The Madison Mallards have just announced the signing of five right-handed pitchers: Ryan Bennett and Cody Hall of Baylor, Michael Koehler of UC-Irvine, Josh Hanson of McNeese State and Jason John of Grayson Junior College in Texas.
Ryan Bennett, a freshman from a tough Baylor University team, will be a strong arm and valuable component on the Mallards staff this season. Also from Baylor is sophomore Cody Hall. As a freshman, Hall was 0-1 with a 2.87 ERA. This season, Hall has continued to provide solid relief work for the Bears.
Michael Koehler had an impressive freshman season for UC-Irvine from the Big West Conference. He was 1-3 with a 3.53 ERA in 23 games, but struck out 40 hitters in only 35 innings of work. He is an imposing figure on the mound, standing at 6?7.
Josh Hanson of McNeese State had an excellent spring. He was 1-1 with a 2.59 ERA and he held opponents to a mere .188 batting average. He transferred to McNeese State from Highland College in 2001, where as a sophomore he was an equally impressive 6-3 with a 2.86 ERA.
Jason John of Grayson Junior College located in Denison, Texas rounds out the Mallards 2002 staff. This season, his second at Grayson, Jason was given a medical redshirt but is healthy for the Mallards this summer.
Also to note, two pitchers that were previously announced would be playing for the Mallards actually will not be making the trip to beautiful Madison this summer. They are Carlos Arguello of Arizona State and Ryan Gehring of the University of Illinois-Chicago.