New Ulm Sports Central - Preserving and Sharing New Ulm Area Sports History

New Ulm’s Gabe Knowles is one of seven incoming freshmen

announced as signing up with the Minnesota Gopher baseball team starting with the 2017 season.
Nolan Burchill of Sioux Falls, a right-handed pitcher and Alex Farley of Anoka, a left-handed pitcher/first baseman have signed National Letters of Intent, while Knowles, Sam Bridges of South St. Paul, Drew Hmielewski of Marshall, Gabe Knowles, Jack Wassel of Geneva, IL. and Eli Wilson of Seattle have each inked an Acceptance of Admission. All attend U of M in fall of 2016 and be set for the 2017 season.

"The 2016 recruiting class represents a group of young men who are great matches for the University of Minnesota and hold the right personal values that match the culture of our Golden Gopher Baseball family,” said Anderson. “Assistant head coach, Rob Fornasiere, leads our recruiting efforts and partners with pitching coach Todd Oakes to evaluate and identify the players we are looking for in each class.
We are extremely excited about the talent level of this class and the significant contributions they will make to the success of the program on the field and in the classroom as we help prepare them for the next 50 years of their lives."
The press release cited Knowles signing with this information:
"One of the top players in the state, Knowles has seen his batting average improve every season for Cathedral. After hitting .393 as a freshman, he hit at a .438 clip as a junior and touted an impressive .483 batting average last season. The three-time all-conference selection has totaled 73 RBI with eight home runs in his time at the prep level. Knowles was also active on the base paths having stolen 44 bases in three seasons. He recently had a successful legion ball season after hitting .472 with 24 RBI, 13 stolen bases and six homers. Knowles also plays football and basketball."
Fornasiere commented: “Gabe is a multi-sport athlete with a strong swing and plus throwing arm. He is an excellent student with high goals academically. We felt he was a great fit for our program and is an emerging talent."
Knowles scommnted, “I chose the Gophers because they reached out to me like a family. They made me feel welcome and I think that's very important to be a part of a successful team.”
Additional details of the others signed include:"

Nolan Burchill (Sioux Falls, S.D./Sioux Falls Lincoln) – RHP | 6-2 | B/T: R/R
Alex Farley (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) – LHP/1B | 6-3 | B/T: L/L
Sam Bridges (South St. Paul, Minn./South St. Paul) – LHP | 6-5 | B/T: L/L
Drew Hmielewski (Marshall, Minn./Marshall) – OF | 6-2 | B/T: L/R
Gabe Knowles (New Ulm, Minn./Cathedral) – OF | 6-2 | B/T: L/R
Jack Wassel (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) – INF | 6-2 | B/T: L/R
Eli Wilson (Seattle, Wash./Garfield) – C/INF | 6-1 | B/T: R/R