Getting to know Conner Lorenzo

Senior second basemen came by today for a few quick questions with Quinn Danahy.

In high school, Conner was a State Rep wrestler making him one of the best wrestlers of his weight class in the state. When asked why he chose to play collegiate baseball instead he told Quinn that it was his first love. And of course the Italian loves to eat.

When asked his favorite player, Conner was quick to say Bernie Williams. The four-time World Series champion played his entire 16 year career with the New York Yankees from 1991 through 2006. Like Conner, Williams is multi-talented. The five-time MLB All-Star is also a classically trained guitarist who has released two jazz albums.

Finally, Quinn asked the famous “Deserted Island” question and Conner said he’d like to be stranded with transfer Ricky Mendiola. He told Quinn “Big Rick” would keep him warm.

We are live

Thursday saw six pitchers throw live. All six showed command of the fastball. We are going to have quite a battle for that No. 3 starter slot this year. Last season, our No. 3 starter (a combination of arms) was 1-7 in the SUNYAC. After missing last season, Steve Sturm will step back in to his role and take over for the graduated Zack Hugg to solidfy the top of the rotation.

A number of players talked about wanting becoming the third starter. One of them stepping up will be a big boost to our season. A few weeks ago, pitching coach Matt Bowman said he felt this year's staff is better than last year.

Six more throw live today. Having five catchers is nice. Last year, Sheehan and a raw Jake Nowak were all we had behind the plate.

Tuesday's W went to Quinn Danahy. Did a great job in the hit and run drill. Would have gioven it to Ben Senior, but he had to leave after his pen to get to class.

Sean Larson took the W on Wednesday. He made freshman Cody Herman stay out on defense until he got our bunt rotations down. Small thing, but we need accountability.

Thursday saw Herman take the W. I spent a good part of practice trying to get in his head, but he was rock solid. He and Weyman -- our two freshmen arms -- have shown some moxy. They carry themselves well. Both former Wayne Eagles.

Coach Greco subbed in Dunkirk on Thursday. He said he was showing the class a film on Roberto Clemente. A very intersting man. The hispanic Jackie Robinson. He overcame a lot. He was also one of Baby Colletti's hero's.

Misc.

We did our strength testing a few weeks back. Here are the results of the top four in each category:

Mile		Bench		Dips
Wolf	5:04	Lorenzo	33	Frantz	61
Johnston	5:22	Johnston	32	Lorenzo	53
Lorenzo	5:28	Carmody	32	Johnston	37
Carmody	5:32	Frantz	32	Castonguay	35

Carl Wolf and Bobby Frantz set new standards in their events.

Today's W went to Matty "Ice" Casilio. The hockey-first third baseman had a good day bunting and has strung together a few good practices.

We also had a visitor stop by the office yesterday. He goes by 'Mike'. He will be running for SUNY Mascot of the Year.

We're hoping Mike will be out to support the women's and men's basketball teams on Friday. A big game vs. Geneseo for the women. Our team will be there in the Blue practice shirts. That means Friday morning is High School Spirit Day.

Pushing on

This week we continued our rotation of defense one day, hitting the next. We've done a lot of tee work. Today we wrapped up the hitting by doing the *Basile Drill with front toss.

(*Basile Drill - you get three pitches. Pull the first, middle on the second; oppo on the third. Jordan basile, the Hits Leader, used to finish his BP every day by calling his final three swings.)

Bat control, focus (small number of reps that are measured) and competition were the focus during the drill. Great hitters can take any pitch and hit it anywhere they want.

W's this week have gone out to Sean Larson (excellent focus in his bullpen session); Ciro (his second - intense practice player) and Quinn Danahy. Quinn stood out in the Basil Drill and is extemely coachable. Good for other teammates to compare themselves to.

I'd like to complement Trot Kelly. He struggled with his mile goal, but finally reached it on Monday when he turned in a 5:55. Pretty good time.

Monday saw our final "Delinquent Milers" turn in their best times. Now we can focus on baseball everyday.

The Mile concept: Be up to any challenge. Be mentally tough.

-A mile does NOT equal better baseball performance.

-Putting yourself through the rigors of improving your mile time and achieving a higher personal standard DOES REQUIRE mental toughness.
- Mental toughness and competitive drive DO improve performance.

I'd like to give shout out to Jeremy Engquist. Jeremy was my first assistant I hired back in the day. He recently gave birth (his wife, actually) to twins. FOur kids and counting. Congrats to the slef-proclaimed No. 1 Dad!

Alums still in the game

A recent alumni, Taylor Gahagen, 2011 grad, has gotten a job in the sports world working with the Sabres. Here is a nice article from our latest alumni newsletter, The Statement. A handful of other alums are working in sports these days. Here's a look at a few:

- Pete Lusk, 2009, now at George Washington Univ. athletics (was at Fordham)
- Mark Taurisani, 2003, Arkansas Univ. football
- Jordan Basile, 2009, Lake Erie College baseball
- Tim Zulawski, 1988, Atlanta Falcons
- Matt Clark, 2003, golf pro at River Oaks on Grand Island

At practice, the W's the past three days went to Kenny Johnston, Mike Prentice and Sean Larson. Kenny was an energy giver on Tuesday, and always practices with a positive attitude, even with a slight wound he had a productive day. Mike had a good day blocking and throwing in the Around the Horn drill on Wednesday. Lars threw another good pen when half the pitchers threw on Thursday.

I'd like to give a shout out to the Timon boys. Matt Sullivan ran into current Blue Devil Quinn Danahy last week and says hello. Andy Dlugosz says he will be up in the spring for a few games via the texting. Tommy Dee has already made plans to stay about a week with us in Florida. Tommy currently works about an hour from Fort Myers. All three graduated from Bishop Timon HS together before reunuiting at Fredonia State.

Super Joe and Dan The Man making their mark

Saturday's practice saw Joe Korszun take home the 'W' off the table and Monday's top practice player was Dan Cecilia. Both are transfers new to our program.

Joe is a gung-ho pitcher that has been putting 100% in everything he does. Early bullpen session have his stuff rated near the top of the staff. Joe spoke about how he watches Conner Lorenzo in practice everyday and is motivated by his effort.

Joe came to us from Mohawk Valley C.C. I saw him at a workout last winter, and he seemed very excited to be at practice there, too.

Dan spent Monday catching bullpens. He was constantly blocking balls and working on his catch and release mecahnics while catching the bullpens. He's chatted up each pitcher after each session to get to know them better. Looks like he wants to play.

Dan comes to us from St. John Fisher. They had a glut of catchers there, and we had none returning, so he's just what we needed. At this point, he'll battle Anthony Schiro (a Niagara County C.C. transfer) for the No. 1 catching job. Freshman Mike Prentice and junior Jason Howard will push them daily.

Dan talked about how the past is the past and he's very excited about the team.

I'd like to give a shout out to Zack Hugg. Huggy is working at Stateline Auto and working on getting some interviews after graduating in December. He checked in this morning and was asking about how his former roomates Sturm, Melo and Grey were doing. He also asked about the new intern, who is not as good as he was.