Jake Bivens

When Erik Bakich made an appearance on WTKA a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned having a total of 12 commits for 2013. Here's a link to the podcast and an embed:

These 12 include several who have been noted here with Hello posts, including Jackson Lamb, Johnny Slater, Nick Kowalczuk, Keith Lehmann, Hector Gutierrez, and Trey Miller, as well as some earlier committed prospects such as Brett Adcock, T.J. Shook, and Harrison Wenson (listed in Michigan Baseball Prospects' 2013 rankings). (Adcock was the subject of this recent Prep Baseball Report interview.) Another 2013 Michigan commit is Carmen Benedetti, although he's not listed as such in his Perfect Game profile.

Here's one of the other 2013 verbals, who committed in mid-September:

Hello: Ramsey Romano

Romano is a 6-3, 185-lb shortstop out of Valhalla H.S. (El Cajon, CA). Here's his Perfect Game profile. Romano is also the QB on his school's football team, and there's now some speculation about him possibly switching to football at the college level:

Today, the 6-foot-3, 185-pound senior is the section’s leading passer, having thrown for 1,571 yards in five games, nearly 400 yards more than the No. 2 quarterback.....

He has already committed to play shortstop for the University of Michigan’s baseball team. That may change, though, as colleges study tape of his breakout football season.

“If something for football were to come up, I would obviously have to consider it, talk to my parents and make the best decision,” he said.

In addion to the long-committed Brandon Hughes (PG profile; Hughes is ranked #5 in the state of Michigan by both PBR and MBP), two more 2014 commitments have since come to light:

Hello: Drew Lugbauer

Lugbauer, according to his PG profile, is a 6-3, 190-lb. catcher from Arlington H.S. in Pleasant Valley, New York. Couldn't find much else about him.

Hello: Jake Bivens

Bivens, who just committed yesterday, is a 6-0, 175-lb. middle infielder from Battle Creek Lakeview H.S. He's ranked #7 in the state by PBR and #9 by MBP. Here's his PG profile and his PBR profile. PBR has this scouting report:

Battle Creek Lakeview HS, SS/2B, Class of 2014: Bivens is one of the top players in the Class of 2014 who has the ability to pick it in the middle infield. The 6-foot, 175-pound agile athlete displays smooth hands, superior glove actions and demonstrates the ability to turn two on either side of the bag.  Bivens lateral ability is a plus which assists to define him as one of the top middle infielders in his class.  At the plate, Bivens swings it from the left side. He has a balanced neutral stance and takes quality approaches allowing him to spray the field. Running home to first on a bunt Bivens is a speedy 3.8 and averages 4.1.

This PBR item also indicated the other schools he considered:

Bivens was a Midwest Futures Games participant and has seen his stock continue to rise.  After taking visits to Michigan, Michigan State, and Wake Forrest, Bivens decided to stay close to home and attend Michigan.

PBR also did an interview with Bivens back in May, and in July they had this to say about him as part of a rundown of in-state middle infielders:

Bivens is another strong middle infielder in the state of Michigan. He has flown under the radar but Bivens has good upside. Bivens is one of the premier middle infielders in his class. He runs well (6.73 60-yard dash) and uses his athleticism at short to display some smooth footwork. He was 78 MPH across the diamond but that is sure to improve over time. At the plate, Bivens has excellent balance with gap to gap power. He consistently displayed pop to the opposite field and showed a "get-on-base" approach.

Just a final note: Bakich is also off to a good start on the 2015 class with the previously noted commitment of Charlie Donovan, ranked #2 in Illinois according to PBR.

Update on Donovan: PBR released new rankings for the Illinois class of 2015 and have bumped Donovan up to the #1 position.