WEST CHESTER, Pa. - West Chester baseball head coach Greg Mamula announced the signing of two high school standouts during the early sign period. The two seniors are Sam Phillips of Susquehanna Township High School in Harrisburg, Pa., and Joe Wendle of nearby Avon Grove High School.
“This is a good start to our 2008 recruiting class,” Mamula stated. “We will be losing six seniors at the end of the spring, and Sam and Joe are the quality student-athletes that we need to attract in order to become a championship program.”
A left-handed hitter, Phillips led Susquehanna Township with a .398 batting average with eight doubles and seven stolen bases during his junior season. This past summer, he played for the Paxton American Legion team and hit .364 with seven doubles, three home runs and seven stolen bases. He also played for the Capital Region in the Keystone Games and played for the Mid-Penn Aces this past fall.
Wendle, another left-hand hitter, was named first team all-league in 2007 and was a member of the 2007 Carpenter Cup championship Chester County team. Wendle helped lead the Delaware Valley team to a gold medal at the 2007 Keystone Games. A three sport athlete at Avon Grove, Wendle has earned a combined 10 varsity letters in baseball, soccer and wrestling. He is the third Wendle brother to play college baseball. Andy Wendle was a catcher at Villanova from 2003-06, and Ben Wendle is currently a junior outfielder at St. Joseph’s.
“Sam and Joe are both what I call a true baseball player. They can play multiple positions well, hit in the front or middle of the batting order, run the bases well and love to practice and play the game. We look forward to having them here next year.”
West Chester will begin preparations for the spring 2008 campaign shortly after the new year when practice opens in late January. The Golden Rams, 33-17 a year ago, open the season on Feb. 22 at the Myrtle Beach Tournament in South Carolina.