Four Jucos and Three Preps Sign
A pair of pitchers join five other recruits with BYU's baseball team from the November signing period.
Springville's Aaron Jensen and Nathan Hess from Salt Lake Community College via Snow College are the two right-handed pitchers who join transfers Ben Saylor and Brandon Taylor from Utah Valley State, Drew Larsen from Salt Lake Community College and California freshmen Mike Kessler and Blake Crosby.
Jensen, 6-1, 180, had a 9-0, a 1.71 ERA, recorded 73 strikeouts and hit .437 last year for the Red Devils as an all-state performer. Hess, 6-5, 200, is a junior returned missionary (Montreal, Canada) from Preston, Idaho. Before Snow dropped its baseball program, Hess recorded a 3.39 ERA for a 5-5 record in 77 innings, striking out 74, walking 19 and throwing seven complete games.
Saylor, 6-4, 210, was third-team All-America by the National Junior College Athletic Association in his only year at UVSC and is currently serving a mission the Philippines. He was an all-state performer at Hillcrest High, and hit .331 for UVSC and led the Wolverines with seven homers and 58 RBI. He was a Scenic West Athletic Conference All-Region selection as an outfielder at UVSC.
Taylor, 6-1, 180, is currently serving a mission to Argentina and only played one year at UVSC. Taylor was a shortstop who played for Orem's Timpanogos high where he hit 11 homers, 47 RBIs, and averaged .441 as an all-state and academic all-state performer. At UVSC he batted .430 with 18 doubles and led the team with 64 hits as a second-team All-SWAC performer.
Larsen, 6-3, 205 from SLCC was is a third baseman-infielder and will be a junior. He batted .322 last season for SLCC as the Bruin's second-leading hitter in several categories, leading the team with 14 doubles. Larsen was all-state at Copper Hills High with 23 RBI, eight doubles and hit .384.
Kessler, a 6-2, 210, outfielder from Claremont, Calif., was MVP of the Chino Tournament and all-league. His father, Brad, was first-round draft for the Cincinnati Reds in 1973.
Crosby, a 6-1, 175, shortstop from Cypress, Calif., plays for the LaQuinta High. His brother, Bobby, was a standout shortstop for Long Beach State and was a first-round selection of the Oakland A's in the 2001 draft. He had 37 runs batted in last season for the Aztecs in a 29-3 season and was All-CIF Southern Section.
