July 22, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball coaching staff announced the signing of two new student-athletes on Tuesday. Kyle Putkonen and Mason Meredeth have signed to play baseball at Samford.

Putkonen (6-4, 190, RHP, Walton High School, Marietta, Ga.) is a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher who just completed a dominant career at one of the top high school programs in the state of Georgia. Serving as a mainstay in the rotation the last couple of years, he helped lead his team to a 2007 5A state championship and a runner-up finish in the finals in 2008.

"We are excited to pick up a pitcher of Kyle's caliber this time of year," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "He had a number of other quality opportunities which made the process a little longer, but our staff is pleased to add him to the squad. He had a dominant high school career and is a winner against some great competition. Like a lot of our signees, he has competed for championships and performed very well as one of his team's leaders."

Over the course of his junior and senior years, Putkonen had an astonishing 21-2 record, striking out 128 and walking only 28, with an earned run average just over 2.00. An outstanding athlete, he also was a four-year letter winner in basketball and finished in the top five in the county in three-point shooting each of the last three seasons.

Putkonen finished his senior season by helping lead the team back to the finals before losing out in the best of three series. He went 8-1, struck out 64, walked 13 and had an earned run average of 1.70 against the best competition in the state. He was selected to the All-State team for his efforts. His junior year was just as impressive. Finishing the season with an overall record of 13-1, he struck out 64, walked 15 and had an earned run average of 2.72. He was selected to the All-County and All-Region teams, as well as being named the Most Valuable Pitcher.

Putkonen is expected to contribute right away after a stellar high school career.

In addition to Samford, Putkonen was also recruited by College of Charleston, Georgia Southern, UAB, USC Upstate and others.

Meredeth (5-11, 180, UTIL, Gulf Coast Community College, Dothan, Ala.) is an extremely versatile baseball player and outstanding athlete who just finished a two-year junior college career at Gulf Coast Community College where he played both middle infield and centerfield.

"Mason is a guy we liked a lot when he was in high school at shortstop," Dunn said. "He has had a very good career at Gulf Coast and faced a lot of great pitching. His experience in the middle infield at the college level will be valuable. He is a good contact guy with speed who can also hit the ball out the park."

While battling through a nagging leg injury, Meredeth helped lead the team to a 32-19 record as one of his team leaders, hitting .314 with three home runs, 22 runs batted in and an on-base percentage over .400 hitting in the lead-off spot. Meredeth played both middle infield and centerfield during his sophomore season.

He completed a great freshmen year with a .271 batting average, while slugging five home runs and stealing seven bases in helping lead the team to a 32-18 record. He started every game that season in the middle infield while having an outstanding defensive season.

Meredeth spent an outstanding high school career starring at shortstop at Northview High School where he finished his senior season as a member of the 6A All-State team. He will be rejoining high school teammate Rumiko Forrester, a pitcher for the Bulldogs, and fellow signees from Gulf Coast David Schulze and Dayne Cuttrell.

Meredeth's versatility in facing the top junior college competition in the country should help him find the field immediately.

Meredeth was also recruited by South Alabama among others.

A full list of Samford's 2008 signees will be posted soon.