Baseball Adds Eight to 2021 Signing Class

MACON, Ga. – Mercer head baseball coach Craig Gibson announced the signing of eight student-athletes to National Letters of Intent.

The class includes five high school players and three junior college transfers.

"We are excited about our signing class as they are pieces that will help us grow," remarked Gibson. "This class will help our program continue to have a standard of excellence. I am excited about the future of the program with these players joining our team."

COLTON COSPER
Carrollton, Ga.
LHP | 6-1| 165
Carrollton HS
Summer Ball – Canes Baseball

Colton Cosper joins the Bears from Carrollton High School. The Carrollton, Ga. native is a four-year varsity letterman. During his time playing for Coach Scott Johnson, he appeared as a left-handed pitcher, outfielder and infielder. Cosper earned first team all-region and first team all-state honors in 2019.

Before the season was canceled because of COVID in 2020, Cosper was out to a 3-0 start for Carrollton HS. He has a career record of 13-1 in 80 innings pitched and has struck out 102. He has an ERA of 0.79 over his career and is the school leader in innings, ERA, strikeouts and wins.

Cosper played summer ball for Canes Baseball and helped the team to the second round of the WWBA World Championships in 2020 and the WWBA Champions of the Underclass 2019 Tournament. He earned 27 all-tournament team honors and was named a 2019 and 2020 Perfect Game Preseason Underclass All-American.

Off the field, Cosper has been a member of the National Honor Society, honor roll and Serteen club. He is also involved with special needs programs after school and volunteers at the local soup kitchen on holidays.

Coach Gibson on Colton
"Colton is an outstanding left-handed pitcher that had a great amateur circuit. He had success with summer ball and travel ball and has racked up all the accolades. Besides coming in to help the program, he is a great student. He has the ability to come here and jump into a role immediately, whether it be as a matchup guy or a starter."

JESS ACKERMAN
Cumming, Ga.
LHP | 6-2| 220
North Forsyth HS
Summer Ball – Georgia Bombers

Jess Ackerman comes to Mercer from North Forsyth High School. The Cumming, Ga. native has played four years for Coach Jim Cahill. During his time with North Forsyth HS, he was named first team all-county.

He played summer ball for the Georgia Bombers. During his time with the Bombers, they went onto win the U16 PBR National Program Invitational Championship.

Coach Gibson on Jess
"Jess is a polished left-handed pitcher from North Forsyth HS. He can command the zone and can throw multiple pitches for strikes. Once he is on campus, we expect him to be competing for playing time."

BRADEN BAMBUROWSKI
Cumming, Ga.
LHP | 6-4| 205
Lambert HS
Summer Ball – Georgia Bombers

Braden Bamburowski comes to Mercer after playing at Lambert High School. The Cumming, Ga. native is a member of the varsity team for four years. During his time, they made the region and state playoffs. During his sophomore year of high school, he was named second team all-region and followed it up with a first team all-region nod as a junior.

Bamburowski hit .326 in a shortened 2020 season, finishing with 10 RBI, seven doubles and a home run. He flashed his versatility on the mound, finishing with a 2-2 record, sporting a 3.37 ERA in 18 2/3 innings pitched and tallying 21 strikeouts.

Besides baseball, Bamburowski played football and basketball. He earned the Triple Crown, lettering in three varsity sports in one year, at Lambert. During his junior year on the football field, he was named second team all-region.

Bamburowski earned multiple honors playing summer ball with Georgia Bombers.

Coach Gibson on Braden
"He is a polished left-handed pitcher that has the ability to throw multiple pitches for strikes. During the recruitment of Braden, he reminded me of former Bear Austin Cox, and has a chance to follow a similar path that Austin did here."

CALEB ELLARD
Rome, Ga.
OF | 6-3| 215
Rome HS
Summer Ball – East Cobb

Caleb Ellard joins the Bears after playing for Coach Brent Tucker at Rome High School. For Rome, Ellard is an outfielder and pitcher. He earned second team all-region honors as a sophomore in addition to all-area honors. Besides playing baseball, Ellard also played football at Rome. During the summer, Ellard played with East Cobb and was named to multiple all-tournament teams.

Off the field, Ellard is a Nationals Honor Society Member and helped at the Special Olympics and Night to Shine.

