Jan. 9, 2004

FAIRFAX, VA ... George Mason University baseball head coach Bill Brown has announced three players, including two from the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, have signed national letters of intent and will join the Patriots for the 2004-05 season.

The two local recruits are catcher Antonio Concepcion from Woodbridge (VA) Senior High School and shortstop Andy Schindling from St. John's College High School in Washington. The third signee is left-handed pitcher Jared Petrovich from Shamokin (PA) Area High School.

A 5-10, 195-pound left-handed hitter, Concepcion batted .436 with four doubles, two triples, three home runs and 14 runs batted in last season at Woodbridge. Concepcion had a .691 slugging percentage and 17 runs scored in 20 games for the Vikings and was the Most Valuable Player in the Northern Virginia Fall Classic. In addition, he batted .422 with seven doubles, two triples and 10 RBI in 13 games for his American Legion team last summer.

"Antonio is an energetic player with the ability to play multiple positions," said Brown, who has a 602-553-5 overall record in 22 seasons with the Patriots. "His versatility and strong bat will give him the opportunity to have an impact for us right away. He brings the type of attitude and enthusiasm that is contagious to a team."

Schindling is a 6-2, 170-pound right-handed hitter and a native of Bowie, MD. He is the third St. John's shortstop to come to George Mason as he follows in the footsteps of former standout Mark Gibbs and current Patriot star senior Jeff Palumbo, who was the Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year last season. Schindling earned All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference second-team honors last spring after batting .395 with three doubles, two home runs and 19 RBI, and he played for the Mid-Atlantic Rookies travel team during the recent fall season.

"Andy is an exciting player to watch," said Brown. "He has outstanding tools and knows how to play the game, and his best baseball is still ahead of him as he continues to get better every day. He is another in a long line of quality players coached by Ed Gibbs, who has a great program at St. John's."

An outstanding athlete, the 6-2, 170-pound Petrovich was 8-1 with a 0.62 earned run average last spring for Shamokin, allowing just 24 hits and 20 walks while striking out 107 in 56 innings. Petrovich was the MVP of the All-East American Legion workouts in July and played for the Oriolelanders travel team during the fall. He also was a starter at quarterback and cornerback for Shamokin's football team that reached the 2003 Eastern Division finals.

"Jared is one of the top left-handed pitchers on the East Coast," said Brown. "He is very athletic and has great command of three pitches. He has the ability to come in and be one of the top pitchers in our starting rotation immediately."

George Mason completed the 2003 season with a 31-20 overall record (the first 30-win season for the Patriots since 1999) and a 9-8 mark in the CAA. The No. 6 seed in the OBX/CAA Championship, Mason won three games at the tournament and advanced to the championship round for the first time since 1993.