Pair of Jucos Join Five Preps

Pair of Jucos Join Five PrepsPair of Jucos Join Five Preps

A pair of juco pitchers join five prep signees for BYU baseball from the November signing period.

Utahns Bret Lopez, Daniel Sechrest and Brock Whitney join right-handers Jeremy Toole from Alvin Community College and David McKnight from Salt Lake Community College along with California prep pitchers Adam Miller and Nik Turley as Cougar signees.

"We are bringing in some high velocity arms in the program with these and we are excited about the position guys we signed, too," said BYU Coach Vance Law.

Bret Lopez, a 6-0, 187 infielder batted .450 with 10 doubles, three triples, seven homers and 36 RBI last year for Timpanogos High in Orem. Lopez was the Utah Valley Player of the Year, is currently student body president and was recruited by Washington State, Cal-Fullerton, Stanford, Pepperdine, Army and Utah. Lopez was first-team all-state and all-region.

Daniel Sechrest is a 6-8, 245 righthander from Lone Peak High in American Fork and was recruited by Oregon State, Texas, LSU, Baylor, and Clemson. He was 10-2 as a sophomore and in 2007 had a 1-1 record , a 2.00 ERA, seven saves and was all-region and second-team all-state. He pitched in the Mariner Cup at Safeco Field this past Fall.

Brock Whitney, a 6-3, 185 infielder/pitcher from Bingham High in South Jordan was an second-team all-state performer last year. He was all-region and twice received the team leadership award. He was recruited by USC, Mesa State, UVSC. Batted .373, six doubles and four triples and 21 RBI. Was 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 24 innings.

Jeremy Toole, a 6-3, 235 pitcher from Alvin CC near Houston, was a 41st --round draft of the Kansas City Royals in 2006. He had a 5-2 record last season with an ERA in the low 4.00 range. He prepped at Huntsville High were he is a member of the Hornet Baseball Hall of Fame. Selected for the JUCO All-star team. Two-time all-district as a prepster.

David McKnight, a 5-10, 170 pitcher from SLCC had a 4-2 record at SLCC with a 1.64 earned runs average in 14 appearances, striking out 22 batters in 22 innings with seven saves. He is a team captain this year and was recruited by Arizona, Arkansas and St. John's. He prepped at Chaparral High in Parker, Colo., where he was second team all-state, All-Continental Conference and 11-2 with a 1.20 ERA as a senior.

Adam Miller is a 6-0, 175 pitcher and infielder following a long line of players from Yucaipa, Calif., to BYU. Current star Kent Walton and former players Ryan Chambers and Matt Carson all hailed from Yucaipa. The righthander has a 94 mph fastball and had eight saves and a 2-0 record with a 2.10 ERA in 25 innings with 45 strikeouts. Miller was second team All-Citrus Belt League and team rookie of the year. He was recruited by Stanford, UC Riverside, Kansas and UCLA. He has a 3.9 GPA with an academic letter and bar.

Nik Turley is a 6-4, 210 lefty from Harvard Westlake High in La Canada, Calif. He had a 5-3 record with a 4.25 ERA in 51 innings with 57 strikeouts. He was named to the Valley Invitational Summer League All-Star team. He participated in several showcase events: the California Baseball Coaches Association North/South Tryout, the Area Code Games and the Atlanta Braves Scout Team. He was recruited by Loyola Marymount, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Cal Fullerton, Pepperdine. and UNLV.