A bumper crop of recruits inked letters of intent with BYU baseball during the early November signing period.
Four junior college players join six prepsters as recruits who signed with the Cougars. The two out of state prepsters have ties to Cougar baseball as well as one of the junior college signees.
"They are an outstanding group of athletes and are also great young men who will make an impact on and off the field," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "All are capable of coming in and getting playing time right away. The group of incoming freshmen will be a solid foundation for the next few years."
Pitcher Mac Nelson, 6-2, 190, from Timpanogos High in Orem was injured last season, but was all-state in using his 90-plus fastball to lead the Timberwolves to the 2002 state title. Nelson was the 4A MVP and all-state as a sophomore with a 9-1 record and a 1.96 ERA, striking out 95 in 65 innings. He has also batted .454 with 32 RBI that season and has a combined 16-3 record in two seasons. His late father, Dave, brother D.G., and uncles Clyde and Kim all played for BYU. He also plays basketball for Timpanogos.
Andrew Law, a 5-11, 165, shortstop/second baseman from Provo High also has Cougar ties. Law, an all-region selection who batted .390, is the son of BYU Head Coach Vance Law and brother to current Cougar first baseman Tim Law.
Another Provo High player, Bryce Ayoso signed with BYU. Ayoso, 5-9, 180, was first team all-state as a catcher last season. Ayoso batted .537 with 26 RBI, six homers and nine doubles.
Sean McNaughton, a 5-8, 170, outfielder from Curtis High in Lakewood, Wash., is the younger brother of former Cougar outfielder, Troy, who played from 1994-98 before signing with the St. Louis Cardinals. McNaughton was second team all-state by the Seattle Times and is rated the top outfielder in the '04 class by Baseball Northwest magazine.
Logan Wiens, a 6-6, 215, first baseman, right-handed pitcher from Merced, Calif., is the younger brother of current Cougar shortstop Ranger Wiens. As a pitcher, Wiens had a 4-0 record with a 0.29 ERA last season and batted .424 with a .548 on base percentage.
Alta High product Brandon Relf, a 5-10, 170, shortstop and second-team all state selection is the final prep signing from November.
Casey Nelson, 5-10, 185, from Spanish Fork, is a catcher for Salt Lake Community College after transferring from Utah Valley State College. His father, Shoe Nelson, is the head coach at Spanish Fork High. Nelson was first team all state in 2002 at Spanish Fork High, batting .425. He started 37 games last year for UVSC, batting .287.
Two of BYU's juco signees have returned from Church missions. Dave Horlacher and Trevor Heid both played for Dixie State College's runner-up team in the College World Series.
Horlacher, 6-2, 180, is a right-handed pitcher from St. George. He was 9-1 with a 0.89 ERA in 13 starts and 60.2 innings, striking out 56 and walking only 18 in 2001.
Heid, a 6-2, 200, outfielder from Glendale, Ariz., is the younger brother of current Cougar pitcher, Tyler and their Uncle Dave also played for BYU. Heid batted .294 in 53 games with 13 doubles and was a perfect 20 of 20 in stolen bases in 2001 for the Rebels. He has been drafted twice by the Seattle Mariners in 34th round of 2001 and the 39th round of 2003.
The final juco signee is Mitch Woolf, a 6-3, 205 right-handed pitcher from the Rexburg, Idaho via the College of Southern Idaho. Woolf was 5-2 with a 2.28 ERA in 51.1 innings for CSI last season and struck out 53, walking 20 in 13 appearances and 11 starts. He has been drafted twice, by the Boston Red Sox in 19th round of 2002 and this past year by the Chicago White Sox in the 40th round.