|
2016 Team Previews |
Chattanooga State Cleveland State Columbia State Dyersburg State Jackson State Motlow State Roane State Southwest TN Volunteer State Walters State |
Chattanooga State CC |
We are very young this year and will be starting a mostly freshman lineup coming off of our very successful 2015 campaign. While we are excited to see these guys, we also realize that it is a tough road to hoe when bringing along this many new guys and a completely new staff on the mound. Losing so many quality guys off of our 32-13 team last year has been a challenge to say the least. Starting Pitchers 1. Andy Rivera RHP RFR Transfer/Wabash Valley CC 2. Hugo Casilla RHP FR Miami, FL 3. Scheldon Paulk RHP FR Guyton, GA 4. Chad O’Donnell RHP FR Cypress, TX 5. Nick Fahler RHP FR Chattanooga, TN Starting Lineup C- Danny Sirven RFR Miami, FL Josh Frantz FR Spring Hill, TN 1B- Nico Lares FR Miami, FL 2B-Matt Woods FR Knoxville, TN 3B-Noah Karst SO Canton, GA SS-Connor Morro FR Caledon, ONT Can Brandon Melendez RSO Miami, FL OF-Nate Schmal SO Cumming, GA OF-Hunter Parker SO Chattanooga, TN OF-Taylor Maxey RFR Chattanooga, TN DH-Cameron Carroll FR Spring Hill, TN Grant Sane SO Dalton, GA Defensively, we have the chance to be very solid as we are athletic in the infield and outfield. While we don’t have a ton of experience in the infield, I think we are going to be good. The outfield should be more mature and with Schmal, Parker, and Maxey out there we should be very athletic. Behind the plate should be a strength as both guys are very, very good. Carroll swings the bat very well for a freshman and Matt Woods at 2B could be a pleasant surprise this spring. Our offense probably will take a while to “gel” with so many guys that are new to this level and will deal with the struggles of learning as they go. Hopefully, we have enough talent and desire that these guys will develop into what we hope they can be. |
Cleveland State CC |
Offensively we had pretty good year last
year so it will be tough to duplicate. We have a nice mix of
hitters who can compete really well. We will need for offense to
give us the same type of numbers as we got last year. |
Columbia State CC |
COMMITMENTS
PITCHING STAFF POS NAME CL COMMENTS RHP Jose Poindexter SO RHP James Paisley SO RHP Austin Reynolds SO RHP Corey Herndon SO LHP David Looney FR . LHP Adam Mancour FR LHP Brett Lyell FR RHP Jonathan Cook SO RHP Kennedy Mathis SO RHP Austin Smith SO RHP Arinson Martinez SO RHP Nick Bramlett FR RHP Jacob Graves FR RHP Parker Gupton FR UTILITY INF/P Chris Johnson FR INF/P Blake Greer FR INF/C Truman Brown FR INF/P Corey Herndon SO CATCHERS R/R Peyton Motroni SO S/R Spencer Wise RSO R/R Austin Reynolds SO INFIELDERS 1B Julian Johnson R/R SO 1B Brendan Jordan L/L RFR INF Caleb Miner R/R FR INF Ryan Kemp R/R SO INF Garrett Dalton R/R RFR INF Clay Simmons R/R RSO OUTFIELDERS R/R Taylor McKinney SO R/R Roman Novarese SO L/R Nick Walker SO L/R Kaleb Swayze SO L/L Chase Carder SO S/R Rio Russell RFR R/R Dyshawn Proudlove RFR 2016 TEAM OUTLOOK: We field an extremely experienced positional group, where each player started at some point as a freshman in 2015. Three all-conference performers return to a line-up that looks to be comparable to any we have had here. Managing failures and the competition for playing time will dictate how well we will perform at the plate. Defensively, we have the ability to place a quality product on the field. We could easily have three sub 6.7 runners in the outfield at any one time with several offense/defense, right/left match-up combinations possible. Several new additions and two returning all-conference performers should anchor a very mature infield unit. A wealth of experience behind the dish should do nothing but make our pitching staff better. Depth looks to be our strong suit on the mound. We feel that we can go 12 deep and feel very confident in those guys giving us a chance to compete. The key will be how we manage the roles of those guys giving them the best chance of helping our team…and then the ever challenging job of getting each to buy into those roles for the good of the program. However, if we wanted to grade out each phase of our game from the fall, our pitching staff would probably receive top honors in comparison to our offensive and defensive play.
