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Post by twandswr1 on Aug 23, 2021 13:37:07 GMT -5
Lifts Began Today
First Team Meeting Today
Field Work & Individual Work Later This Week
Large number of returning players with a very solid Freshman Class. Look for this group to be a very serious contender for the SoCon Title
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Post by jim68 on Aug 23, 2021 14:41:45 GMT -5
Lifts Began Today First Team Meeting Today Field Work & Individual Work Later This Week Large number of returning players with a very solid Freshman Class. Look for this group to be a very serious contender for the SoCon Title I’m afraid that we lost too many key hitters in the starting lineup. Need more (Wednesday) pitchers that can win ballgames. Overall pitching concerns me along with depth of pitching that can compete in the SoCon. |
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Post by twandswr1 on Aug 23, 2021 20:13:54 GMT -5
Lifts Began Today First Team Meeting Today Field Work & Individual Work Later This Week Large number of returning players with a very solid Freshman Class. Look for this group to be a very serious contender for the SoCon Title I’m afraid that we lost too many key hitters in the starting lineup. Need more (Wednesday) pitchers that can win ballgames. Overall pitching concerns me along with depth of pitching that can compete in the SoCon. You will be surprised with the class that has been brought in. There are a minimum of 5 upper level arms in this class that have pitched for the top travel organizations in the Southeast and in big showcase events. Multiple other arms that have posted good numbers but I have not seen personally so I can't throw an evaluation out there. The staff recruited some hitters as well. Butterworth is a Pas type player, great range, great hands and can swing it. Utility guy from Ft. Lauderdale Fla is a hitter and a grinder. Both should contribute early. This staff will post better numbers guaranteed. As far as Wednesdays go, they are not conference games and really have little to no bearing to us making the tournament. We used our arms to win conference games but with the depth of this staff, this year could see more Wednesday success |
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Post by The Cats on Aug 27, 2021 17:19:40 GMT -5
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Post by The Cats on Aug 28, 2021 13:06:56 GMT -5
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Post by jim68 on Aug 28, 2021 19:39:32 GMT -5
I’m afraid that we lost too many key hitters in the starting lineup. Need more (Wednesday) pitchers that can win ballgames. Overall pitching concerns me along with depth of pitching that can compete in the SoCon. You will be surprised with the class that has been brought in. There are a minimum of 5 upper level arms in this class that have pitched for the top travel organizations in the Southeast and in big showcase events. Multiple other arms that have posted good numbers but I have not seen personally so I can't throw an evaluation out there. The staff recruited some hitters as well. Butterworth is a Pas type player, great range, great hands and can swing it. Utility guy from Ft. Lauderdale Fla is a hitter and a grinder. Both should contribute early. This staff will post better numbers guaranteed. As far as Wednesdays go, they are not conference games and really have little to no bearing to us making the tournament. We used our arms to win conference games but with the depth of this staff, this year could see more Wednesday success Wednesday games play a role in National Rankings & regional pairings when you make the tourney. To arbitrarily give up those games means you will be guaranteed a 4 seed in the regionals. Our problem in the past has been lack of pitching depth against Power 5 opponents. For the most part, the Weekend Pitchers have been decent against SoCon competition. I thought this past year’s hitting was very good. However, it showed that pitching is the name of the game. The Catamounts lost games last year because of pitching & not hitting. At this point, I cannot comment on the incoming players when I have not seen them play or pitch. However, I hope your evaluation is based on facts & personal observation. |
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Post by retiredcat on Aug 28, 2021 21:07:50 GMT -5
I talked with Coach Mo yesterday for at least 15 minutes and I have never seen him as fired up about a team or a coming season than he is about his 2022 team. Zebby appears to be completely healthy...Franklin is coming back healthy...Pas is back and fired up...and he is really excited about the new players. Jim you are spot-on about the value of wins in those mid-walk games. All one has to do is look back at our teams that were better than a four seed (or six in the old format) and you'll see how strong our record was in mid-week games.
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Post by jim68 on Aug 29, 2021 11:22:23 GMT -5
I talked with Coach Mo yesterday for at least 15 minutes and I have never seen him as fired up about a team or a coming season than he is about his 2022 team. Zebby appears to be completely healthy...Franklin is coming back healthy...Pas is back and fired up...and he is really excited about the new players. Jim you are spot-on about the value of wins in those mid-walk games. All one has to do is look back at our teams that were better than a four seed (or six in the old format) and you'll see how strong our record was in mid-week games. Retired Cat, thanks for agreeing with me. In my opinion, the lack of wins against the Power 5 schools is one of the main reasons we only get one team each year to make the tournament. Our relief pitching was terrible for most of last season. Lack of pitching depth became obvious to all of us. |
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Post by twandswr1 on Aug 30, 2021 7:12:55 GMT -5
I talked with Coach Mo yesterday for at least 15 minutes and I have never seen him as fired up about a team or a coming season than he is about his 2022 team. Zebby appears to be completely healthy...Franklin is coming back healthy...Pas is back and fired up...and he is really excited about the new players. Jim you are spot-on about the value of wins in those mid-walk games. All one has to do is look back at our teams that were better than a four seed (or six in the old format) and you'll see how strong our record was in mid-week games. In the perfect world you are right but considering that we are in the SoCon and most likely only getting the post season tournament champion in a regional it only makes sense that you save your best pitching for conference games for the best seeding possible in the SoCon tournament. I believe you will see a mixture of the young guns during midweek games this year. Coaches had a very good year on the recruiting trail this year especially with some arms that can run it up there on the gun. So who knows how it will play out. The AD needs to invest in our baseball facilities. We are getting dugout renovations and a new scoreboard this year but a new halo that doesn't look 20 years old would help appearances. I heard that a new all turf field was being considered but would run a minimum of a million to do. These are all things that could help put us well over the top in recruiting each year and give us the ability to recruit a larger number of real difference makers each year. We have a beautiful campus that sells itself but need some form of cash to put us over the top. We were 12-8 out of conference. 2 losses were to an SEC powerhouse last year which would not have hurt an at large bid. Beating Asheville and winning the series vs Wilmington would have helped. My point is to gain an at large bid in the SoCon is all but impossible unless you schedule a bunch of big teams and beat them or schedule all mid major guys and beat them. The SoCon strength of schedule is not strong enough to do it. |
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Post by SCCat66 on Aug 30, 2021 12:54:31 GMT -5
twandswr1.... I hope you will continue to be able to be the eyes and the ears near the team.... to provide that perspective to those of us who are more removed from the scene. Thanx.
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