(Baseball, July 23) The Lewis & Clark College Department of PE & Athletics is preparing to welcome in a class of talented first-year student athletes. With more students committing to Lewis & Clark every day, the Pioneers already have 102 recruited student-athletes who have paid deposits to attend the school in the fall. This is over a 100% increase above the number of new student-athletes that arrived on Palatine Hill last fall. In addition to these 54 female and 48 male recruits, there are another 70 non-recruited students who will also be attending the College who have expressed an interest in participating in one of the Pioneers’ 19 varsity sports.

The incoming student-athletes have a very impressive academic and athletic profile and come from 28 different states and the District of Columbia. Among the 102 recruited athletes, there are eight valedictorians and thirteen with a 4.0 GPA. On average, this group is in the upper 20% of their class, has a grade point average of 3.6 and scored nearly 1280 on the SAT.

The student-athletes have collectively earned 47 first team all-league, 11 second team all-league, and 27 all-district honors. They also have 12 all-state designations, 11 conference MVP awards. 17 received scholar-athlete awards. In a leadership role, the incoming class has 43 terms as team captain and 25 team MVP’s among them.

Among the incoming baseball players, former Lake Oswego High standout Jordan Wlodarczyk heads an impressive incoming class. The power-hitting outfielder is transferring to L&C after attending Chapman for two years. He comes in with three years of eligibility remaining. Colin Dietz, another transfer student, is a right-handed pitcher coming to the Pioneers from the College of Marin. Dietz was a first-team all-conference selection in 2004 at San Marin High School in California. Also coming in as a pitcher is right-hander Tucker Laurence. Laurence, who doubled as a short stop at Henry M. Gunn Senior High in San Martin, Calif. was also the starting quarterback and will be playing both sports for the Pioneers. Laurence was a first team all-league pitcher and a second team all-league utility player as a senior and a first team all-league shortstop as a junior. Weston Chambers, a pitcher/infielder from Flathead High in Kalispell, Mont., is spending his summer playing American Legion baseball in Montana. Sam Holman, a versatile player from South Eugene High School, is also a Legion Ball veteran, and played for the Fall Scout Team through Baseball Northwest.

Napa High’s Ryan Kostecka was all-league and all-county as a centerfielder as both a junior and senior. The three-sport standout in high school will be limiting himself to just two sports (football and baseball) at L&C. Matthew Gartrell will also be doing the double-duty, playing on the O-line in football in the fall and baseball in the spring. The sure-handed Gartrell played three different positions at Centennial High in Gresham, posting a .985+ fielding percentage both his junior and senior seasons.

The Pioneers will be adding Roland Greene to their infield. Greene was a Second Team All-Coastal North League selection in 2006 and a member of the Coastal-North League Champion squad at San Dieguito Academy in 2007. The resident of Encinitas, Calif. was twice named to the San Diego Union-Tribune All-Academic team.

Other incoming Pioneers include Rob Holmes (Infielder, Mazama High, Klamath Falls, Ore.) and Alex St. Pierre (Pitcher, Laguna Hills High, Laguna Hills, Calif.). The Pioneer coaching staff is expecting big things for St. Pierre.