Bobcat baseball: young but still confident in ’08
The No. 13 GCSU baseball team enters its 2008 campaign having lost 13 players and its head coach from last season, but the team remains as confident as ever.
The two-time defending Peach Belt Conference champions will rely on many new faces this season, most notably new head coach Tom Carty, who takes over after serving as the pitching coach the past two seasons.
“I think transitioning (head coaches) hasn’t been a problem,” Carty said. “When you have the success that we had with (former head coach Chris) Calciano I think that players expect success and they know that not a whole lot has changed, some little things, but you have to coach to your personality and it has been pretty easy for the guys since I have been here (as an assistant coach).”
Carty stressed that the expectations for this year’s team are no different than in years passed.
“We hope to be in the conference championship hunt and get a chance to go to the (PBC) tournament,” Carty said. “Hopefully we can win the games in the middle of the week and do well in this conference, that usually gets you a regional bid.”
His players feel the same way.
“We’re the two-time defending Peach Belt champions,” junior catcher Pete Paris said. “We can’t be too much more confident than we are right now. We have a new squad, a lot of the kids are young, but this is a winning program and we plan to continue that.”
Two familiar faces remain in the line-up from last season.
Paris returns to the line-up after leading the Bobcats in hitting last season with a .341 batting average. Paris also tied for the team lead in home runs with seven and tallied 41 RBI’s on the season.
This season Paris was named to the Preseason All-Conference Team and will be looked to as a leader.
“It’s a little bit of a tough transition stepping into a leadership role but someone had to do it,” Paris said. “Me and Coach Carty talked about it a little bit, and I knew I had to step up and do what I have to for the team.”
Sophomore shortstop Chandler Snell also returns to his starting role.
Snell batted .306 with a home run and 35 RBI’s while starting 59 games in his freshmen season.
“For Chandler the biggest thing will be from the neck up, realizing that now there’s a lot of guys looking at him instead of him just being here with a group of really good seniors,” Carty said. “Last year there were days when he was the only freshman on the field with only seniors around him.”
The rest of the line-up will consist of fresh faces.
Three players transfer in from other colleges and are expected to make an immediate impact.
Junior Brooks Robinson comes to the Bobcats from Spartanburg Methodist College and will play third base.
Fellow junior Danny McCorkell, who played his junior college ball at Longview Community College, the defending JUCO national champions, will man right field.
“Robinson and McCorkell are expected to take a lot on their shoulders,” Carty said. “They have big shoes to fill and we brought them here because we think they can do that job.”
Another transfer player, Tommy Rice, will start the season at second base. Rice has seen PBC action at his former school, Georgia Southwestern State University, where he hit .237 with 23 RBI’s.
“Tommy’s numbers (at GSW) weren’t something to write home about, but he did play 53 games in this league and started every game there,” Carty said. “He comes in as a little more of an experienced new guy. He plays all three infield positions, he plays them well, he switch hits and he can run a little bit.”
The Bobcats expect to continue to have success on the mound this season.
Senior righty Sean Heimpel will assume the No. 1 starter role with the departures of Micheal Antonini and Andy Reichard to professional ball.
“I’ve been a No. 1 before in junior college,” Heimpel said. “I just have to take that roll, step up and try to pitch like a No. 1. I’ve been trying to get stronger and throwing as much as possible getting ready for the season.”
Heimpel put up stellar numbers in 2007, posting a 4-0 record in 64.1 innings including 11 starts.
Fellow senior Shaun Monica and sophomore Clete Jessup will join Heimpel in the rotation to start the season.
Senior Micheal Newman returns to the closing role, where he dominated opposing batter last season.
Newman joins Paris on the Preseason All-Conference Team after posting 1.81 ERA, five saves and nine wins in 33 appearances last season.
“If we can get the ball to (Newman) late it’s going to be a good year,” Carty said. “There’s probably no one who has put up the numbers he has in three years in many Division II programs in the country.”
The Bobcats will be tested right from the start this season as they host the No. 1 ranked and defending national champion University of Tampa this weekend at John Kurtz field. Friday will be a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. and the final game will be played at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The Bobcats go into the weekend expecting to play well and come away with wins.
“We have the expectations of winning two out of three, or winning all three,” Carty said. “That’s why you play. You play to win the games. It’s not a make or break of the season situation, if we win three, or lose three it’s still Feb. 1. The thing is that playing a team like Tampa you are going to learn something about yourself.
“They have become a rivalry,” Carty said. “It is a series we are going to continue to keep.”
The Bobcats took two out of three from the then No. 1 ranked Spartans in 2006 to catapult themselves up the rankings to No. 1. Last season, however, GCSU dropped two of the three games in the series.
Newman looks forward to starting the season against a strong Tampa team.
“It gives you something to measure yourself up to starting the season up to,” Newman said. “It’s my fourth time playing them every year, so it’s always a good measuring stick to start off.”
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Feb 1 2008. Filed under Sports.
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