First sweep of the season

We had a great day vs. Houghton, sweeping the Highlanders in a pair of games. Jake Nowak came off the bench to rip a walk-off single for a 5-4 win in game 1. After John Bennett doubled, Houghton brought in their ace to stop the rally. Jake was down 0-2 and fouled of a good pitch, before ripping the ball for a hit in his only at bat.

Jake was rewarded by starting game 2 behind the plate. He did a great job catching.

We finally had a big offensive output in game 2. The umpire had a big zone and it was tough to muster offense. We had six baserunners over the first six innings, but nothing to show for it. We kept grinding out at bats and broke through in the fifth.

Bobby Frantz led the fifth with a double that hugged the left-field line. The next six guys got on. Bobby capped the rally with a double down the right-field line. We ended the game with 18 hits.

Kos Koslowski was 2 for 3 with a walk and crushed a line drive right at the centerfielder. His off-season hitting mate, Bennett, earned the start after a three-hit game the day before. He went 3 for 6 today. Erik Krohl had another great day on defense.

We had great relief pitching. Kyle Grey in game one, and the Big Man, Zach Jordon, in game 2. The combined for 9 1/3 innings allowing one run and now walks.

We have Ace and Jake going vs. Thomas on Wednesday. Looking for the seniors to carry us. We also added a nine-inning game on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. We fly out later that night. Look for visits to the mound from the Pen Dogs -- Carm, Joey, Carl, Morse and T-Mo over the next two days. Huggy says he's ready to go, too, so maybe he can get an inning or two.

Payback for Plattsburgh

We've been talking about the Plattsburgh series with the players for a couple weeks. Last year, we won the opener and dropped the next two. We were focused on paying them back this year. We won two of three, but like any SUNYAC game, it was a tough battle. In both our wins, they got the tieing run to the plate in the final inning.

The big story was Huggy tossing a nifty gem. He tossed a six-hit shutout. He did not allow a runner past second base. Huggy is a battler and went right after the hitters allowing one walk. Fundamentals. Defense was solid and execution was solid when we needed it. However, we will be back working on bunting on Monday morning.

We gave the Hammer for the series to Erik Krohl. Erik played a solid shortstop and gives our pitcher's confidence.

We are headed to see the Nationals play on Sunday vs. the Braves. The game will be preceded by a tour of the complex and we will also get the buffet spread during the game. Off days are a lot better when we win.

Perhaps the best part of the trip, though, is getting to see Tommy Dee (class of 2011). Tommy calls Florida home these days, and has made his sixth trip with us.

Split with Plattsburgh

We split a pair of games with the Cards, 5-3 and 0-3. Their pitcher had a perfect game through 5 innings of Game 1. A lot of very weak grounders early on. We had some good swings and hard-hit balls in the fifth.

Matty Casilo broke into the hit column and got us going. Our first two runs were accounted for by the trio from Webster Thomas High School -- Matty, Bobby Frantz (RBI and run) and Dan Fetes (RBI double).

Larson threw pretty good, limiting the hits. He gave up a few walks in the seventh, but he wasn't missing by much. He's good at winning. The Big Man Zach Jordan got his second save. A new Andy Dlugosz.

Game two saw us get shut out. Their pitcher just threw strike one and pounded the outside corner. Until we adjust, why would he do any different? Half our six hits were for extra bases.

Tommy Morris got through three innings and was up and down. The three runs were scored by runners that got on base on a walk, a 3-1 hit and a 2-0 hit. Work ahead and we'll be fine. He left with the bases loaded and no out in the fourth. Kyle Grey got him out of the jam by striking out the first two hitters he saw and inducing the third out via ground ball.

The rubber match is Saturday at Noon. We've got Huggy going, and he'll compete for us!!

Finally here!

We arrived in Florida and were able to finally play some ball. We opened with UMass Dartmouth, who were playing their final games of their trip. It was slow going from the start. We had one hit in our first time through the order, but got nine hits over the final 3 1/2 innings and put up nine runs.

Jake Nowak made his second straight start for us on the mound (his first career start took place in last year's final game at Bradford). He battled and earned the win. The "Big Man", Zach Jordon, faced one batter to get the save.

Jake caught Ace Sciandra in game two. He's been swinging a good bat and worked his way into the lineup.

We were able to run the bases well and played error-free defense. Overall, we had 11 stolen bases. We picked off one of their runners, and threw out the only steal attempt on the day. Good to see some fundamentals executed well.

We are now looking at Plattsburgh for the next three games. These games will make or break our trip.

Spanning the Globe

2010 Fredonia State Alum Rob Herrmann (Trumansburg ‘06, Fredonia State ’10) has signed a professional baseball contract to play for the Paderborn Untouchables for the upcoming 2013 season. The Untouchables, based in Paderborn, Germany, are a member of the elite first division Bundesliga League, the highest level of professional baseball in Germany. 

Rob finished his career at Fredonia with a .370 career batting average which was good for fifth in school history. He is the school record holder with 32 career doubles and he also completed his tenure here with 411 at bats and 152 hits which are both second in each category respectively. Rob is the only Fredonia State player to be named All-SUNYAC all four years.

His professional career started with the Las Cruces Vaqueros then the next season with the Trinidad Triggers. In both professional seasons, he has been elected to the All-Star team. Rob will finish his winter season in Australia and will join the Untouchables in April where their season begins on April 13. 

Two days in a row outside

We had our second day in a row outside. This time on the turf. We took the portable mound and had pitchers throw live. Ace, Carmello and Tommy Morris got in two innings each. They'll be expected to throw big innings this year.

Everything was going well until we were interupted by the training staff to go inside for a ten-minute warming up session (a SUNYAC rule).

