Devils put FUN in Fundraiser

We had the first of our Kids' Night Out fundraisers this past Saturday. We played host to over 90 local youths. The team provided activities (football, soccer, kickball, swimming, etc.) for the kids in a safe, fun environment. Safety First is our motto. In addidtion to the kids, our players enjoy the activities.

The team has to raise a portion of the money for our annual Florida trip. Kids' Night Out beats selling subs and car washes! Here are a few videos as filmed by senior communications major Dan Greco.

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G'Day, Mate

Recently, former Blue Devil Rob Herrmann arrived in Australia for what will be roughly a six-month trip to continue his baseball career. Here is what he is up to according to a recent email:

 Even though we haven't played too much I am keeping busy coaching some of the younger teams as well as my own, and training a lot during the days so far. I'll be starting a job next week which will eat up a lot of my time but have been getting out and about a ton so far. Attached are a couple of pictures from the coast here in an area called Pebbly Beach. The wildlife here is absolutely amazing and I have been having a lot of fun just seeing and photographing all of the new things around. The bird picture shows you how friendly most of the animals are for a free meal. I had some sunflower seeds with me so I was an instant hit with a ton of wild Rosellas and parrots.

The people here are wonderful and are especially caring a friendly towards Americans like myself. Weathers been great and temperatures are starting to touch the upper 80's low 90's at times.

Positive people

I'll take today as an opportunity to pump up one of our most humble players. At the end of the fall, one item we included on our written evaluations was the opportunity to evaluate our teammates. Each players ranked everyone on the team on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being and Energy Taker, and 10 being an Energy Giver. Coach Sully compiled the results, dropped the highest and lowest scores, determined the average, and we came up with a winner.

Scores ranked from a low of 4.6 to a high of 9.0. Angelo Sciandra, known to his friends as 'Ace', was ranked as the team's top most positive influence. What separates him? Obviously, he is great to be around and a great friend to just about everyone. I think the biggest key is he has what Taylor Gahagen would call "Self Efficacy".

Ace was an academic all-Western New York selection in high school and does well in college. He has around a 3.0 now, but everytime I ask him how classes are going, you'd think he's almost ineligible. He knows he can do better. He never makes an excuse on the field and takes time in practice to work with, and learn from, our other players. He always does what he's told, yet he is one of the most competitive athletes on the team. Despite his slight frame, he holds the WNY record for wins by a HS quarterback. A real leader.

He is involved as one of our team's SAAC rep. He's was the first player to sign up to visit School No. 4 with our community service project. He missed a weekend practice this fall to attend a fundraiser for a young man from the old neighborhood that was ill. He went so far as to have his teammates get the 12-year old an autographed shirt and passed a jar around the team for donations.

Being an Energy Giver never stops. On the field, off the field or in the game of life, your character will reveal itself over time. Glad to have Ace on our team!

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM ADAM BRONSON
AND THE REST OF THE BLUE DEVILS

In our last trip to School 4, the students turned Adam Bronson into a monster. His whereabouts, at this point, are unknown.

On the bases with Tommy T

“A great base runner never loses track of the ball.”  That is a quote I heard when I was younger, and now every time I take the field that quote means more and more to me.  Transferring in from JCC I knew the FSU program was a good fit for me right away, base running and hustle are highly stressed.  It doesn’t take talent to hustle, and a great base runner isn’t always the fastest guy out there, I feel it’s the most alert guy out there. 

We take a lot of pride in our base running.  There are a few things I always like to be aware of when I’m on the bases.  I could be here for days, but the main things are, the score and inning of the game, the positioning and arm strengths of the outfielders, how fast or slow a pitcher is to the plate and if he is getting into any type of pattern.  

A few things I always like to remind myself of are, when people scream halfway when the ball is in the air it doesn’t really mean halfway, it means go as far as you can go as long as you can get back.  When stealing a bag, get a big lead and make the pitcher throw over. Learn what his best move is and exploit it. If he doesn’t step back, you can get a moving lead. If he isn’t paying attention or gets predictable, get a good jump. If he slide-steps, stop and stay because you’ll be thrown out.  

Base running is my favorite part of the game, many games I have played in throughout the years, there has been big plays on the bases that had big outcomes in which team won or lost.  I know the attitude here at Fredonia is Pete Rose-like, and we believe in letting the other guy lose, so we will continue to pay attention on the bases, take some chances, and never lose track of that ball.

Baserunning is a huge part of the game. Look at the action below. Everyone on the bench is making some noise and into the game! Take pride in your baserunning!

Tommy T

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Jeremy Borst trucks a pitcher. Ouch!

Donny Baseball diving into third....

 ... Donny Baseball scoring a run....

...again...

...and again

Melquist with a perfect slide.

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Taylor Gahagen attacking the plate!

Our own Tommy Tantillo can't slow down Dan Fetes in a JV game in 2010!

