Ten standout players from the baseball hotspots of Florida and Arizona are leading off the signings to the 2012 recruiting class for the Suns Baseball program at Florida Christian College. This is the inaugural recruiting class for the Suns Baseball program that will be playing their first season of intercollegiate baseball in 2012. Head Coach, Jon Copeland, is very excited about this first group of signings, “This is a great group of players. They are very talented in addition to being positive, hard-working, highly-motivated young men”.

From Titusville HS, FL, is Tyler Quidort. Quidort, who helped lead Titusville into the 2nd round of the District playoffs, is a 4-year letterman and was the Terriers Offensive Player of the Year this season while garnering 2011 All-Area honors and joining the Terriers Career Top Ten Leaders in Hits. Traveling all the way from Arizona is Caleb Conner from Younker HS. Conner, who was a 2010 1st-Team All-Region recipient, batted .325/.379/.388 (BA/OBP/SP) this season for the Roughriders, while belting in 14 RBI’s and plating 26 runs. Another new player is Cody Thomas, from Clewiston HS, FL. Thomas, who was a member of the 12U Team USA squad, was the captain and MVP of the Tigers this season as he led them into the District playoffs. Coming from Sunset HS, FL, is Brian Boet. Boet, who was recently named to the 2011 All-Miami/Dade County squad, batted .345 this last season as the Knights made it into the District playoffs. He also had a very impressive record of perfect school attendance from 1st through 12th grade.

Joining the team from Miami Christian HS, FL, is Eric Santamaria and Kevin Gonzalez. Santamaria, who was also named to the 2011 All-Miami/Dade County squad, made the freshman team at Sunset HS as an 8th grader. He was the team MVP this season with the highest batting avg., RBI’s leader, most wins, and lowest ERA at Miami Christian, as the District Champion Victors, lost in the Regional Final. Santamaria was also named La Ley Sports Varsity Baseball Awards Best Hitter in Class 1A-3A for Dade, Broward and Monroe Counties with a .463 Batting Average, and was the La Ley Sports Varsity Baseball Awards RBI leader in Class 1A-3A for Dade, Broward and Monroe Counties with 26 RBI's in 24 games played. Gonzalez, who was a 2010 All-Miami/Dade County selection, hit .395 as a junior and .380 this last season with the Victors.

The two players coming from Cypress Creek HS, FL, are Harry Amadeo and Andres Cancio. Amadeo and Cancio, were both 1st Team All-Metro selections this year as they led the Bears into the District playoffs. Amadeo batted. 393 and scored 35 runs while Cancio was the Bears top hitter and MVP.

Finally, added to the team are Ryne Manka and Kyle Harding, from Island Coast HS, FL. Manka and Harding were two of the top pitchers for the Gators as the team made it to the District Final this season. Manka was undefeated for the Gators, with an impressive 3.63 ERA and K/BB ratio. Harding, who was cut from the Ida Baker HS baseball program earlier in his career, worked hard to become last season’s Regional Player of the Year. This season he was second on the team with a 1.62 ERA and tied for most appearances (13) with the Gators.

“This is a very impressive group of players that we have leading off our first recruiting class”, stated Copeland. “If we just get the average of this group with the rest of our recruiting class, we are working to bring in a total of 25-30 players, then we will have a very good team to work with beginning in September. It is an awesome start to our program. This group of players will help to represent Florida Christian College and the Suns Baseball program in a very positive way”. The Suns begin their first season, in 2012, at home with a 3-game series against Point University on Jan. 27-28.