After posting back-to-back .300 seasons at the plate for the Marshalltown Community College baseball team, Ty Russell (Victoria, BC/Lambrick Park) has committed to play for the Alabama A&M University Bulldogs. Russell will join three former Tiger teammates on the roster.
Russell posted a career .337 batting average for the Tigers, collecting 92 hits in his career. The former catcher-turned-first baseman recorded nine home runs over two years, including eight as a sophomore. Russell was named to the First Team All-Region XI as a freshman and was a second team pick during his final season. The Athletic Training major was also a two-time Academic All-Region First Team honoree and earned the NJCAA Exemplary Academic Achievement Award after posting a 3.71 GPA as a sophomore.
Russell will join former Tiger standouts Justen Folger, Ben Ryder, and Andrew Utterback on the Bulldogs' roster. Utterback, who played two seasons at MCC (2011-13), was voted as the Southwestern Athletic Conference Hitter of the Year along with the collegesportsmadness.com Field Player of the Year after leading the Bulldogs to its first 20-win season. Utterback posted a .406 batting average, the top mark in the conference and 16th best in the nation.
In his first season at A&M, Folger collected 31 hits as the team's primary second baseman, making 34 starts on the year. Ryder, a former right handed pitcher for the Tigers, tossed 54.1 innings as a junior for the Bulldogs while making a team-high 12 starts on the mound.
Utterback and Ryder carried their success to the New York Collegiate Baseball league over the summer with the Geneva Red Wings where each earned All-Star selections.
Russell, Folger, Ryder, and Utterback helped the Tigers reach the Region XI Division I Championship game in 2013, a feat the Tigers repeated in 2014.
