This forum is pure hardball. Bring the heat in this discussion of Flames baseball.

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By jinxy
Registration Days Posts
#528924
Our inability to recruit a d1 3b for about 5 years has been amazing. 2 throwing errors tonight cost us 3 or 4 runs. Bethune cookman is actually a solid program but were about a mediocore 32 win program this year barring a huge change of events.
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By BJWilliams
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#528925
Here's my question though...how many wins were you legitimately expecting from a first year head coach? If you go back through our history the most wins we had in a coach's first year was 35 for Toman. Other than that I think the highest we got in our history in a rookie HC was 32, so to be frank, if we get 32 wins this year that is about in line with other first year coaches in our program's long history. Now if you were thinking as Coach Jackson was introduced, "we should win 45 games because we're Liberty" or some such thing, that is well...a you probem.
By Stevev
Registration Days Posts
#528968
We pull it out today 4-3 to even the series. We always struggle against teams from Florida but I didn't expect to struggle so much against these guys. Hoping for a win tomorrow to win the series.
By Chippy
Registration Days Posts
#528975
Stevev wrote:We pull it out today 4-3 to even the series. We always struggle against teams from Florida but I didn't expect to struggle so much against these guys. Hoping for a win tomorrow to win the series.

Iv'e seen both games. BC looks like the better team. I think we have 10 hits or so in two games and they have 20 or so in the same 2 games. Their shortstop is amazing,; they have speed and power and a few guys with off the chart batting averages. They have some great looking hitters and their starting pitching has matched ours pitch for pitch. I thought their RPI was in the 30s-40s. Nevertheless, I hope we can start hitting and dispose of their #3 starter and Mitchell can get us at least 5-6 innings.
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By jinxy
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#528984
They are extremely well coached. I dont think they have the star power like a degroat or artis but they dont make mistakes and their pitchers keep the hitters off balance and when they do give up loud contact they make all the plays. They are great 2 strike hitters as well And they foul off a ton of pitches. We just dont have enough hitters unfortunately and were inconsistent defensively on the left side of the infield which is somewhat to be be expected being that weve played mostly freshman at those spots.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#528993
jinxy wrote:They are extremely well coached. I dont think they have the star power like a degroat or artis but they dont make mistakes and their pitchers keep the hitters off balance and when they do give up loud contact they make all the plays. They are great 2 strike hitters as well And they foul off a ton of pitches. We just dont have enough hitters unfortunately and were inconsistent defensively on the left side of the infield which is somewhat to be be expected being that weve played mostly freshman at those spots.
I don't disagree that Degroat is a star, but what good is he if we use him so seldom? He has pitched 15 innings all year, and he may be throwing it up there at 97, but there is no way he can be sharp with his command pitching so little, which I think is what we saw Friday. I'm totally on board with what Jackson is doing overall, but IMHO we would be a better team with Jack as a weekend starter.
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By BJWilliams
Registration Days Posts
#529003
Barbee busts out the whupping stick and puts the good guys up 3-0
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By jinxy
Registration Days Posts
#529009
Agreed oldflame. I think jackson realized he had 3 of his 4 best pitchers in the bullpen. We desparately needed another good starter to go with evans. Mitchell has been a decent 5 or 6 inning 3 run guy. Hopefully price can solidify the rotation. We need to run off a 5 or 6 game streak somewhere soon.

Also if we will start using degroat like francona did andrew miller in the Playoffs its more valuable than what weve done. Hes seemed to start doing that. Gamble has stepped up as well and could assume prices spot in the pen. Theres enough talent on this team to win 36 to 38 games and give somebody a problem in regionals. We need price to keep doing what he did in his first start and clouse or tarantola to be better mid week. Defensively we need locklear and whoever plays 3b to take the next step. Offensively we need shepherd to be shepherd and get one more guy to step up from the group of mcdrye locklear morris and morris to lengthen our lineup 1 more spot.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#529017
jinxy wrote:Agreed oldflame. I think jackson realized he had 3 of his 4 best pitchers in the bullpen. We desparately needed another good starter to go with evans. Mitchell has been a decent 5 or 6 inning 3 run guy. Hopefully price can solidify the rotation. We need to run off a 5 or 6 game streak somewhere soon.

Also if we will start using degroat like francona did andrew miller in the Playoffs its more valuable than what weve done. Hes seemed to start doing that. Gamble has stepped up as well and could assume prices spot in the pen. Theres enough talent on this team to win 36 to 38 games and give somebody a problem in regionals. We need price to keep doing what he did in his first start and clouse or tarantola to be better mid week. Defensively we need locklear and whoever plays 3b to take the next step. Offensively we need shepherd to be shepherd and get one more guy to step up from the group of mcdrye locklear morris and morris to lengthen our lineup 1 more spot.
If Price can come close to replicating what he did yesterday as a starter, I'm OK with keeping DeGroat in the pen, but he needs to be pitching at least 3-4 innings a week to stay sharp. This isn't the majors where you play every day and your closer can get enough work coming in only in save situations.
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By jinxy
Registration Days Posts
#529023
Again i agree and i think weve underutilized degroat as well. I do wonder what he would have done in the rotation this year

Rogers i like am surprised at their rpi. Their schedule doesnt appear to be very strong. Somehow they make it to a regional quite often even though they usually go 2 and bbq.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#529044
jinxy wrote:Again i agree and i think weve underutilized degroat as well. I do wonder what he would have done in the rotation this year

Rogers i like am surprised at their rpi. Their schedule doesnt appear to be very strong. Somehow they make it to a regional quite often even though they usually go 2 and bbq.
They have dominated a MEAC conference that is even weaker in baseball than other sports, thus their frequent regional appearances. I too underestimated how good they are going into the series based on the fact that the baseball programs at most HBCUs are dumpster fires. Their core recruiting base is at best apathetic toward the sport, and in some cases worse than that. Most coaches are now focusing on trying to get Latino players to put a team on the field. B-C is definately an exception. This was a good weekend for us.
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