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Post by The Cats on Feb 6, 2017 17:02:23 GMT -5
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Post by FLCATAMOUNT on Feb 6, 2017 21:00:48 GMT -5
I would not be surprised after the year we had last year that a lot of publications will pick us as number 1 or number 2 in the conference this year. Also, I think coach brought in some pitching help. It will be interesting to see if we can kick it up a notch this year. I sure hope so. After football season and basketball season, us poor Catamount fans deserve to have a great baseball season. I sure hope that we decide to fully fund baseball scholarships with the NC Promise boost we will get. It seems like a no brainer to me, but with our leadership, who knows what they will decide? GO CATS!!! |
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Post by SCCat66 on Feb 6, 2017 22:50:13 GMT -5
I hope this is not a kiss of death for Bryson Bowman. Recent Catamounts chosen preseason for Player of the Year missed huge chunks of time due to injury in the season that followed (Aaron Attaway 2014 and Jacob Hoyle 2015).
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Post by SCCat66 on Feb 6, 2017 22:52:43 GMT -5
D1 Baseball analysis by team:
Western Carolina returned to the postseason for the first time since 2007 after capturing the Southern Conference tournament title last May. The Catamounts finished tied for second in the regular season standings and the team is hungry for more after getting a taste of regional action last season. Coach Bobby Moranda feels this year’s club will be a strong, offensive team that will hit for power and score plenty of runs. He likes his team’s balance of lefty/righty on the mound along with the experience and bullpen depth.
The outfield will be a team strength with two of the SoCon’s top players. Bryson Bowman (.326/.442/.661) smacked 19 homers and drove in 60 runs last year. He will play right field. Matt Smith (.388/.495/.582) is back in center where he drove in 55 runs and hit 10 home runs. Matthew Koehler, a medical redshirt last season, will play left field. Andrew Bullock (.304/.404/.544) is the probable DH. Brett Pope (.323/.408/.379) is a solid shortstop while J.D. Long (.223/.339/.341) is at third base, Nobu Suzuki (.261/.337/.324) is at second base and Caleb Robinson (.298/.413/.439) is at first base. Justin Sparks will catch.
The pitching staff will have a new voice this season as Nate Cocolin takes over pitching coach responsibilities from Moranda. Lefty Bryan Sammons (8-3, 5.74) logged 100 innings last year and will anchor the rotation. Brendan Nail (5-6, 5.08), another lefty who threw 85 innings also returns. Korey Anderson (1-4, 9.49) gives them a righty starting option along with LHP Tristan Baker (3-2, 5.19). RHPs B.J. Nobles (2-2, 4.07, 5 saves) and Dylan Biumi (3-2, 5.45) lead the pen. Freshman Andrew Robinson, also an outfielder, could factor on the mound.
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Post by SCCat66 on Feb 6, 2017 23:02:21 GMT -5
FLCat said, "Also, I think coach brought in some pitching help."
That's right... SEVEN newcomers listed as Pitchers.
But I had a conversation Saturday night with someone in a position to know who said, "probably only one of them (newcomers) looks like an Impact Pitcher at this point". I felt very disappointed after that conversation. I had high hopes that number might be as high as 4.
We need that number to be significant if we are going to be a REALLY GOOD team this Spring.
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Post by SCCat66 on Feb 6, 2017 23:09:44 GMT -5
D1 Baseball analysis by team:
Western Carolina returned to the postseason for the first time since 2007 after capturing the Southern Conference tournament title last May. The Catamounts finished tied for second in the regular season standings and the team is hungry for more after getting a taste of regional action last season. Coach Bobby Moranda feels this year’s club will be a strong, offensive team that will hit for power and score plenty of runs. He likes his team’s balance of lefty/righty on the mound along with the experience and bullpen depth.
