Nov. 10, 2004

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WACO, Texas - Baylor baseball head coach Steve Smith announced his program's fall signing class Wednesday. The Bears signed 11 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent, including three junior college transfers.

The class has a definite Texas flavor with nine student-athletes from the Lone Star State. Baylor also nabbed one student-athlete from Missouri and one from Virginia.

"Overall, the group is very athletic and outstanding in terms of character, work ethic and academic ability," Smith said. "Given the number of losses we anticipate to graduation and to the draft at the end of the 2005 season, many of these guys will be counted on to step in and make valuable contributions early in their careers."

Baylor signed three players with ties to nearby Lorena [Texas] High School: current Lorena standouts Ben Booker and Cliff Springston, and 2003 Lorena graduate Jake Weghorst, who currently plays at Angelina Junior College.

Other junior college transfers for the Bears are San Jacinto College standout Matt Czimskey, a product of Midway High School, and McLennan Community College standout Matt Sodolak, who prepped at Columbus [Texas] High School.

Other high school signees are Howell Finch (Cooper High School; Lubbock, Texas), Seth Hammock (Carroll High School; Corpus Christi, Texas), Tim Hartland (Midway High School; Waco, Texas), Owen Reid (Moberly [Mo.] High School), Beamer Weems (Princess Anne High School; Virginia Beach, Va.) and Reed Woytek (Round Rock [Texas] High School).

Several members of this class have ties to former and current college baseball players both at Baylor and elsewhere. Czimskey is the son of Mike Czimskey, who was the starting catcher for Baylor's 1977 College World Series team. Finch's brother is a pitcher at Northwestern. Reid's uncle, Kurt Ried, played at Southern Illinois-Carbondale and was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1980. Weems' father, Billy, was an all-district outfielder at Clemson and spent three seasons in the Houston Astros organization. Woytek is the cousin of former Baylor baseball player Brandon Luce and former Baylor football All-American Derrell Luce.

SMITH ON BOOKER: "Ben is an outstanding athlete and one of the best pure runners in the country. He has very good size with the frame to add strength. Ben has very good baseball skills and could play a number of positions on the field."

SMITH ON CZIMSKEY: "Matt is an outstanding hitter who will bring us some immediate experience and leadership. He has good skills behind the plate, but he also the athletic ability to move around on the field if necessary."

SMITH ON FINCH: "Howell is very athletic and has good overall strength. He has the arm strength to play on the left side of the infield, but like several in this group, he has the athletic ability to play a number of different spots."

SMITH ON HAMMOCK: "Seth is the most physical hitter of the group with exceptional right handed power. He is a corner type player with surprising agility for his size."

SMITH ON HARTLAND: "Tim is a strong-bodied, right-handed hitting catcher with a great work ethic. He also has the intelligence and toughness that the position requires."

SMITH ON REID: "Owen is one of the best right-handed arms in the Midwest. His delivery is solid as are both his breaking ball and change."

SMITH ON SODOLAK: "Like Czimskey, Matt also will bring some immediate experience and leadership to our program. A very solid athlete, he has good power at the plate and exceptional arm strength."

SMITH ON SPRINGSTON: "Cliff is a definite two-way player. He has a lot of upside both as a left-handed pitcher and in the outfield. He is very athletic with outstanding speed and the frame to add strength."

SMITH ON WEEMS: "One of the best high school shortstops in the country, Beamer is a tremendous defensive infielder and competitor. He is a hard-nosed player with skills to match."

SMITH ON WEGHORST: "Jake will bring a great deal of versatility to our program as a pitcher. He could fill a variety of roles on a pitching staff depending on the need at the time. He has good ammunition as well as a makeup that is off the chart."

SMITH ON WOYTEK: "Reed is another athletic player who projects very well on the mound. He is the starting shortstop on a perennially strong Round Rock High School program which attests to his overall athletic ability."

2004 BAYLOR BASEBALL FALL SIGNING CLASS
Ben Booker, IF, 6-2, 185, L-R, Lorena, Texas (Lorena)
Matt Czimskey, C/UTL, 5-11, 185, R-R, Waco, Texas (Midway/San Jacinto)
Howell Finch, IF, 6-1, 175, R-R, Lubbock, Texas (Cooper)
Seth Hammock, 3B/1B, 6-1, 200, R-R, Corpus Christi, Texas (Carroll)
Tim Hartland, C, 6-0, 195, R-R, Waco, Texas (Midway)
Owen Reid, RHP/IF, 5-10, 190, R-R, Moberly, Mo. (Moberly)
Matt Sodolak, C, 6-1, 195, R-R, Cat Spring, Texas (Columbus/McLennan CC)
Cliff Springston, LHP/OF, 6-3, 190, L-L, Lorena, Texas (Lorena)
Beamer Weems, IF, 5-11, 165, B-R, Virginia Beach, Va. (Princess Anne)
Jake Weghorst, RHP/IF, 6-1, 195, R-R, China Spring, Texas (Lorena/Angelina JC)
Reed Woytek, IF/RHP, 6-1, 160, R-R, Round Rock, Texas (Round Rock)