Pitching – I'm really excited about our pitching overall. Last year we finished 10th in the country in pitching. We returned everyone for the most part other than Jared Campbell and Ryan Kroko, but the core of the staff is back. Adam Miller had a great fall without question. He was first team All Conference and should have been an All American but he is back and focused. Kyle McCullough is back and if you follow us enough you'll know he may be our best overall guy. He won the first game of the National Regional last year at Lee and closed for us all year. Kyle brings a tremendous attitude to the team, plus he can pitch with a lead and that is hard to find. Andres Castro, Andrew Barrineau, Colton Rudd, Jorge Olmo and Spencer Cromer are all back and ALL of them made a tremendous contribution to our overall success last year, whether starting or coming out of the bullpen. Steven Richards, Alex Graham and Thurman Pellum were red shirted last year and are competing for pitching time this year. All three are good enough to help this program. We've been blessed to add a transfer this year. Dexter Price pitched at Auburn for two years and had been drafted by Major League Baseball out of High School before coming to us. Dexter is very talented on and off the field and clearly makes everyone around him better. We have also added Luke Pritchard to our team from Campbell University. Luke did not pitch much this fall because of some tenderness in his arm, but you can see he could help us. If we can live by skill vs. will we could be looking at a huge year from our Pitching core. That's exciting!
Catching – Our catching group worked very hard this fall and that will pay dividends down the road. Clay Bonds is returning for his junior year and it has been fun watching him grow before us. Clay has been a huge part of our success for two years and started both years. Clay is now bigger, stronger and quicker as a junior. He understands the program's needs to play pitch to pitch, inning to inning and game to game and will be huge part of our continued success. Brett Wheeler is back for his junior year. Brett has a tremendous amount of athletic ability and loves to work. Wheel's has played outfield, infield and caught for us. He brings us a flexibility that is hard to find and that makes our team better. A catcher that runs a 6.860 yard dash is not normal. He had a good fall and always brings the correct attitude to the field and classroom. I can't imagine him not in the mix to help us get to a World Series. Brett Martin had a good fall. He transferred in from Garrett JC and had a great JUCO career. He can swing the bat and is a worker. One thing I know is you can never have enough quality catching, middle infielders or pitching. Brett improves our team and has a chance to be a very good player for us. Eric Armstrong is a freshman from Jupiter, Florida and has a tremendous future. He is big, strong, athletic and very impressive at the plate. There is NO doubt in my mind he will be a tremendous offensive player here. He again brings us some flexibility. We played him at third base and outfield this fall and he did not miss a beat. He loves to play and we are glad we have him. His brother is a starting pitcher at Vanderbilt and his Dad pitched in the Big Leagues. Eric's pedigree is impressive.
Infield – I believe that when the pitching and defense come together the offensive follows, which is the key to winning. Our Infield play shows signs of being outstanding again. We lost tremendous defenders in Blake Sanders and Zach Rossetti to graduation. They will be hard to replace, but we have added some very talented infielders in Daniel Wass, Andrew Boyll and Blake Cilwick to our returning Infield mix. Daniel brings a tremendous amount of success from Junior College. He played at Faulkner State and led them to the JUCO World Series last year. Daniel shows a strong work ethic and attitude that is ALL Sand Shark. Andrew, a freshman with great athletic ability, was very aggressive in the fall. Andrew, along with the other freshman will lead the Sand Sharks into an exciting future. Blake is a very, very talented player and can hit! He is another Florida boy from Jupiter. He has taken a year off from school and is back stronger than ever. He gives us excellent flexibility on the corners and we are very glad to have him. We return three All Conference infielders Larry Perry, David O'Neil, Brandon Collins. Gabe Torres returns, who I thought should have been All Conference last year, especially after being voted our Team MVP as we ended the season 20th in the final NAIA poll. You add returners, two year lettermen Weldon Smith and converted outfielder Paul Cheeks, to first base plus a solid bat and newcomer at first, Adam Gendall who had a great career at Southeastern Iowa CC, and I believe we are even better overall defensively from last year. Perry, O'Neil, Wass, Torres, Smith, Cilwick and Boyll all can play SS, second base and third base. So our flexibility in the infield is rare and gives a healthy defensive depth. As always, we have much to work on and much to prove, but I'm very comfortable and confident we will find a true winning combination and compete at a high level in 2011.
Outfield – We are very blessed with great talent in our outfield. We could run a few different rotations out there that can win a game against anyone. We return two All Conference players in Spencer Jackson and RJ Neal. Both have been major contributors to our team success in the first two years and I expect nothing less this year. Both had good fall seasons and are working at a motivated level this winter that is exciting. Larry Perry was an All Conference outfielder last year and is very much in the mix to contribute again in pasture or infield / DH. DeShontay Berry, a two year lettermen returns and clearly is one of the hardest workers we have and defensively one of the best in the country. He will be a factor as always in helping us reach our baseball goals. Keifer Youmans and Denzel Campbell return and both are very talented. Keifer is a medical red shirt and Denzel a red shirt freshman. Both are plus, plus runners and I'd be very surprised if they don't make a major contribution this spring. Keifer was scheduled to hit third in last year's opener but broke his wrist the day before in an outfield drill so we are excited to see him healthy and ready to go. Our newcomers to the outfield mix are Conald Mansfield, Ty Main and Kyle Thompson. Conald is a transfer from Centenary College and can flat hit and should be a factor in our lineup. Ty is as talented a guy as we have on the team. He transfers in from James Madison and has been blessed in every phase of the game. I'd be very surprised with this new opportunity and his positive outlook that he won't make a major impact this spring. Kyle is a good looking freshman outfielder out of Merritt Island, Fl. The more you watch Kyle, the more you realize he is a very good player, a solid defender with excellent instincts on the bases and hits the ball hard.
Overall, it is a very exciting time in our third season of baseball here at USCB. We are now in our strength and conditioning program, speed and agility phase, Sand Shark time management and emphasis on academics. It is the calm before the storm until January. 2011 will be a challenge, but it appears we will be ready. I know I will be!
