GREENSBORO, November 30, 2007 – North Carolina A&T baseball coach Keith Shumate has completed his early signings for the 2009 season.  Shumate announced the signing of 11 players to suit up for the Aggies in 2009.

Among Shumate’s class are three Guilford County players, including two pitchers. Blaine McGraw is a 6-foot-2 right-handed pitcher out of Southwest Guilford and hails from High Point, N.C. Esterlin Paulino adds a left-handed arm to the Aggies lineup. Paulino is also out of High Point and attends Southwest Guilford. The Aggies other Guilford County signing is infielder Frankie Johnson out of Dudley High School in Greensboro. 

Shumate’s other pitcher signings include left-hander Nicholas Boles (King, N.C.) out of West Stokes, left-hander James McKnight (Fayetteville, N.C.) out of Jack Britt and right-hander Eric Chiz (Valdese, N.C.) out of East Burke.

Two more infielders are in the class. Blake McGee is from Huntersville, N.C., and attends Hopewell High. Marquis Riley closes out the infield signings. He is from Efland, N.C., and attends Orange High. Two outfielders close out the class. Manny Beltran is out of Hope Mills, N.C., and attends South View, while Carvell Copeland out of Cedar Grove, N.C., also attends Orange High.

The Aggies class includes five pitchers, four infielders and two outfielders.

“The coaching staff is very excited about the early signings,’’ said Shumate. “Each young man brings tremendous excitement to the diamond as well as the classroom.  Each one will represent North Carolina A&T State University well.”