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BASEBALL BEARS SIGN FOUR
BASEBALL • Nov 26, 2008

CONWAY, Ark - University of Central Arkansas baseball head coach Doug Clark has signed four Arkansans to NCAA National Letters of Intent. Ethan Harris of White Hall, Tyler Hardin of Greenbrier, Ethan McKinzie of Gravette and Jonathan Houston of Conway will join the Bears' program in the fall of 2009...

Looks like some good signees......

I'm ready for this season to start. I hope the new stands has a good heater.

Only 30 chairbacks left per today's eamil...$100 for donation plus $30 for games...this is a great bargain.....

McKinzie will play for UCA

Sounds like Superboy.

A little more about Ethan McKinzie:


Career batting stats:
.472 BA
105 RBI
97 SB
10 HR
33 2B

Career pitching stats:
24-12 record
286.3 IP
315 K
31 CG
2.14 ERA

Saw Ethan Harris this past summer at the Xtra Innings Classic in Jonesboro. Kid is a great hitter.

DH sounds like the perfect spot in the batting order for him.

We'll have to replace Graham (sometimes starter) and Huffman (starter) in the infield too. The article said when McKinzie didn't pitch he played SS, so I wonder if he may play a middle infield spot when he's not pitching. The K/inning ratio is pretty impressive, although it was a small division school.

I talked to my cousin about Ethan Harris last weekend. He said he likes playing outfield more than infield and ended up hitting over .500 on the season. He doesn't have homerun power (just one this season that I think was a grandslam), but he just hits hard line drives all over the field.

We know we should have Tye back as a starter in center, but other than Geren I think there are plenty of opportunities for new guys to come in and contribute. We're losing 7 seniors; most of those are key contributors at the plate (Yerby/Smith), in the field (Huffman) or on the mound (Humphrey/Cloud).

Have we signed anyone to play the corner infield positions? I know Blake Roberts is just a freshman, but I don't see anyone after that.

McKinzie did play SS when he wasn't pitching. He also played 3rd at times last year as a junior.

While Gravette is a smaller school (4A), McKinzie got a win this year against Bentonville early in the season. Had 8 Ks in 6 IP. Also had 3 Ks in 2 IP against FS Southside (7A runner up) as he picked up the win in relief. He also pitched for the Bentonville 16 year old Babe Ruth World Series team that made it to the semis in '07. If I remember correctly, he hit .400 during that tourney and had something like 20 Ks in the games he pitched. Ethan also pitched one inning at a Perfect Game showcase @ Blinn Junior College in Texas. Struck out the side. (If you're wondering why I know so much, I'm his brother...also one of his asst football and baseball coaches ).

You beat me to it saying that Harris enjoyed the outfield. I met his dad this summer, nice guy. He said that Harris would go somewhere he felt he would be able to contribute in the OF. I just remember being very impressed with his bat.

Looking forward to following my brother's career, and the path of many others at UCA. Go Bears!

Welcome to all the new Bear baseball players......Gravette may be a smaller school but they have some nice athletes in western Benton County