A Sea Of Red

http://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm ... 3&TeamID=1

Games of Note

Trip to Myrtle Beach for one of Coastal's tournaments (including a meeting with the Chants outside of conference play for the first time in recent memory)

Central Connecticut State and Evansville for the Liberty Invitational

UConn for the first home series of the season

CCU for final conference weekend meeting May 6-8

Annual midweek meetings with UVA, Maryland, Duke amd Old Dominion

Site of the conference baseball tournament TBA

I like having Radford and Coastal in non conference games. Those are RPI boosters.

Haven't looked too deeply at the rest of the schedule but it feels like we are playing most of our normal non-conference games.

Again there aren't really any dogs on the schedule. I was hoping we had unc on the schedule again. Uconn and USB are solid teams in the mold of Kent state. I keep hearing this is one of if not the deepest toman teams. I'm really excited about the pitching with Cole Herndon bean and Stafford returning. Throw in the talented hard throwing frosh degroat and juCo pitcher of the year evan Mitchell and we have all kinds of options. We also have atleast 2 dominant late inning arms as well as of now. The issue will be finding hitting to with yacyk britt Shepherd and taormina. Lotta capable guys just need 4 or 5 to step up.

Would it be too much to ask for a random road trip to Texas every decade or so?

jinxy wrote:Again there aren't really any dogs on the schedule. I was hoping we had unc on the schedule again. Uconn and USB are solid teams in the mold of Kent state. I keep hearing this is one of if not the deepest toman teams. I'm really excited about the pitching with Cole Herndon bean and Stafford returning. Throw in the talented hard throwing frosh degroat and juCo pitcher of the year evan Mitchell and we have all kinds of options. We also have atleast 2 dominant late inning arms as well as of now. The issue will be finding hitting to with yacyk britt Shepherd and taormina. Lotta capable guys just need 4 or 5 to step up.

Saw a scrimmage last week where Herndon was throwing mid 80s and Degroat (90-91) got hit hard - Taorimina took him yard in one inning. Hopefully by the Spring the arms and talent will be ready to go. Dylan Allen was playing 2nd base which probably means Taorimina will be at 3rd. A lot of new faces.

The key to season will be "the bats". We have got to hit better than we have in past couple of seasons.

Sly Fox wrote:Would it be too much to ask for a random road trip to Texas every decade or so?

They have Baseball in Texes?

prototype wrote:

Sly Fox wrote:Would it be too much to ask for a random road trip to Texas every decade or so?

They have Baseball in Texes?

Yes, we have the Rangers. They're a fun, little distraction to end a day in Arlington after going to Six Flags during the summer and gives us something to talk about after football season.

Now that baseball schedule is out, anyone have any idea when softball schedule will be posted ?

College baseball is a bigger deal in Texas than probably any other state in the Union. But Proto knows this fact. he's just busting my chops. I'm good with that. HaHa

We're playing Marshall at Coastal on a Saturday in February? That sounds like fun!

I saw an article that said this could be Toman's deepest team which really surprised. It looks like pitching wise we should be in good shape but as far as bats I didn't think we had a lot of consistent bats besides Britt.

The more I look at the schedule, the only thing I really don't love is the opening series at South Florida. It's the first weekend of the season against a Top 50 RPI team. If we don't win the series, it's a disappointment, and because they're a decent team, winning the series will be tough. If we're going to travel like that opening weekend, I'd rather it be to a Top 25 RPI where if we win one game, it's a good weekend.

Overall a really good schedule though.

krh44 wrote:I saw an article that said this could be Toman's deepest team which really surprised. It looks like pitching wise we should be in good shape but as far as bats I didn't think we had a lot of consistent bats besides Britt.

I saw that too. Haven't been able to read the article because it's behind a paywall. I hope I'ms surprised, but I don't see it. I have some friends who are think that article could be right. I asked them about it and they ran off a bunch of guys they expect to have big years. The hard part is most of the guys expected to make an impact are new to the team this year so we haven't seen them.

