July 29, 2001

The Notre Dame baseball team completed its national letter of intent signess during the 2001 spring/summer period, adding highly-touted righthanders John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.) and Tyler Jones (Arlington, Texas) to round out a nine-player group that is projected to be among the nation’s top incoming freshman classes.

Notre Dame earlier had signed seven players during the 2000 fall period, with that group including: catcher Jay Molina (Moline, Ill.), shortstops Matt Edwards (Mechanicsville, Va.) and Matt Macri (Clive, Iowa) and four pitchers: Grant Johnson (Burr Ridge, Ill.), Chris Niesel (Plantation, Fla.), Martin Vergara (Paterson, N.J.) and lefthander Scott Bickford (Owings, Md.).

Both of the recent signees were selected in the 2001 Major League draft but have yet to sign pro contracts, with Axford drafted in the seventh round by the Seattle Mariners while the Atlanta Braves selected Jones in the 30th round (pro teams lose the rights to sign picks once the individuals enroll in college).

“We were very fortunate to find two pitchers of this caliber in the late signing period and this completes a group that is projected to be as high as one of the nation’s top three incoming classes,” said Notre Dame head coach Paul Mainieri, who is set to embark on his eighth season at Notre Dame after guiding the 2001 Irish to one of the most successful seasons in the program’s 109-year history.

“We’ve always had a great deal of luck with late-period signees and some of our most outstanding players were late signs. In fact, John and Tyler have similar attributes to Brad Lidge and Tim Kalita, who were late signs for us in 1995 and ’96 and currently are considered strong prospects in pro ball,” added Mainieri, whose late signees also have included infielder Brant Ust (currently a highly-rated prospect with the Detroit Tigers) and rising junior leftfielder Kris Billmaier (Jeff Wagner and Allen Greene also were late signees in ’95 and later went on to pro ball, with Wagner currently in the Anaheim Angels system).

“John and Tyler have high ceilings, as evidenced by both being drafted, and I’m anxious to see how they will develop under the tutelage of our pitching coach Brian O’Connor.”

Notre Dame’s 2001 roster included just six seniors, led by three-righthanded starters Aaron Heilman and Danny Tamayo and shortstop Alec Porzel-who were drafted and recently began their pro careers. The Irish are set to return eight starting position players and each of their top five leaders in batting average from the 2001 season.

Axford-rated by Baseball America as the No. 1 prospect in all of Canada-pitched for Team Canada during a 2001 summer tour of the Dominican Republic and was a member of the Team Ontario provincial team that finished third at the 2000 national championships and second at the NABF World Series. He helped the Port Dover club team win the 1999 and 2000 provincial titles (his high school, Assumption College School, does not sponsor varsity baseball).

The 6-4, 180-pound Axford’s combined four-year statistics from 1998-2001 included a 1.95 ERA and 35-12 record, with 405 strikeouts and 162 walks in 263.2 innings (with a nine-inning average of 13.8 Ks). His 2001 combined stats with Port Dover, the Team Ontario 18s and Team Canada included a 9-2 record 1.47 ERA, 97 Ks and 31 walks in 61.2 innings.

“John is a very projectable player with a great pitcher’s body, tall and lean,” said Mainieri. “He already has an excellent arm and could develop into an outstanding prospect as he develops the finer points of pitching.”

Axford also played hockey for 12 years in addition to participating in high school volleyball, badminton and track and field (he set his school’s high jump record as a junior). He could become the second Canadian to letter with Notre Dame baseball and the first since second baseman Robert Hoag (Ottawa) lettered with the Irish in 1939. An honor roll student, he is the Son of Brian and Vera Axford.

Jones was an all-district and all-area selection in the talent-rich Arlington, Texas area that has produced players such as current major leaguers Todd Van Poppel and Ben Grieve. Jones’ senior season at James Martin High School included a 6-2 record, 3.12 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 51.2 innings. Rated the No. 6 prospect at the Perfect Game World Showcase in Fort Myers, Fla., the 6-5, 190-pound Jones played in the Texas all-star game and graduated with honors from John Martin. He is the son of Doug and Paula Jones.

“Tyler comes from a very talent-rich baseball area and really knows how to pitch,” said Mainieri. “We were very fortunate to find him in the late signing period and are excited about him joining our staff. We certainly feel that he can make some big contributions.”

Notre Dame’s wide-reaching roster base is evident in the fact that the nine signees hail from eight different states/provinces-Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, Ontario, Texas and Virginia-with the 2002 Irish roster now set to include players from 19 different states or provinces (also Arizona, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Washington).

Note: Per NCAA regulations, schools are not allowed to provide updated signee information after the initial signee release, until those individuals enroll (check back to www. und.com in late August for a full update on Notre Dame’s incoming and returning players).