Thursday, May 04, 2000

Johnson City, Tenn. -- The East Tennessee State University athletic department announced today that Josh Kite (Greeneville, Tenn.) has signed a National Letter of Intent to join head coach Tony Skole's Buccaneer baseball program next fall.

Kite, a senior at Chucky-Doak High School, is a stand-out left-handed pitcher as well as playing in the field. Last year, Kite was a member of the Johnson City Press Super 22 team while playing for head coach Tim Lady. This season, Kite is a candidate for Tennessee High School Player of the Year.

At the plate, Kite is hitting .402 with 14 home runs and 41 RBIs. He has stroked 35 hits -- 10 doubles -- and has scored 40 runs as a first baseman/outfielder. On the mound, Kite has been equally impressive, posting a 7-1 record and a 1.65 earned run average so far this season. The left-hander has struck out 106 batters in 55.1 innings pitched.

Arguably the most saught after recruit in Chucky-Doak history, Kite has hurled one perfect game and one no-hitter so far this year. He struck out 11 in throwing a perfect game against Johnson County while his no-hitter came against Tennessee High.

"We are extremely excited to have Josh joining our baseball family here at ETSU," Skole said. "Kite is an extremely talented young man who will immediately make an impact in our baseball program. He is having a tremendous senior season and we think he is one of the top high school players in the entire state of Tennessee. Josh is a quality young man and comes from a great family. He is definitely going to be a bright spot in the near future for the ETSU baseball program.

Kite joins Justin Adams (Kingsport, Tenn.), Bryan Crouse (Morristown, Tenn.), and Scott Rose (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) in the 2000 recruiting class.