Coach Gibson on Caleb
"Caleb has been an outstanding athlete at Rome High School. He has great potential on the baseball field. He was the starting quarterback on the football team along with an outfielder on the baseball team. He has power and can be a game-changer in the middle of our order. We are excited about Caleb joining the Bear family."

LANDON UNDERHILL
Newnan, Ga.
OF/IF | 6-1| 185
East Coweta HS
Summer Ball – Doyle's Next LVL

Landon Underhill comes to Mercer from East Coweta High School, where he was a four-year letter winner for Coach Franklin Deloach. He helped the team to two of the schools' 18 state playoff appearances. Playing shortstop and the outfield, Underhill was named team captain.

Over his summer ball career, Underhill was named Perfect Game Preseason All-American twice and named to three Perfect Game All-Tournament Teams while playing for Doyle's Next LVL. Underhill helped lead his team to the 2019 Perfect Game North Atlanta Open II Championship and the 2020 Prep Baseball Report LakePoint Games Championship.

Off the field, Underhill was a high honor roll student and is in the top 10 percent of his class. He has twice been named an East Coweta Scholar-Athlete.

Coach Gibson on Landon
"Landon is an outstanding left-handed hitter and a very dynamic player. He comes to Mercer from an excellent program in East Coweta High School, and we are familiar with all of their success. Besides being great on the field, he is a great student as well."

JAXON O'NEAL
Newnan, Ga.
LHP | 6-1| 185
Newnan HS | Gordon State College

Jaxon O'Neal joins the Bears from Gordon State College. In his first year as a Highlander, O'Neal made six appearances with two starts in a season that was canceled because of COVID-19. He helped Gordon State to a 16-5 record to open the season. He pitched 16 innings and allowed only one earned run. O'Neal recorded 26 punch outs and had a perfect 2-0 record and an ERA of 0.56.

In his first start at Gordon State, he went four innings against Columbia State Community College. In the game, he struck out eight and only allowed three hits. In his final start of the year, O'Neal went five innings and did not allow a hit while striking out a career-high nine batters as he picked up the win for the Highlanders.

Coach Gibson on Jaxon
"Jaxon is a left-handed power pitcher from Gordon State College. We have heard great things about him from his high school coach, who played for me. Jaxon is a player who will make a huge impact and come here and jump into the rotation immediately and be a factor."

JOSZEF ROHRBACHER
Tallahassee, Fla.
C | 5-10| 190
Lawton Chiles | Chipola College

Joszef Rohrbacher joins the Bears after spending the past two seasons at Chipola College. During the 2020 season, Rohrbacher played in 24 games. He finished with the third-best average on the team as he hit .300 on the season. He had 12 hits with three extra-base hits, two doubles and one triple. Rohrbacher drove in seven runs.

On March 6, Rohrbacher went four-for-five with a double against Shelton State Community College. In the contest, he tallied one RBI. The next day, Rohrbacher went two-for-two with a triple and drove in one run.

During the 2019 season, he helped Chipola to the Florida JUCO State Championship for the third-straight season, where the team punched its ticket to the 2019 JUCO World Series. He appeared in 39 games for Chipola and drove in 16 runs.

Coach Gibson on Joszef
"Joszef is an outstanding catcher and left-handed hitter at an outstanding program in Chipola. Behind the plate, he is a great defender and has the ability to hit anywhere in the lineup. He is a dynamic player who can run, hit and defend."

AVERY STEPHENS
Valdosta, Ga.
RHP | 6-4 | 235
Valdosta HS | Gulf Coast State College

Avery Stephens comes to Macon, Ga. from Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Fla. In his first year as a Commodore, Stephens helped the team to an 18-7 record before COVID-19. He made seven appearances, with four starts for Gulf Coast State. He went 1-0 on the season with 20 innings pitched and tallied 20 strikeouts.

He made his collegiate debut for the Commodores on Jan. 26 when he pitched a scoreless inning against the Faulkner University JV team. Stephens picked up his lone win of the season on Feb. 29 at Andrew College. Against Andrew, Stephens tossed four innings of five-hit ball and struck out a career-high five batters.

Coach Gibson on Avery
"Avery is a big power right-handed pitcher joining us from Gulf Coast State College. It is always nice to bring a Georgia kid home to finish out his collegiate career. He is a projectable right-handed pitcher that can run the ball up there in the low-to-mid 90s."

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