[Husker] Baseball

[Skylar Dodds]

> Skylar, is the Baseball guy on here. he played some in college.
> I think in the past he did a recap of the games.

You're right, I am a huge baseball fan.  I think Bob and I (and maybe Jon)
are probably some of the only NU fans that like baseball more than football
:)

On Cooper playing both sports:
==============================
He claims that the coaches are OK with it.  I don't think it's impossible,
but there will be some conflict (mostly spring practice vs baseball).  He's
got a football scholly, so that's OK (there's an NCAA rule that if an
athlete is going to play another sport, he MUST have a scholarship in
football, not the other sport).  From what I've heard about him, he's a
legit center fielder with some wheels.  He stole 16 bases his senior year,
although I think he needs to learn 'how' to steal not just how to be fast.

On the upcoming season:
=======================
On the mound we're going to be very green and I'm guessing that's going to
cost us some games, especially early.  I like the crop of young pitchers on
the team, but it's always a big question as to whether or not that
translates to play on the field.  As someone already stated, outside of
Johnny we've got 4 wins on this pitching staff.  That's not too good,
especially when the Big XII hitters roll around.

In my opinion, the guy to watch this year is Dan Jennings.  I really liked
what I saw out of him in his limited showings and I think he's the kind of
guy that can develop into a very solid starter (IMO, maybe even the Friday
guy by the end of the year).  Thad Weber will more than likely be the third
starter.  Look for maybe Freeman or maybe even Pribanic as the 4th/midweek
starter in the group.

As for relief, we have Bird and Herr back from not so great seasons last
year.  I'm optimistic as they both looked great in summer leagues though.
Beyond them it's really tough to say as we're dealing with pretty much all
freshman at that point.

In the field, the roster should look something like this:

C - Abeita - Look for solid senior year from one of our best players and
leaders from last year.  

1B - Neer / Weber / Corriston? - I think this is probably Neer's job with
Weber and maybe Craig Corriston filling in when needed.  For those of you
who don't know, Cody Neer transferred here from Florida where he was the
starting catcher last year.  He batted .310 in the SEC last year as a
sophomore, which is pretty darn impressive.  The only down side is, we lost
Drew Gray (backup catcher) to injury for a good chunk of the season, so he
might have to backup Abeita.  

2B - Opitz - Jake's a decent player, but seems to have a rough time in Big
XII play.  Part of the reason, IMO, is he has a really long/big swing that
works well against non-conference, but really struggles when you get the
bigtime pitching in the Big XII.  Hopefully he's worked on that during the
offseason and will be ready to go this year.

SS - Kline / Johnston / Mort - Kline and Johnston are really the two
battling it out.  I'm guessing that between them, one will start and the
other will fill in where needed.  They both seem to have a decent bat, but
both are true froshes, so let's see how that develops.

***** Jake Mort *****
Jake's one of my favorite players.  He's got the best infield glove on the
team and probably the best in a while (maybe throw Simo in there). The
problem with Jake is he's a bit of a liability with a bat in his hands.  I
think he'll fill gaps when necessary and you'll see him a lot when we have a
lead late in games because of his sure glove.  He plays mostly 3B & SS but
can fill in at 2B when necessary.  Jake injured his hand last year on that
diving stop at 3rd to essentially win us the first CU vs NU game at
Rosenblatt.  It was an amazing play to win the game, the ball was stroked
and he dove for it and tossed the guy out at first.

3B - Tezak / Corriston / Sowers / Mort - Another position that's really up
in the air.  If I had to bet, I'd take Tezak or Sowers (rFr).  Tezak has a
great stick and played most of last year as the DH.  If he's worked on his
fielding, he could prove to be a very valuable player.  Corriston could also
take this spot (and also has a good bat) if he doesn't end up at 1st (which
he could).  Sowers is a wildcard.  He was the Gatorade HS POY in Colorado
after hitting .510 as a senior.  He redshirted last year because we had
Wehrle, but we'll see if he's ready to make an impact at the DI level.

OF - The only lock, IMO is DJ Belfonte who had a crazy Freshman year (stay
away Sophomore-itus!).  He's one of our most complete players.  He's got a
really strong arm and good speed and a great bat.  He played RF last year
and I'd bet some pretty good coin that's where he'll stay.
Nimmo/Stewart/Belfonte/Sullivan and maybe Cuno will makeup the outfield for
most of the season.  

There is some talk of Stewart playing 1B or DH, but I can tell you we want
his bat in the lineup. He's got a Kyle Russell look to him (guy from UT who
hit about 25-30 homers last year) and a beautiful effortless swing.  I'm
trying really hard to contain my excitement for Stewart, but I just can't
help myself. 

Nimmo's probably going to start in CF.  He really improved his bat last year
and seemed to find a perfect spot as the #9 leadoff guy (for you
non-baseballers the #9 spot is often used to put your second best table
setter).  He stole 13 bases last year (man I hope Anderson puts the runners
in motion more this year) and 23 in the summer league.  He's probably our
best glove in the OF (although not the best arm, that's probably DJ) and
hopefully he can carry this over.

Sullivan is a guy who I think has the talent, but hasn't really done much
yet.  Hopefully he can figure it out or he may be watching from the pine.
He's been injured (thumb) so that may have contributed to his woes,
hopefully he's past that and is ready to breakout this year.

Cuno is a decent recruit as a Juco guy.  He hit .381 with 12 HRs last year
for Fort Scott CC in Kansas.  I don't know how he'll figure into the lineup
this year, I think that depends heavily on how Sullivan shows up.  I think
he still has a redshirt option, so he may end up using that.

The Huskers open the season on Feb 22 with 4 games @ Stanford (Friday DH).
This is a huge test early in the year and it doesn't get much easier coming
home to play 4 with UC Riverside (Sat DH) the week after that.  Both teams
are legit and if we're 4-4 at that point, I'd be very happy.

Overall:
Even though I hate the phrase (because I don't like the Cubs), this may be a
'rebuilding year'.  Our pitching staff got just destroyed last year by the
draft.  If Mike's boys can put together a 35-40 win / top half Big XII year
I'll be thrilled.

On the other hand, it will be fun getting to see all the new players and see
what they can do.  You never know when someone is going to step up and make
a huge impact.

--
Skylar

-----Original Message-----
From: husker-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:husker-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of
Tony Lambert
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 7:26 PM
To: Kaufsss at aol.com; rbeach at neb.rr.com; husker at tssi.com
Subject: [Husker] Baseball


Tony Lambert

--------------------------------------------------
From: <Kaufsss at aol.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 7:13 PM
To: <rbeach at neb.rr.com>; <husker at tssi.com>
Subject: Re: [Husker] Check

> I like college baseball - but it is so hard to follow because of little
> media attention, I see nothing until world series time.  I think a lot on 
> this
> list likes the info - so if you are so inclined, please enlighten us on 
> any
> sports- we really want the news - but may just not respond to a certain 
> post.
> Keep them coming - you can always just delete - so we need to keep  the 
> subject
> line coherent( like this one for "check"!!!!!!
>
> Steve  Kauf
> A Husker fan deep in South Texas
> NOT THE VICTORY BUT THE  ACTION
> NOT THE GOAL BUT THE GAME
> IN THE DEED THE  GLORY
>
>
> 

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