|
Dyersburg State CC |
NAME
CLASS/POS. COMMENTS
Austin Looker 1B Sophomore John Ham 2B Freshman Grant Hawkins SS Sophomore Colby Skeen 3B Sophomore Jared Anderson LF Sophomore Collin Harris CF Sophomore Colby Poston RF Sophomore 1 Seth Birdsong SO RHP 2 Brady Jones SO RHP 3 Axle Metzger SO RHP 4 Paxton Stover SO LHP 5 Ronnie Broyles FR RHP 6 Jake Durham FR LHP
We have several spots that are not in
concrete but so far the guys have really pushed each other. From
the sounds of things, this is going to be another tough season in
the TCCAA! I hope we can grind out a top 6 seed. We certainly have
the cards stacked against us! Hopefully our young men will battle
and play fundamental baseball. Even though we have a pitching staff
full of unproven guys, I think they will compete |
Jackson State CC |
Motlow State CC |
|
Roane State CC |
JUCO - LIST TOP PLAYERS AND COMMITS Myles Miller - Northwestern Ohio Univ. We also have some quality unsigned Sophomores looking to contribute to a 4 year program next year. 2016 TEAM OUTLOOK: Offensively; We have to be way more consistent in the Spring, than we were in the fall to reach our goals that we have. We should much stronger 1-9 than previous years if guys stick to their roles as hitters. Coach Dalton, our hitting coach, has been a big help in developing our programs offensive in the short amount of time he has been here. Overall defensively, we are very young but with a deep talented pack, with a freshman loaded infield and 4 sophomores holding down the outfield, I feel this is a strong point of our team. Pitching - We lost some key sophomore arms last year that had a majority of our conference innings. I am excitied about his pack of arms we have seeing many gains in our PO's since the fall started. We need the whole pack to contribute in their own roles. We will need Sophomore leadership who will step up this year and help give us a chance to win and hold leads. Pitching will be a key area for us this year. We have to have guys want the baseball and be able to finish a baseball game. Looking forward to this year with the athleticism and talent we have as a pack. We can be very versatile when needed, which I believe is going to give us an advantage in some situations. With a couple key pick ups at break, and some key guys willing to give us more options, I feel we will complete in the middle of the pack if we play as a pack of Raiders! |
Southwest TN CC |
NAME
CLASS/POS. COMMENTS 1 Caleb Armour Soph / RHP 2 Bradley Crain Soph / RHP 1B. B: R 3 Ian Painter Soph / RHP 4 Gerald Collazo Soph / OF T:R. B:R 2016 Southwest Tn CC Team Outlook: This years team will be predominantly a Freshman group. Pitching will determine how well the season goes with the maturity of the freshman players. The season boasts a very strong schedule. Top newcomers for this year are: Alejandro Cardinale. SS Rusber Estrada C Daron Ortiz 3B Dillon Bonee. RHP Houston Haag. RHP /'OF. B:R Blake Smith. RHP This team will need to be focused on improvement for a successful year. |
Volunteer State CC |
TOP PLAYERS AND
COMMITS Justin Wilson P/C (RH) - Big Time arm off the mound. Good Def C can really throw. Getting a lot of D1 looks CJ Brown OF (RH) - Good all around player. Getting D1 looks also (Duke, Columbia) Cameron Bair C (LH) - Good Def C. Has some pop in the bat. Could be our team Leader. Getting D2 looks DeAires Moses OF (LH) - Speedy OF. Can cover some ground. Will set the table at the top of our order NAME CLASS/POS. COMMENTS 1Hunter McSwain SO/LHP Only starting P back from last year 2Carter Bair FR/RHP Big and strong. Could be a special P 3Timmy Wright FR/LHP Good LHP should be a weekend guy 4Drew Hall FR/RHP Knows how to pitch. Should be another weekend guy for us 5CJ Brown FR/RH 6Cameron Bair SO/LH 2016 TEAM OUTLOOK: Offensively We will probably have to play a little small with the top and the bottom of the order. Middle of the order should be able to drive runs in. I like our team speed and hopefully use it to our advantage. Defense - Could be a strong part of our team especially up the middle. We have 2 good C, both middle INF should handle themselves really and our OF should be able to cover some ground. Pitching - We fell good about our starting P. Relief P is still a little bit of a ? but hopefully some guys can lock down that role as the season progresses. Justin Wilson will be our Closer. He has a bid time arm. Should be able to thrive in that role with his stuff. wrap up - I think we could be a solid team but its going to take a little overachieving. We are going to have to be a gritty team that competes hard every pitch and every inning in every game. If we play the game hard and the right way I think good things could happen for us. |
