Chatt State diamond gems from Australia

Chattanooga State has 25 or so new baseball players to go with a solid group of returning sophomores, and some of the newcomers have been particularly impressive in fall-semester workouts.

None has been more so than freshman shortstop Jordan McDonald, who with Luke Shipway came to the Tigers from Perth, Australia. They were recommended to Chattanooga State coach Greg Dennis by a scout who used to send Dennis players when he was coaching in Texas.

Shipway, a solidly built 6-foot-3 first baseman and outfielder, is a native American with grandparents in southwestern Virginia. The 6-1, 180-pound McDonald is an Australian who Dennis says may rank defensively with the best shortstops he's had in 26 years of college coaching. That would put him on a level with Pat Listach, who became an American League Rookie of the Year and had a six-year major league career.

"He's legit," Dennis said of McDonald. "He's outstanding defensively, and at the plate he's very solid. We've had Dylan Coleman at shortstop the last two years, and he's been very good, but Jordan has a chance to be every bit of that and maybe a bit more."

Shipway "has good size and swings it well," Dennis said. "He's not quite as mature baseball wise as Jordan, but he has a lot of pop. He has plus-power."

Daniel Tucker from Hendersonville, Tenn., is a sophomore transfer from TCCAA rival Walters State who is making a strong bid to be a starting outfielder for the Tigers. He played in 33 games, starting 11, and batted .359 for the 43-15 Senators.

Other freshmen making good early impressions, according to Dennis, include third baseman Justin Crouch from Louisiana and pitchers Colton Kinnamon from Dalton High School, by way of a redshirt year at Georgia Southern, Tyler McClure from Fannin County and Alex Ridge from Ridgeland. McClure is a left-hander whose brother Seth pitched for the Tigers the last two years.

Chatt State went to the Junior College World Series in 2010 and was the Region VII runner-up last spring.