Mrowka’s summer squad

The dawn of a new season of Georgia College & State University baseball is on the horizon and the team is ready to compete.
The team lost two key players in the infield, but Head Baseball Coach Steve Mrowka believes that the team has retained necessary depth through recruits and junior college transfers.
The goals for the upcoming season are to: win the Peach Belt Conference, make it through the regionals and take home a trophy at the World Series.

Pitching

Youth mixes with experience on the Bobcats pitching staff. However, a young core of returning pitchers from last year expects to lead the team.
“Right now we probably have the deepest staff we have had in my three years here,” said Kevin Mobley, assistant Bobcat coach. “We got solid arms. It will be a fun year.”
Returning pitchers sophomore Matt Goyen (3-0, 1.96 ERA), junior Travis Spell (3-5, 4.12 ERA), senior Joel Sayre (5-5, 6 saves, 3.31 ERA) and sophomore Brandon Durden (3-3, 2.30 ERA) combine should give the Bobcats quality innings this year in the starting position and bullpen.
“It will change but this weekend we will go with our three lefties from last year,” said Mobley. “We got a good mix. We got some good guys to come out of the pen. Some right-handers who can fill some voids and come after tough right-handed hitters. I feel like we are real balanced.”
Two senior pitchers expected to lead the way for the Bobcats are Michael Buck (4-2, 5.34 ERA) and Brett Newton (4-4, 5.69 ERA).
“Seniors always have to take a leadership role and we [seniors] try to fill that position,” said Buck. “Everybody is a leader out here. A freshman can tell a senior what to do.”
“A goal every year is to win our conference, and go to regionals, win that and win the national Championship,” said Newton.
New recruits for the Bobcats include Billy Leigh (Community College of Southern Nevada), DeWayne Farmer (Crisp County High School), and Philip Tapley (Manatee Community College). Leigh played on the CC of Southern Nevada World Series Championship Team in 2003.
“We got a lot of pitching depth this year,” said Mrowka. “If you lose guys up the middle and senior leadership like we had last year, it is hard to replace those guys. We don’t know if we can replace these guys exactly, but I feel we have gotten stronger in other areas. On the mound this weekend our rotation will be Matt Goyen, Travis Spell and Brandon Durden.”

Catching

All-Peach Belt Conference catcher Eddie Campbell succumbed to the lure of graduation and left a huge space behind the plate. The duty will fall to junior college catcher John Caruso (Community College of Southern Nevada). Caruso is also expected to bat clean-up.
“He [Caruso] is a strong hitter, solid hitter, and a great leader,” said Mrowka.
Backing up Caruso will be junior Donald Johnson and freshman Scott Logan (Westside High School).
Mrowka understands the amount of leadership that was lost with Campbell and four-year player Jason Samples, but he still retains high expectations for this year’s squad.
“If you lose guys up the middle and senior leadership like we had last year with Jason Samples and Eddie Campbell, it is tough to replace those guys. We don’t know if we can replace those guys exactly, but I feel we have gotten stronger in some offensive categories,” said Mrowka.

Infield

With the depth on the team, Coach Mrowka will have many options at each position. Senior Brett Lathem (.212, 8 RBI) and junior Kyle Schisler (.174, 2 RBI) both hope to get a lot of playing time at first base. Mrowka mentioned that Wes Sorrells (.300, 3 RBI) could also get possible playing time at first.
Second base is a position that is still up in the air.
“We got a few guys battling it out there. A freshman, Hans Stancil (home school), is leading the way followed by a few returnees, Lee Smoak and Bret Benson (.375, 5 RBI),” said Mrowka.
Senior Jose Leger (.327, 8 HR, 49 RBI) has claimed the starting position of shortstop. Leger played third base last season for the Bobcats and believes that he can make the transition smoothly.
“I have been playing short my whole life so I don’t think it will affect me at all,” said Leger. “I feel more comfortable at short.”
Mike DeVeaux, a transfer student, has claimed third base. Mrowka has been impressed with DeVeaux’s defense. Backing up DeVeaux will be George Serafin (Community College of Rhode Island), Josh Campbell (Prince Avenue) and Albert Swann (Stratford Academy).
With the amount of players and talent that the team possesses, Mrowka has the ability to swap around his starters in the infield. Benson, Campbell, Smoak and Swann are all talented players and will be coming off the bench to perform vital roles on the team.
The players recognize that this depth makes the team stronger.
“We got a nucleus of guys with a lot of talent,” said Lathem. “Everybody is coming out here, and challenging each other to become better at each position.”

Outfield

The outfield for the Bobcats provides solid leadership in their defensive positions. The returning starters can play all three positions well and will provide much power in the middle of the batting order.
Returning starters Jamie Langham (.270 AVG, 15 RBI) and Matt Nixon (.353 AVG, 4 HR) will split time with other returning outfielders. Competing with Langham and Nixon are Brett Lathem, sophomore Wes Sorrells (.300, 3 RBI), red-shirt freshmen Justin Mills (John Milledge Academy) and Phillip Rogers (Loganville High School).
“We got a lot of new guys and a lot of good recruits in,” said Lathem. “We got a lot of depth with each position, so that is going to help us a lot. We got a nucleus of guys with a lot of talent. We are trying to step up, come together, and not have anybody above or below — just everybody working together for a common goal.”
Newcomers to the outfield grass at John Kurtz Field include: Nick Trainor (Briarcliff Community College, N.Y.), Phillip Tapley (Manatee Community College), and Chris Pinns (Norcross High School).
“In the outfield starting center will be Nick Trainer for this weekend,” said Mrowka. “He is a left-handed hitter transfer from Briarcliff Community College. He is a good player. In leftfield will be Matt Nixon, who is a senior. He led our team in hitting with most at-bats and most productive average and Jamie Langham has looked good in right field.”
For a team that has primarily relied on speed and small-ball play, Mrowka feels a little challenged with a power-laden line-up.
“We got a pretty good hitting team,” said Mrowka. “We aren’t super fast, I like to run, but we aren’t super fast. We are going to try to get some guys in scoring position with less than two outs. We teach our guys to drive it to the gaps but we got to small-ball it. I am big into teaching guys to do that properly and how to run the bases.”
Last year’s team was ranked as high as number two in the National NCAA-Division II Poll, but after a mediocre finish, the Bobcats ended with a 29-22 record. With his team’s potential in mind, Mrowka expects to lead the boys of summer to win after win in 2004.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 30 2004. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry