By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

With the first weekend of college baseball season in the record books, we’ll take some time today to examine the quality and depth of San Antonio-area talent in NCAA Division I.

Last year, we had players such as Jace Jung at Texas Tech, Dalton Shuffield at Texas State and Jalen Battles at Arkansas, and all made headlines for strong programs.

This year, those players have moved on in their careers. But, as usual, we discovered through a little research over the past few weeks dozens more from the local area on current Division I rosters.

Like Jung, Shuffield and Battles, a handful of them could make a significant impact on teams that will challenge for NCAA tournament berths in June.

A handful of the headliners this year include Texas A&M pitcher Nathan Dettmer from Johnson High School, TCU outfielder Luke Boyers (Boerne Champion) and Alabama catcher Dominic Tamez (also from Johnson).

Dettmer, who pitched in the College World Series last year, is rated by mlb.com as the No. 48 prospect for the 2023 MLB draft.

But after the opening weekend of play, we should probably also start talking about Texas State University catcher August Ramirez, a junior from O’Connor.

Ramirez stroked four hits, including two home runs, as the explosive Bobcats swept three games last weekend in a season-opening home series against the Big Ten’s Northwestern Wildcats.

The Bobcats, who notably recorded a 47-14 record and reached the finals of a Stanford-hosted NCAA regional last year, appear to be loaded once again.

Coach Steve Trout’s team hit .437 and exploded for 56 runs, all while bashing 13 home runs, on its opening weekend of the 2023 season. Ramirez hit safely in all three games against the visitors from Chicago, going 4 for 11.

In addition, he smashed a home run Saturday in a 20-5 victory. Ramirez, who bats from the left side, added another homer Sunday as the Texas State offense continued to sizzle, 24-9.

Last year, Ramirez played behind Peyton Lewis, who started at catcher in all four of the team’s NCAA games at Stanford. But when Ramirez played, he produced, batting .312 in 27 games. Eleven of his hits went for extra bases, and he had 16 RBIs.

This year, he’s started Texas State’s first three games at catcher, and he continues to swing a hot bat.

S.A. area connections

Here is our list of athletes from the San Antonio area playing in NCAA Division I baseball programs.

Texas State

August Ramirez, redshirt junior catcher from O’Connor HS and Cisco College
Rashawn Galloway, freshman catcher from Boerne HS
Colten Drake, junior left-handed pitcher from Kerrville Tivy and Blinn College

UTSA

Josh Killeen, senior catcher from Reagan HS, Wichita State
Ryan Beaird, sophomore pitcher from Reagan
Ruger Riojas, freshman pitcher from Wimberley
Ryan Ward, junior pitcher from Clemens
Garrett Brooks, redshirt freshman outfielder from Smithson Valley
Preston Freeman, freshman infielder from Floresville
Aiden Baumann, freshman outfielder from New Braunfels HS

Baylor

Austin Stracener, sophomore infielder from New Braunfels Canyon HS
Andrew Petrowski, junior pitcher from Clark

Texas

Porter Brown, junior outfielder from Reagan HS
DJ Burke, junior right-handed pitcher from Clark, Garden City and San Jacinto JC
Jalin Flores, freshman infielder from Brandeis
Travis Sthele, redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher from Reagan
Sam Walbridge, sophomore left-handed pitcher from Saint Mary’s Hall

Texas Tech

Zac Vooletich, senior infielder/outfielder from Brandeis
Brandon Beckel, junior pitcher from Antonian

Texas A&M

Kasen Wells, freshman outfielder from Smithson Valley HS
Jordan Thompson, senior outfielder from Boerne Champion and Incarnate Word
Nathan Dettmer, junior right-handed pitcher from Johnson

TCU

Anthony Silva, freshman infielder from Clark HS
Luke Boyers, junior outfielder from Boerne Champion
Cohen Feser, sophomore right-handed pitcher from Reagan

Oklahoma

Will Carsten, junior pitcher from Reagan HS and McLennan CC

Arkansas

Hunter Grimes, junior infielder/outfielder from Kerrville Tivy HS, UTSA and McLennan CC

Alabama

Dominic Tamez, junior catcher from Johnson HS, Arkansas and McLennan CC

Tarleton State

Jake Burcham, sophomore pitcher-infielder from Reagan HS
Zane Badmaev, junior pitcher from Boerne HS

Wichita State

Kyte McDonald, junior outfielder from Antonian, Mississippi State, Alvin CC

Incarnate Word

Isaiah Zavala, senior pitcher from Southwest HS
EJ Garcia, freshman pitcher from New Braunfels Canyon
Joe Jimenez, grad student infielder from Johnson and Texas Lutheran University
Jacob Caraway, freshman outfielder from Boerne Champion
Matthew Flores-King, freshman outfielder from Johnson

Houston Christian

Jarek Wells, junior pitcher/outfielder from Smithson Valley HS and Midland College
Dylan LaRue, freshman catcher from Blanco
Tyler LaRue, senior catcher from Blanco, also Rice University and Grayson College
Lance Berkman, head coach, from New Braunfels Canyon

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Chance Reisdorph, sophomore catcher from New Braunfels Canyon HS
Cole Modgling, senior outfielder from Medina Valley, Northeast Texas CC
Jaime Ramirez, redshirt junior pitcher from Holy Cross HS
Evans Hendricks, junior pitcher from Navarro HS, and Temple Junior College
Zach Garcia, sophomore pitcher from New Braunfels HS
RJ Carver, junior first baseman from Smithson Valley and Western Texas College
Sean Moore, freshman pitcher from Fair Oaks Ranch and Cornerstone
Scott Malone, head coach, former assistant coach at UTSA

UT-Rio Grande Valley

Ulises Tovar, junior pitcher from Hays HS and North Central Texas College

Sam Houston State

Clayton Chadwick, junior outfielder from La Vernia HS
Alex Magers, junior pitcher from D’Hanis and Texas A&M

Stephen F. Austin

Cal Martin, junior infielder from Reagan HS

Editor’s note: This list remains a work in progress. We’ll add to it when when more information emerges. Thanks, Jerry