Mr. Adam's room

Angelo Sciandra, a math education major, works with some youngsters from School 4 in Dunkirk on the Promethium Board. Every Monday and Wednesday, members of the Blue Devils take a ride to School 4 and work with the After School Program from 3-4::30 p.m. The program is run by former Blue Devil player and coach, Kyle Adams, who is a teacher in the school.

On Monday, Angelo, Kyle Koslowski, John Bennett and Sean Urckfitz made the trip. Bennett is now known as "Snake" around his new friends.

Prime Time Plans

We recently wrapped up our fall with individual meetings. Each player brings with him a written self-evaluation so he will begin to think about what he needs to do and so I can understand what he is thinking. I change the format every year. I was going through old evaluations and came across this one from the fall of 2006.

It is the all-time Hit King Jordan Basile describing his approach after the fall of his freshman year. Suffice it to say, he had a specific plan from the start. He went on to earn a starting position mid-way through the season, and batted .345 that year. In later years, he also glossed himself as having "The sweetest swing in the SUNYAC."

Here is what he wrote (he was a left-handed leadoff hitter):

Describe your preparation while you are on deck or in the hole: I tell myself right away whether I am going to take a pitch, and work on keeping my hands in and not hitching.

What do you look for first pitch/early in the count?: A ball to hit on the inside half, can be a curveball if he’s a right-handed pitcher. Early in the count or if I have [one] strike I’m looking to drive a pitch.

What is your approach with two strikes?: Looking to hit anything close, most of the time. In a 3-2 count I like to take a big swing because it’s usually down the heart of the plate.

Strengths: I love to hit the fast pitching and I know the strike zone so I am able to work the pitcher.

Weaknesses: Left-handed pitchers with hard-moving slider; pitches above the belt.

…

Long-term (career) goals: I’d like to set some hitting records… 

---

The bottom line is each player needs to have a concrete idea of how to go about something -- anything from hitting, to pitching, to off-season workouts. HAVE A PLAN. Jordan did and worked at it.

A Jordan Basile story: When Jordan would take his final round of batting practice, he would always point his bat three times -- once to the left field line, once to center field and once to right field. He would then proceed to hit a ball to left, then center, then right. He could hit the ball wherever he wanted. And he ALWAYS hustled.

One of my greatest thrills over the past 22+ years as a pitcher was striking out Jordan in the Glenwood League All Star game. He fouled off a bunch of pitches, but I finally got him on a sweet curveball.

Best athletes on the field

For our pitching staff every year, one of our main points of emphasis is to field our position well. In order to do so, we put our pitchers through many repetitions of covering first base, fielding bunts, and taking ground balls.

Along with the PFP (Pitchers' Fielding Practice) we also focus on our pickoff moves to each base. Over the past years, we have won many games because of how our pitchers fielded their positions. We teach our pitchers that fielding your position is as much mental as it is physical. You have to have the attitude and the desire to field your position well. We take pride in fielding pitchers fielding their position. Coach Bonge gets into the mix when stellar play are made by yelling "Billy Chapel."

-- A.D.

No rest in the off-season

Here is a submitted video that breaks down some baseball workouts.

Dan Uggla workout

A lot of getting better as a player is to try out new things and gain information on your own. There is some good advice and a few new workouts than can help players as the get into the off season.

Around the horn

Our infield will have a new look this year, having graduated our firstbaseman, secondbaseman and shortstop. We will still have experience, with a large number of juniors on the roster.

Firstbase will be a good battle. Junior Dan Fetes was our top hitter this fall and is a left-handed bat and a heads-up player. Sophomore 'Big Cat' Lawrence is the right-handed option. He led our team in doubles this fall and is very strong. Fetes came in as a catcher, but played a lot of first over the past few years.

Second base looks to be a battle, too. Connor Lorenzo, a sophomore, will bat at the top of our lineup and will be in the lineup a lot. Tommy Tantillo, one of only two seniors, had a strong fall at the plate and is ready to play after not seeing a lot of action last season. He batted over .300 both seasons at Jamestown C.C. He has been known to  "pick apart the opponent", according to Rob Herrmann, while on the bench. He definitely has coaching in his future. He also showed me he had some pop during summer-ball action.

Shortstop will also be a good battle. Right now, John Bennett is our main man. I recruited him out of high school, went on to play two years at FLCC, and opened some eyes with his all around play and composure this fall. He's the only player that swings a 32'' bat, and he looks slender, but showed some solid pop. He's our Splendid Splinter. Freshman Erik Krohl will be a good one. He'll get some starts. He came to see us play at Oswego last season (he's from the Syracuse area) and saw Joe Kephart drive in 9 runs steal four bases and make several great plays, so he knows he's got some big shoes to fill. I also told him to "Run with the wise," so he will be training with Lorenzo this off season.

Third base will be a battle between Dillon Lowe and either Sam or Sean Marren (they look alike). Lowe is looking to bounce back in 2012. He hit over .500 as a freshman, but dropped off last year. He wants to anchor the middle of the order. Marren came in mainly as a catcher, but due to our depth, will see most of his time at third. He played an errorless fall and hit well.

