College Baseball Ahead for 3 Murrieta Mesa Athletes

Three seniors will play baseball at the collegiate level, it was announced.

Jonathan "JB" Bishop may be among the first in the history of Murrieta Mesa to sign a national letter of intent to play college baseball, according to an emailed announcement from Rodney Bishop, JB's father. Miles Schuler was heavily recruited and accepted an academic scholarship to play on a four-year university team. Daniel Robinson accepted a financial offer and plans to walk on to a team.

They are also in the school's first graduating class—the class of 2012—set to walk in June.

Bishop, Schuler and Robinson played for Murrieta Mesa through their junior year. During their senior year, the three players decided to play for ABD Academy, a club league based in the San Bernardino area.

JB, a pitcher/catcher who has started at all positions on the field, took a fully- paid visit governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Rodney said.

"He took several other visits and had seven scholarship offers to play college baseball next season," Rodney said.

These were from Division II schools in Massachusetts, Texas, Oregon, Utah, Hawaii, Iowa, Colorado and New Mexico, Rodney said. He was recruited primarily as a pitcher and currently tops out at 89 mph, he said.

JB chose Western Oregon University. On April 12, he signed his national letter of intent. He plans to pursue a business, sports management and teaching degree while playing for the Wolves.

Schuler, who was primarily a starting pitcher for Murrieta Mesa, was a valued pitcher and first- and third-base infielder for ABD Baseball Academy. Schuler was a Second Team Southwestern All-League performer in 2011.

Schuler is currently top in academic standing at Murrieta Mesa, with a 4.23 GPA, Rodney said. This afforded him the opportunity to pursue a high-quality education at numerous Division III schools, he said.

"(Schuler) has had several scholarship offers for his baseball skills and academic excellence."

He took several recruiting trips and worked out for baseball teams, deciding to accept a financial offer from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. He plans to pursue an engineering degree and will be a pitcher/infielder on the baseball team.

Robinson, who holds a 3.75 GPA, was accepted to Biola University, La Mirada, on an academic scholarship. He will study in the university's Cinema Media Arts Program—a fulfillment of his dream.

Robinson plans to walk on to the baseball team at Biola.

"Robinson was the most athletic player on last year's Mesa baseball team and played outfield and was a key left-handed pitcher."

With ABD Academy, Robinson is a valued outfielder and pitcher, Rodney said.