 2018 fall practice season and the 2019 regular season coming off of their best-ever SAA finish. They finished third in the league with a 12-9 conference mark and a 24-18 overall record.
Oglethorpe’s fall season will start September 11 and will conclude with the Black and Gold World Series, a series of intrasquad games, in October. They will also play Emory in an exhibition game on October 6. Follow @Petrel_Baseball on Twitter for updates during the fall.