SuperJon wrote:

krh44 wrote:I saw an article that said this could be Toman's deepest team which really surprised. It looks like pitching wise we should be in good shape but as far as bats I didn't think we had a lot of consistent bats besides Britt.

I saw that too. Haven't been able to read the article because it's behind a paywall. I hope I'ms surprised, but I don't see it. I have some friends who are think that article could be right. I asked them about it and they ran off a bunch of guys they expect to have big years. The hard part is most of the guys expected to make an impact are new to the team this year so we haven't seen them.

I hope we are both surprised. Just a little concerned with our hitting last year. Are the newcomers that are supposed to have an impact Fr. or transfers?

According to the coach the starting lineup heading into the Spring is:

1B Taorimina
2B Grabowski (TR)
3B Allen
SS Britt
LF Artis (FR)
CF Stroosma
RF Shephard
C Latta (TR)
DH Yacyk
P Cole
P Herndon
P 7-8 more in the running including DeGroat (FR)

krh44 wrote:I hope we are both surprised. Just a little concerned with our hitting last year. Are the newcomers that are supposed to have an impact Fr. or transfers?

A little of both. I'm probably breaking rules but here are some of the keys from the D1 Baseball article:

Returners

Victor Cole (P)
Cole, whose father of the same name reached the big leagues with the Pirates in 1992, has seen his velocity jump from the 84-88 range last year to the 86-89 range this fall, and he knows how to pitch with a very good changeup and quality curveball.

Carson Herndon (P)
He has come back strong this fall, though he’s still working on fully recovering his command. In his start last week in Liberty’s fall world series, Herndon worked in the 85-89 range, but he is capable of touching 92 with a solid low-80s slider and changeup.

Parker Bean (P)
...could also factor into the rotation or perhaps the back of the bullpen. Toman said Bean sat 92-94 on scout day and has been up to 95, and he believes if the Flames decide to let Bean air it out as a one-inning reliever, he might throw even harder.

Michael Stafford (P)
...an 86-89 lefty with a good changeup.

Caleb Evans (P)
...a 6-foot-7 righty who flashed 92 mph heat and a promising 83-84 slider on scout day.

Dalton Britt (SS)
...a good all-around player who drew some interest inside the top 10 rounds from scouts last year but wound up going undrafted.

Dylan Allen (3B)
...likely to play third base and deliver some offense from the left side.

Sammy Taormina/Andrew Yacyk (1B/DH)
...both bring offensive upside. Yacyk has some of the best upside on the team.

Aaron Stroosma (CF)
...a standout defender in center who hits lefthanded pitching well.

Will Shepherd (RF)
...is expected to hit in the No. 3 hole as the focal point of the offense.

New

Jackson Bertsch - P (transfer)
...has power stuff from the right side, with a fastball that has been up to 94 this fall. Like Bean, he could compete for a starting job or wind up at the back of the bullpen.

Thomas Simpson - P (transfer)
...works at 90-93 from the right side and should also make an impact in the bullpen.

Cody Gamble, Jordan Scott, Shane Quarterly and Evan Mitchell - P (transfers)
all bring good pitchability, providing the staff with real depth

Eric Grabowski - 2B (transfer)
...has been one of Liberty’s best hitters this fall, with a strong, compact swing from the right side.

Jack DeGroat - P (freshman)
...a fastball that reached 93 and a devastating cutter up to 85. He settled into the 89-91 range for the next two innings and finished with five strikeouts over three innings, baffling opposing hitters with his cutter, which has devastating late bite and often looks more like a slider in the low 80s.

Zack Helsel - P (freshman)
...sidearmer with an unusually firm 86-89 fastball with serious movement and a solid slider.

D.J. Artis - LF (freshman)
...the team’s top recruit, is an athletic lefthanded hitter who has proven advanced offensively for a freshman.

I have no idea how parker bean concentrates on baseball

that is all.

PAmedic wrote:I have no idea how parker bean concentrates on baseball

that is all.

I know you are referring to his GF, but based on his twitter I would say he is more focused on deer and bass than either baseball or her.

