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LU knows the importance of pitching

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
February 8, 2007


Watching UNC Asheville slowly chip away at Liberty's 10-run lead in the Big South tournament championship game last May ate at Michael Solbach.
The Flames' depleted pitching staff took a beating on that 95-degree day in Conway, S.C., as the Bulldogs rallied for a 16-11 victory and an NCAA tournament berth. The injured Solbach was powerless to help.

"I was begging my trainer to let me go in that game," he said. "It was tough to take that loss."

If any lesson was learned from last year's finish, it was a healthy pitching staff is essential to postseason success.

Solbach missed much of April and May with an arm injury. Tightness in Ryan Page's arm kept the lefty out for much of April. That left Phillip Thompson, Tim John and a crew of inexperienced freshmen to carry the load.

Once the Flames got to the title game, they simply ran out of gas.

With three of LU's top hitters - Phillip Laurent, Michael Just and Chad Miller - gone, the pitching staff will be counted on to carry the Flames through the early part of the 2007 schedule.

"There are high expectations on us this year," John said. "Looking at it now, I think we're up to the challenge. We're ready to go."

It helps that those freshmen turned sophomores - Dustin Umberger, Dane Beakler and Tyler Light in particular - have some experience heading into this season. LU coach Matt Royer raved about Umberger's mechanics and how well he has pitched in preseason workouts.

Umberger, who split his time between the rotation and bullpen last season, will be LU's No. 2 starter, behind Solbach, who said he enters the season feeling better than he has at any point in his career.

Solbach, who was 7-4 with a 3.66 ERA and struck out 71 last season, traveled to Birmingham, Ala., in the offseason to visit renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews. After an MRI, Andrews told Solbach that any damage in his arm was minimal and he had the same basic wear and tear as any college pitcher.

Andrews shared some exercises with Solbach that would help keep his arm healthy throughout the long haul of the season.

Liberty opens a three-game set at East Carolina this afternoon.

Solbach has had to learn to tone down his competitiveness for the good of the team, too. Don't expect him to clamor to finish games in February and March no matter how well he's pitching.

"It's tough, because when I start a game, I go into every one thinking I'm going to finish it," Solbach said. "It's tough to control that competitiveness.

"You don't want to burn yourself out. You don't want to be throwing eight innings at the beginning of the season.

"This year, we're on the same page. We're going to go five, six innings the first few starts. You really want to be healthy come tournament time."

Solbach said his fastball was topping out at 93 mph in the fall and was consistently popping in the low 90s.

"His arm looks alive again," John said. "He really looks like he's got his mechanics all figured out. ? He looks very crisp and very fundamentally sound."

Royer will add pitching coach to the list of his duties this season. Randy Tomlin left in January to become the Potomac Nationals' pitching coach.

As for how that will affect his staff, Royer said: "That's a tough question to answer and predict."

Royer said he and Tomlin shared a lot of basic pitching philosophies, so the transition shouldn't be traumatic.

The No. 3 starting spot remains up for grabs. Page will move to the bullpen, for now. He's the staff's only experienced lefthander and Royer wants to use him later in games.

Offensively, the Flames will count on several junior college transfers to fill the void left by Laurent, Miller and Just.

Kenneth Negron, a slap-hitting lefty and solid base runner, will take one outfield spot. Aaron Phillips takes over for Miller at third. Garrett Young will start in center field, allowing P.K. Keller to play a corner outfield spot.

Aaron Grijalva, the team's leading returning hitter who played first most of last year, will get most of his at-bats at designated hitter. Shawn Teufel is the team's best defensive first baseman, but he needs to improve on his .152 average to secure a spot in the everyday lineup.

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Sorry if this was posted before, but I didn't see it