Walters State CC |
LIST TOP PLAYERS AND COMMITS RF Ramon Osuna – RS SO – Hit .406, 13 HR, 27 2B’s, and 92 RBI’s. C/DH Weston McArthur – SO – Hit .346, 11 HR, 16 2B’s, and 36 RBI’s. CF Colie Currie – SO – Hit .335, 3 HR, 14 2B’s, 49 RBI’s and 15 SB’s. SS Kyle Wilson – RS SO – Hit .314, 2 HR, 11 2B’s, 79 Runs, and 24 SB’s. 3B/2B Braxton Brinkley – RS SO – Hit .331, 1 HR, 10 2B’s, 49 Runs, and 13 SB. LF Elijah Helton – SO – Hit .307, 6 HR, 8 2B’s, and 31 RBI’s. 2B Ethan Rice – SO – Hit .265, 5 HR, 4 2B’s, 30 Runs, and 7 SB. OF Lucas Ledford – RS SO – Hit .293, 8 2B’s, 27 Runs, and 8 SB. OF/DH Reed Hayes - RS SO – In 2014, hit .362, 8 2B’s, 32 runs, and 15 SB. 3B/C Harris Yett – RS FR – Transfer from NC State. C Cody Young – SO – Transfer From Itawamba CC. C Jason Costa – RS SO – In 2014, hit .382. 1B Kyle Ouellette – RS FR 1B Zach Sears – FR SS Hunter Wolfe - FR Pitchers RHP Reed Hayes – RS SO – 28th rnd draft by Kansas City. LHP Jake Miednik – SO – Transfer from Volunteer State. RHP Daren Osby – SO – Went 4-1 with 4.26 ERA, 38 K’s, 38 IP. RHP Austin Green – SO – Went 3-0 with 2.70 ERA, 25 K’s, 23 IP. RHP Sam Gardner – FR RHP Nile Ball – FR RHP Hunter Stratton – FR RHP – Justin Pike – FR LHP – Zach Mather – FR LHP – Corey Bates – FR RHP – Garren Jackson – FR RHP – Weston Gilliam – RS SO LHP – Harrison Spencer – RS FR RHP – Ryan Caudle – RS FR RHP – Austin Morgan – RS FR 2016 TEAM OUTLOOK: Offensively, we return 6 of 9 starters and 8 guys who had at least 80 at-bats last year, so we have a ton of experience there. Our lineup will be led by RF Ramon Osuna, who returns after hitting .406, with 13 HR, and school records 27 doubles, 101 hits, and 92 RBI’s. Leadoff SS Kyle Wilson will be the sparkplug after scoring 79 runs and stealing 24 bases last year. C/DH Weston McArthur should be a force in the middle of the order, after hitting .346 with 11 HR as a freshman. CF Colie Currie, who hit .335 with 49 RBI’s last year, returns in the 2-hole. Defensively, having so much experience back is a huge plus. 3B/2B Braxton Brinkley is a versatile defender who can play 2B, 3B, or SS. We feel we are solid behind the plate with SO transfer Cody Young, RS SO Jason Costa, and McArthur. RS FR Transfer Harris Yett is a plus defender behind the plate and at 3B, and his bat will figure into the mix somewhere. 2B Ethan Rice returns after starting 23 games a year ago, and is much improved both defensively and offensively. All 4 of our regular starters in the OF are back in Osuna, Currie, Elijah Helton, and Lucas Ledford, and this should be a strength for us. At first base, both RS FR Kyle Ouellette and true FR Zach Sears will see significant time. Pitching will be a question mark for us this year. We lost a ton innings from last year in Andrew Gist (University of Georgia), Colton Provey (South Carolina), Andrew Towns (Clemson), Jake Usher (Tennessee Tech), Campbell Scholl (Central Florida), and Matt Pope (San Francisco Giants). We have a fairly unproven staff, but they have a good amount of talent and we will be looking for them to make improvements throughout the year. RHP Reed Hayes returns from a foot injury last year to lead the staff. He was a 28th round draft pick by Kansas City, despite redshirting last season. Transfer LHP Jake Miednik was outstanding this Fall and will look to continue that production. SO’s Daren Osby and Austin Green both pitched big innings for us last year and should build on that experience. RS SO Weston Gilliam returns from and injury after being one of our top arms last season during the Fall. Freshman arms Sam Gardner, Hunter Stratton, Nile Ball, Zach Mather, and Corey Bates will all be expected to step in and throw big innings for us. On paper, this looks to be a strong group for us. But everyone knows how little that matter when you strap it on and hit the field. Keys will be if we can remain focused on our goals, work together as a team, and our pitching staff reaches its potential during the season. We play a tough non-conference schedule this year with 3 games at 14th ranked Chipola, 4 games against 17th ranked Spartanburg Methodist, 3 games against Florence Darlington Tech, 2 games against D-2 9th ranked Catawba Valley, and single games against 20th ranked Potomac State and D-2 12th ranked Heartland. |