December 23, 2005

NEWARK, NJ - The start of the 2006 season is months away, but the New Jersey Institute of Technology baseball program is already fortifying itself for the 2007 season and beyond, with the signing of three outstanding New Jersey high school seniors to National Letters of Intent.

Highlanders head coach Brian Callahan announced that left-handed pitcher Bobby Wyrwa (Tinton Falls, NJ/Monmouth Regional HS), infielder/right-handed pitcher Evan Bigler (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South HS) and catcher Elliott Hagburg (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park HS) all plan to be part of the Class of 2010 for NJIT baseball.

With NJIT reclassifying its athletic program to NCAA Division I from Division II, the trio will be part of the first NJIT class that will play its entire career in Division I. The Highlanders, who are the defending regular season champions of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, will play their final Division II schedule in 2006. They will have a Division I schedule from the signees' freshman season (2007) on.

Wyrwa represents one of baseball's most cherished commodities--he is a talented left-handed pitcher. As a junior, he helped Monmouth Regional HS to the 2005 Group 3 state title. Along the way, he posted a 10-2 record with a microscopic 0.36 ERA pitching for coach Ted Jarmusz.

Wyrwa notched four saves and struck out 65 in 78 innings. His honors included: Star-Ledger third-team all-state in Group 3; all-Monmouth County second team in the Star-Ledger and all-Shore second team in the Asbury Park Press.

A member of the National Honor Society and Latin Honor Society, Wyrwa plans to major in management at NJIT.

"I am extremely happy to add Bobby to our pitching staff," said Callahan. "He is a winner and he is going to be one of the cornerstones of our staff as we go forward into Division I."

Also headed to NJIT out of the powerful Shore Conference is versatile Evan Bigler, a standout for perennial state contender Toms River South HS. A pitcher, third baseman and second baseman for coach Ken Frank at TRS, Bigler posted a 7-4 record, plus two saves on the mound, with a 2.19 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 57.2 innings. He also batted .310, with eight doubles and 15 runs batted in.

A two-year captain who is a member of the National Honor Society off the field, Bigler was all-Shore Conference "A" first team as a pitcher, as chosen by Ocean County's Observer. He was second team all-Ocean County as a utility player in the Star-Ledger and the Asbury Park Press. Bigler's planned major at NJIT is management.

"Having a player come from Toms River South is a huge bonus to any college program," Callahan said. "It means even more when we can add a two-way player of Evan's caliber. He can play multiple infield positions and we expect him to add depth to our pitching staff."

Hagburg, a slugging catcher, will follow in the path of another Hanover Park grad, Phil Resciniti, who completed his Highlander career by being named first team all-conference catcher and was NJIT's 2004-05 Male Athlete of the Year.

Hagburg batted .452, with a school-record 17 doubles, two home runs and 30 RBI last year for Hanover Park. On defense, he threw out 16 would-be base stealers for coach Dave Minsavage's club. Hagburg was all-Iron Hills Conference second team and Daily Record all-area honorable mention. His planned major is business management.

Said Callahan: "We have had great success with a catcher from Hanover Park High School (Resciniti) and Elliot has the ability to come in and challenge for the starting catcher's spot next year."

Overall, Callahan is pleased. "I could not be happier adding these three players in the early signing period," he said. "It is a good start to our Division I future and I have to give all the credit for our recruiting success to my assistant coach Ed Ward."

The new Highlanders join a program that will play its home games in downtown Newark's Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium for the next 10 years. Thanks to a partnership between NJIT and the professional Newark Bears that was announced in early December, the Highlanders are assured of playing on one of the finest home fields in all of college baseball.