Syndication: The Greenville News — Clemson Head Coach Erik Bakich takes questions for the Hosted Super Regionals at Clemson and Season Wrap Up after losing to Florida to get into the MCWS in Omaha, Nebraska (image credit: IMAGN)

Clemson baseball recruiting: 5 high school prospects Erik Bakich can target ft. Alec Blair

Modified Jul 07, 2024 09:57 GMT

Clemson Tigers head coach Erik Bakich will have his work cut out for him, as his Tigers are hosting the Summer Super Regionals and hitting a busy recruiting trail. The Tigers could have a great recruiting class for the 2025 recruiting cycle if they can target these 5 high school recruits, including Alec Blair of De La Salle from Concord, California.

Clemson baseball recruiting: 5 high school prospects Erik Bakich can target

1. Alec Blair Is A Major Threat on the Diamond

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Alec Blair is a force on the basketball court and the baseball diamond. Standing 6-foot-6 and 200 pounds, Blair poses a large target in the batter box, hitting .338 over 45 games played. His lively bat is all about power, as he keeps the ball deep in the outfield.

Alec Blair's on-base percentage is a staggering .461 with 167 plate appearances and 133 at-bats. He peppered in 36 runs with 45 hits while driving in 41 runs batted in. His base-running includes 14 doubles and two triples along with five homers. Blair has been walked 32 times and managed to push his slugging percentage to .586.

As an outfielder, Alec Blair owns a .956 fielding percentage that keeps opposing batters from hitting his way. He has a low 90 mph fastball that will only get better as he continues to develop a breaking ball that will freeze most batters. He had 68 total chances of which 64 were putouts. Blair had a single assist and a double play all while giving up three errors.

2. Nathan "NJ" Nance May Be A Steal

Another uncommitted recruit is a little closer to home. Roughly 300 miles south at Appling County High School in Baxley, Georgia, is Nathan Nance, Jr., an outfielder with a swift bat. He has had steady growth over his high school career and is among the top 100 MLB 2025 Prospects who remain uncommitted.

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He's had some interest from FAU; however, there haven't been any reported offers from elsewhere. NJ Nance made his varsity debut late in his freshman year and continued through his junior season. He has an on-base percentage of 1.000 through the six games reported on MaxPreps.com. Coach Bakich will have a great utility player who is versatile on defense and has a relatively active bat that will keep the ball in play.

3. Clemson Tigers Can Benefit From More Pitching

Clemson Tigers head coach Erik Bakich will have to figure out his pitching rotation by the time the 2024-25 recruiting cycle closes. With an already deep pitching staff, he can't go wrong with the addition of right-handed pitcher JD Dohrmann from St. John Vianney in Kirkwood, Missouri.

Dohrmann has complete command of his pitching repertoire. He tops out at 93 mph for his fastball and has a late-breaking slider that is a punch-out killer for opposing batters. His off-speed curveball will come unexpectedly, breaking deep in the zone around the mid-70 mph range. He posted a record of 3-0 with 24 strikeouts and 22.1 innings of work.

4. Tigers May Have A Strong Shortstop In The Nation's Capital

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When looking for an infielder, Clemson Tigers head coach Erik Bakich's recruiting trail will likely pull into the nation's capital to take a look at infielder Jackson Loomis from Jackson-Reed in Washington, D.C., where the infielder was one of the leaders on the team helping to go to the DCSAA Championship Round.

Loomis, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound right-hander, has played in 70 games since his freshman year. As a shortstop, Loomis has a fielding percentage of .890, with 136 total chances and 63 putouts. He raked in 58 assists while being charged with 15 errors and five drop pitches.

The talented infielder is also a pitcher who sports a 2.33 ERA with nine appearances on the mound and has saved two games so far. He's only allowed nine hits and seven runs while being charged with four errors. Loomis has walked six batters, struck out 15 more and given one homer after facing 53 batters over 44 at-bats.

On offense, Loomis is a scoring machine that keeps giving. He has accounted for 30 stolen bases, including one allowed in his freshmen year. Loomis shows that his bat is always at the ready with a .435 batting average over 224 plate appearances and 186 at-bats where he scored 69 runs off 81 hits and 68 runs batted in. He's hit 17 doubles, five triples and accounted for seven homers, putting his on-base percentage at .504 over his career so far.

5. Will Clemson Tigers Reload at 2nd Base?

Clemson HC Erik Bakich already has a pretty loaded infield roster; however, he will need some help at second base in the next year or two. With this in mind, Coach Bakich would do well to take a trip to New York. He will find second baseman/MIF Adrian Tavarez at perennial baseball powerhouse St. Anthony's High in Melville, New York.

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Tavarez has a consistent bat that has produced much-needed runs that helped his Friars club reach the NYCHSAA State semi-finals this past season. His .288 career batting average with 23 games played, will keep opposing defenses guessing. Tavarez has 83 plate appearances and 66 at-bats while maintaining a steady 19 hits. He has scored nine runs and 20 RBIs with a single homer.

Coach Bakich will see that Adrian Tavarez has a nose for getting on base, where he's responsible for six doubles putting his on-base percentage at .410 with three stolen bases. On defense, Tavarez has a .983 fielding percentage that includes 60 total chances, 20 put-outs, and 39 assists this year. That all led to turning six double plays and one error overall.