The good thing is nobody realized how cold it was. Effort at today's practice was better than the past two. We had to get over some mild depression from not playing this past weekend. Still hoping for a good weekend in Pittsburgh before our spring trip. With the conference series vs. Plattsburgh coming up soon, we need to be focused.

Back home

Opening weekend was wiped off the books thanks to the snow. Fortunately the team was able to get out on the 'Wig Monday. It was our first full outside batting practice and we wrapped up with an intersquad. Sunny and about 60 degrees. Jake Nowak, Carl Wolf and Kyle Morse were able to throw a few innings each. Groundskeeper Brent Kawski had the field looking great as usual.

It looks like Thursday will be wiped off the books, though. Rain tonight and temps int the 30's.

We are shooting for Saturday in Pittsburgh to take on Geneva College -- the new "Opening Day."

2013 Preview - Veteran Squad

The 2013 Blue Devils are extremely excited for the upcoming season and the optimism is through the roof. With a squad consisting of eight seniors, experience and leadership is what looks to be the key to success this season from the veterans. I spoke to senior captain Ian Gallagher and he said “ Our team seems like we are more prepared than ever before and as a tightly knit group, our depth in the lineup and pitching staff is what will help us put together a successful season”.

While only losing one starter to graduation from last season, the batting lineup is very similar to last year except that everyone is a year better. Dan Greco was the leadoff man last season but junior transfer Bobby Frantz looks to replace that role on opening day. Reigning All-SUNYAC selection senior captain Dillon Lowe stated: “ The additions to our coaching staff has made us more prepared and fine tuned for the season. With more coaches, every position is getting more work and getting better in every aspect of the game”.

Every day before practice is a motivational quote written in the locker room. There was one that kept being repeated and seems to have mirrored our work ethics thus far. “Win the SUNYAC Championship today”. That was our goal since day one and we are one day away from starting the voyage towards our goal. After speaking with Dan Fetes, he believes “As a team, we feel like we have put in the work to be a top team in the conference. It is our time and our chance to leave a mark on the program. Talk is cheap and we’re ready to back our play up between the lines this season”.

The pitchers have been working harder than ever this year with head coach Matt Palisin and assistant coach Matt Bowman. Coach Palisin believes that the pitchers are already better than they were last year up to this point. The pitchers are confident of the work they put in and can rely on a lot of depth to go into the late innings. Junior pitcher Steve Sturm said “ This team has a different feel than the teams of the previous two year’s I have been here. Hopefully we can translate this chemistry and hard work into wins”.  Sean Larson who is also a junior pitcher stated “If we play our game like we know how to, we can be virtually unstoppable”.

Expectations are high this season and the overall goal is a SUNYAC Championship. The team believes in themselves and others and will rely on each other to push through the season to achieve the ultimate goal. The Blue Devils open up their season on 3/8/13 after a seven hour bus ride to Long Island to take on SUNY Purchase. 

Almost here

The opener vs. Purchase this Friday -- one of three Skyline Conference teams we'll play -- is almost here. The three schools we play this weekend all have turf fields, so today we got out on our lacrosse (turf) field and worked on all our defensive situations and took a lot of ground balls.

Coach Greco will get the guys back out there tomorrow morning for some defensive work. We'll smack the balls around the cage and hit the road at 5 p.m. Subway and 7 Ups for the ride down.

Friday looks to be a cold one, but Saturday (at Old Westbury) and Sunday (at St. Joe's) look like great days. In addition to us, SUNYAC schools Brockport, Plattsburgh and New Paltz will be in the "SUNYAC v. Skyline" challenge.

Purchase has three games under its belt. Westbury was pre-season top 30 and will be a good challenege. We don't know a whole lot about either program having never played them.

We wrap up with St. Joe's. We played them a couple years ago in Ft. Myers and had a positive result. They have the home-field advantage this time, so we'll have to be up to the challenge.

Visualization

Coach Bowman has been working with the pitchers on visualization during our practices. Here is a great visualization story I shared with the staff last week.

We are winding down to opening day. Pitchers threw live today and again tomorrow to prep for the weekend. Coach Tantillo made the infielders go out to the turf field despite the 28-degree chill. They were pretty excited to get out there. We will be playing on turf this weekend.

I'd like to give a shout out to Ricky Carlson. Ricky stopped by practice today and worked with a few pitchers on their changeups and lefty pickoff moves. Great to have the alums keep in touch.

Quality help

We are now six days away from our Long Island trip. The team definitely feels well prepared. The players and I have had a great amount of help from our staff.

Matt Bowman (played in 2009) has joined the staff and has helped with the pitchers. He and I (CP) have been working with the pitchers exclusively. Matt is a huge help. He's working within our Athletic Department in addition to coaching.

Tommy T is drilling the infielders. "27 Outs. No More." is his motto. They have gotten way more repetions this year. Arms are getting pretty sore on a weekly basis.

Danny Greco has been our hitting guru. I hope he's doing a good job, because I've hardly watched the hitters at all. Dan is using the lesson taught to him by Donny Kirsch as few years back. We even have the Donny Kirsch Drill. We've also been working in the Basile Drill. Take pride in your proteges. Donny and his pretty smile are still impacting our program!

Intern Jordan Doolittle has also been a big help. He's always carrying around his notebook and does the video. When we get to F - L - A, he'll have to exchange those for laundry detergent and a van key. At least he'll have his own bed.

Frank Scharantz has added some veteranism to our staff -- he's like our Ory Mee. He's been around a while and coached for years. An expert with the fungo and a BP machine. He's also been a big help to recruiting and getting some players into great summer-league programs.

We head out about 5 p.m. on Thursday for Purchase, N.Y. Last night's Hammer winner Conner Lorenzo said in his speech "I feel like a caged animal. I'm ready to go."