The outfield will be a team strength with two of the SoCon’s top players. Bryson Bowman (.326/.442/.661) smacked 19 homers and drove in 60 runs last year. He will play right field. Matt Smith (.388/.495/.582) is back in center where he drove in 55 runs and hit 10 home runs. Matthew Koehler, a medical redshirt last season, will play left field. Andrew Bullock (.304/.404/.544) is the probable DH. Brett Pope (.323/.408/.379) is a solid shortstop while J.D. Long (.223/.339/.341) is at third base, Nobu Suzuki (.261/.337/.324) is at second base and Caleb Robinson (.298/.413/.439) is at first base. Justin Sparks will catch.
The pitching staff will have a new voice this season as Nate Cocolin takes over pitching coach responsibilities from Moranda. Lefty Bryan Sammons (8-3, 5.74) logged 100 innings last year and will anchor the rotation. Brendan Nail (5-6, 5.08), another lefty who threw 85 innings also returns. Korey Anderson (1-4, 9.49) gives them a righty starting option along with LHP Tristan Baker (3-2, 5.19). RHPs B.J. Nobles (2-2, 4.07, 5 saves) and Dylan Biumi (3-2, 5.45) lead the pen. Freshman Andrew Robinson, also an outfielder, could factor on the mound.
Info picked up from Saturday night that goes somewhat counter to the above... - a newcomer probably breaks into the returning infield lineup. - some platooning at catcher. (L-R and R-L matchups, which Coach Mo loves to do.) - some platooning at DH (also to achieve L-R and R-L matchups) |
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Post by FLCATAMOUNT on Feb 7, 2017 9:16:33 GMT -5
FLCat said, "Also, I think coach brought in some pitching help." That's right... SEVEN newcomers listed as Pitchers. But I had a conversation Saturday night with someone in a position to know who said, "probably only one of them (newcomers) looks like an Impact Pitcher at this point". I felt very disappointed after that conversation. I had high hopes that number might be as high as 4. We need that number to be significant if we are going to be a REALLY GOOD team this Spring. Thanks for the information. Hopefully our existing pitchers will be better with another year under their belts and who knows, maybe some more of the new pitchers will step up and surprise. Also, a lot depends on how the pitching coach uses the arms in the stable. If he is a good coach and knows how to use them in situations where they can showcase their strengths, we might get more out of them. All of this is speculation and hoping for the best, but that is all we have until the first pitch. GO CATS!!! |
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lenoircat
Walkon
Catamount Club Member
Posts: 126
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Post by lenoircat on Feb 7, 2017 14:48:28 GMT -5
Does it appear that Matt Smith will move back to the outfield?
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Post by SCCat66 on Feb 7, 2017 18:29:43 GMT -5
Pretty definite that he will go back to OF this year.
We lost two starters in the OF from last year's team... Garrett Brown and Kramer Ferrell.
Matt played 1B last year (and very well, I might add) due to necessity. We had a solid OF without him last year and 1B was somewhat a void. What a great young man Matt Smith is... you'd be proud to have him as your son. And a heckuva baseball player.
This year, we have a lot of choices in the infield. Andrew Bullock may or may not be ready defensively for 1B. If not, then he will DH because we MUST have his stick in the lineup. (He crushes baseballs.) If A.B. is not going to play 1B, then Caleb Robinson moves from 3B to 1B and we have a couple of options at 3B that does not cause any defensive drop-off.
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Post by SCCat66 on Feb 7, 2017 18:40:55 GMT -5
FLCat said, "Hopefully our existing pitchers will be better with another year under their belts and who knows, maybe some more of the new pitchers will step up and surprise. Also, a lot depends on how the pitching coach uses the arms in the stable. If he is a good coach and knows how to use them in situations where they can showcase their strengths, we might get more out of them."
I agree completely.
We have lots of young guys returning who did not contribute in a great way last year who may have developed greatly over the Summer and Fall. Guys like Jake Moebius, Michael Davis and Kegan Frederick. Let's hope so.
Others who pitched well at times last year may be ready for a break-out year. Corey Sikes, Dillon Bray, Dylan Biumi and Chad Mabini. Is Tristan Baker's arm fully recovered? And the workhorses from last year (Bryan Sammons, Korey Anderson, Brendan Nail and B.J. Nobles) have another good year.
If all of those things really come through, we will be sitting pretty in the pitching department.
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