Sounds like he has his priorities in line.

flamehunter wrote:Sounds like he has his priorities in line.

We actually had a talented basketball player who flunked out of school because he skipped most of his classes to hunt and fish. I´m drawing a blank on his first name, but he was John Pelphrey´s younger brother. 6´9¨and could shoot from 3. He used to go to practice with his hunting and/or fishing gear in his car and go straight to the woods after.

Noticed that Geoffrey Murphy finished with lowest era of any pitcher at Boston College last year (2.05). Didn't get a lot of innings (22) but had 15 SO & 6 walks. Might be a good addition to bullpen.

SuperJon wrote:

krh44 wrote:I hope we are both surprised. Just a little concerned with our hitting last year. Are the newcomers that are supposed to have an impact Fr. or transfers?

A little of both. I'm probably breaking rules but here are some of the keys from the D1 Baseball article:

Returners

Victor Cole (P)
Cole, whose father of the same name reached the big leagues with the Pirates in 1992, has seen his velocity jump from the 84-88 range last year to the 86-89 range this fall, and he knows how to pitch with a very good changeup and quality curveball.

Carson Herndon (P)
He has come back strong this fall, though he’s still working on fully recovering his command. In his start last week in Liberty’s fall world series, Herndon worked in the 85-89 range, but he is capable of touching 92 with a solid low-80s slider and changeup.

Parker Bean (P)
...could also factor into the rotation or perhaps the back of the bullpen. Toman said Bean sat 92-94 on scout day and has been up to 95, and he believes if the Flames decide to let Bean air it out as a one-inning reliever, he might throw even harder.

Michael Stafford (P)
...an 86-89 lefty with a good changeup.

Caleb Evans (P)
...a 6-foot-7 righty who flashed 92 mph heat and a promising 83-84 slider on scout day.

Dalton Britt (SS)
...a good all-around player who drew some interest inside the top 10 rounds from scouts last year but wound up going undrafted.

Dylan Allen (3B)
...likely to play third base and deliver some offense from the left side.

Sammy Taormina/Andrew Yacyk (1B/DH)
...both bring offensive upside. Yacyk has some of the best upside on the team.

Aaron Stroosma (CF)
...a standout defender in center who hits lefthanded pitching well.

Will Shepherd (RF)
...is expected to hit in the No. 3 hole as the focal point of the offense.

New

Jackson Bertsch - P (transfer)
...has power stuff from the right side, with a fastball that has been up to 94 this fall. Like Bean, he could compete for a starting job or wind up at the back of the bullpen.

Thomas Simpson - P (transfer)
...works at 90-93 from the right side and should also make an impact in the bullpen.

Cody Gamble, Jordan Scott, Shane Quarterly and Evan Mitchell - P (transfers)
all bring good pitchability, providing the staff with real depth

Eric Grabowski - 2B (transfer)
...has been one of Liberty’s best hitters this fall, with a strong, compact swing from the right side.

Jack DeGroat - P (freshman)
...a fastball that reached 93 and a devastating cutter up to 85. He settled into the 89-91 range for the next two innings and finished with five strikeouts over three innings, baffling opposing hitters with his cutter, which has devastating late bite and often looks more like a slider in the low 80s.

Zack Helsel - P (freshman)
...sidearmer with an unusually firm 86-89 fastball with serious movement and a solid slider.

D.J. Artis - LF (freshman)
...the team’s top recruit, is an athletic lefthanded hitter who has proven advanced offensively for a freshman.

We don't look too bad on paper.....

I am looking to see DJ Artis play in the spring.

krh44 wrote:We don't look too bad on paper.....

We've been batting practice champs for the past eight years.

We just have to make it happen on the field. I'm skeptical but hopeful. There's normally not this much smoke without at least some fire.

Pitching looks good. If everyone stays healthy we have the arms to make it to NCAA tournament and maybe a Super region. The key will be hitting, I think the jury is still out. We have to score more runs than we did last year. May have to put more emphasis on short game: bunting, stealing, hit n run, etc. We don't appear to have much power from what I seen in the fall.