Post by wcuecu2010 on Jun 20, 2019 10:39:01 GMT -5
Jun 20, 2019 8:31:11 GMT -5 okiecat said:
First I want to apologize and clarify my first, and I mean first post which was unfinished and accidentally sent. I was only intending to cut and paste a portion of Devils Advocates post to respond too. I want to be clear I am not advocating of getting rid of any coach, staff administration, etc. I wanted to point out the positive of what I have seen as a newcomer to WCU athletics. The portion of Devils Advocates post I was intending to address is below. "We need an energetic young coach that can relate to the recruits, find blue collar players (diamonds in the rough) and someone not afraid to stock with Junior College transfer talent. We need "someone" like a Justin Haire of Campbell University."
I agree with Devils Advocate's above statement and think that is what Coach Moranda did when he brought in Coach Garcia. Coach G is bringing in several kids from his old school, Parkland, which was constantly good in the JUCO ranks. I know a pitcher from Walters State JC which finished 3rd in the Div I WS and an OF from NOC who won the JUCO Div II WS are coming next fall. Anthony Silkwood to me has a good chance at being "a diamond in the rough". Anthony's age and life experience alone should bring additional leadership into the dugout and hopefully have a big impact on the pitchers who IMO are the weakest link at the moment. Coach G is energetic and recruiting hard. NC promise should be HUGE for WCU if my understanding is correct. WCU will have big advantage of getting out of state kids, actually WCU is bringing in a lot for next year. The Midwest is a big opportunity and it appears Coach G is taking advantage. Kids want to play D1 if they have the opportunity. States like Oklahoma and Kansas have a lot of good baseball players but few D1 schools in their state so most kids end up NAIA or D2 because even with a baseball scholarship out of state tuition is too high. A lot of those kids now can afford to attend WCU. Plus, a lot of those kids tend to be outdoorsy and go hunting and fishing every chance they get so WCU is a dream for them even if the facilities need some improvement.
WCU can HIT! WCU was 2nd in SoCon in team BA, 1st most the year, 1st in slugging %, and 2nd in on base %. WCU can get on base. The team was quite young last year. ALL but 1 position starter returns. Koehler's absence will be missed but overall I think WCU will hit just as good or better next year. Just by maturity WCU should play better defense and the defense wasn't horrible by any stretch. Also, if the pitching improves the defensive should improve too.
Pitching was the focus of WCU recruiting. I think only 1 or 2 position players were recruited. Franklin who was projected to be WCU #1 pitcher last year will be back from injury and Walter who had a good year hopefully will be back (I don't see him signing but we will see). I feel pretty good with all the new kids coming in with the returning pitchers, WCU will have 3 solid weekend starters. As a result, WCU will win more series.
I am new to WCU athletics, politics, administration, etc. and from where I sit I see some good things and a lot of potential for WCU baseball. I think if fans come out and really support next years team, they will see improvement. I'm looking forward to next season.
Go Cats!
I will say this there was improvement this year from last year and maybe we will trend upwards. I do not know i just dont want it to get so bad we are a consistent bottom of the standings team. However, i do think baseball has been sacrificed for the improvement of football. We shall see.