Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats
Conference: Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC)
Head Coach: Jonathan Hernandez 6th Season
2023 Record: 33-27 (.550)
Black College Nines (BCN) 2023 HBCU Baseball Final Poll: No. 2
Top Returning Players:
Garrett Chun, OF
Colton Olasin, INF
Top Freshman Recruits:
Jorge Gonzalez-Febo, INF
Top JUCO Transfer:
Tanner Boccabello, RHP
Jeffrey Gonzalez, RHP
Aaron Schaefer, RHP
Daniel Figueroa, OF
Peter Vasquez, INF
Sergio Rivera, OF
Top Transfer/Portal
José González, INF (Ave Maria)
Dylan Vega, RHP (USF)
Ramses Cordova, INF (Winthrop)
Harold Baez, RHP (Pitt State University)
Preseason Overview:
The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats are excited for the new season and are hoping to make it back to the SWAC conference championship game. They wrapped up last season with a decent 33-27 overall record and a solid 20-9 in the conference. The Wildcats have a number of returning players, JUCO transfers, and fresh faces joining in for the 2024season.
Bethune lost key players to professional baseball last season. Joan Gonzalez signed an undrafted free agent contract with the San Diego, Nolan Santos was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the seventh round of the 2023 MLB Draft, and Hylan Hall inked a contract with the Frederick Keys. Expect the Wildcats to continue its trend of top MLB potential draft picks in 2024 with righthanded pitchers Tanner Boccabello and Jeffrey Gonzalez, infielder Ramses Cordova, and catcher Irvin Escobar being players to watch.
Bethune-Cookman head baseball coach Jonathan Hernandez landed another nationally ranked junior college recruiting class, as the Wildcats hauled in the 21st ranked class in the country, topping last season’s ranking of 37th best.
B-CU has some talented juniors to look out for in righthanded pitcher Tanner Boccabello, catcher Irvin Escobar and Jorge Rodriguez. Grad student Jose Gonzalez, a first baseman/outfielder is another good one.
The Wildcats tapped into the transfer portal and landed some top players in José González, an infielder from Ave Maria University, Dylan Vega, a righthanded pitcher from the University of South Florida, Ramses Cordova, an infielder from Winthrop University, and Harold Baez, a righthanded pitcher from Pittsburgh State University.
Top returning impact players include outfielder Garrett Chun, infielder Colton Olasin, and catcher Irvin Escobar. Righthanded pitcher Pablo Torres and lefty Daniel Gaviria will be weekend starters on the mound.
Top incoming freshman infielder Jorge Gonzalez-Febo will see a ton of playing time as a starter.
Ranking his recruiting class, Hernandez stated “Overall we are excited about the recruiting class. Our JUCO Recruiting class will provide us with quality depth on the mound as well as players with experience on the position player side from winning JUCO programs. It is a class that bolstered our roster for this upcoming season. A really good Fall season we had with all of our new incoming baseball players, and we are excited as the season approaches.”