Another pair of infielders are Ian Gallagher and Jake Nowak. We are hoping to move Gallagher to the outfield where he should see a lot of time (assuming he gets a haircut), but he just wants to play. He will bring both gloves to every game. Jake is a 4th-year junior (he received a medical redshirt as a sophomore, but was able to get in some significant playing time). He will play SS, 3B, 2B, DH and pitch. He will hit for us and do a lot of things to help us win. He is one of our top hitters.

We have a lot of depth all over, so the off season is big. I had individual meetings with each player after the fall and each one set a goal or two. We'll see who achieves what. Somebody is going to get left behind.

I still feel strongly that right now, no position is set. Last year, we knew Gahagen, Dee, Kephart and Lowe would be our infield from the start. A few guys will definitely be in our batting lineup based on what they earned. However, how everyone around them produces will affect who plays where. Let's be honest, they can all play multiple infield positions.

Web resources

Note in the right-hand menu the web videos and articles have been added. A little something for the off-season.

--CP

Catchers aplenty

Heading into this fall, we had eight catchers listed on our roster. We still have all eight, but moved some around. Catchers often make great coaches/managers, so their experience can be helpful. Each has made a solid contribution, and we are hoping to have a Catcher's Day at some point this year -- all eight in the game at once.

Experienced returnees
Dan Fetes and Brian Sheehan did the lion's share of the catching last year. Both swing lefty and are take-command type players.

Fetes played significant first base in high school/summer ball. He will see significant time there in the spring. He was our team's top hitter this fall, and, as we like to say, an Energy Giver. Our other first base options are all right-handed batters. Like any catcher, he wants to be back there mixing it up, but his versatility will help us. He was our best picker this fall, and loves to run the bases.

Sheehan has a strong arm, and at one point gunned down five straight baserunners in a four-game stretch in SUNYAC play last year. He isn't as fast as Dan, so his 'speed' won't be wasted behind the plate. He is also one of our top baserunners. Brian played some third base in high school, so that could give us a lefty bat option if needed.

Strong sophomores
Kyle Koslowski, Ryan Fitzgerald and Chris Messina all played well enough to earn the starting position this fall. Kos was our top power hitter and his throwing improved tremendously this fall. He also spent a lot of time learning the footwork to play first base. I just love his work ethic. He's strong as an ox and never takes a play off. He won a game this fall with his legs doing a great job advancing to third on a bunt, then scoring on a wild pitch that skipped only about five feet from the catcher. He had the dirtiest uniform on the team everyday.

Everything Fitz was told to correct from last fall was fixed. He was our top catcher as far as opponents base-stealing percentage against this fall. He a strong, husky kid with a great bat (built a lot like Phil Gavin). He broke into college baseball with a four-hit game last year. He's ready to go.

Messina came to the team from UB last January, so he did not have as much opportunity as a freshman. He's got huge arms and can hit and block like a beast.  He is another left-handed bat. He did play a little second base in high school, so he can play there when we have our Catcher's Day.

All three sophomores could end up starting for us. Overall, our catchers had the strongest fall as far as batting.

New guys
Sean Urckfitz (Monroe) and Sam Marren (FLCC) are a pair of transfers, and Adam Bronson is a freshman. I don't know if any of them will do much catching at all, but having depth here does not hurt.

Urckfitz is fast, and has a strong arm. He should end up as one of our four main outfielders this year. he tries to out-work everybody. His work ethic is where a lot of guys need to be. I told him if he wants to make our TEAM better, grab a few freshmen and get THEM in the weight room.

Marren played a great thirdbase this fall, and caught sparingly. He did not make an error all fall, and made some great plays. He caught a little and did well.

Bronson is behind a lot of guys. He is our strongest freshman and will develop into a power bat. I had him a lot in the outfield this fall, and he has shown great footwork. As strong as he is, he needs to use his lower half in throwing and hitting. He made a lot of positive adjustments this fall. He just needs more at bats right now. He also runs well. A lot of potential. He reminds me of a young Ryan Fitzgerald.

With eight catchers, practices sure run smoothly. I can remember when Fusco was our only catcher back in 2004. That was rough!

Outfield play

Our outfield play is not totally settled from the fall. We tried a number of different combinations. We had a lot of depth at catcher and infield, so we moved a handful of infielders to the outfield.

Senior Dan Greco returns. He split time in the outfield last year, and will be in the mix as a pitcher again this year. He's got a great arm (just needs to hit the cut off more often) and gets the most out of his at bats -- often it takes 12 pitches to strike him out. He'll be a bottom-of-the order hitter in our lineup when he plays. A lefty stick, great speed, like his brother Josh, nothing catches him by surprise on the field. E.G.

Sophomore Sean Larson looks to pick up some at bats this year. He's got a rocket arm in right field and the size to be a power hitter. He batted cleanup in H.S., but did not see any at bats last year. He led our team in innings pitched, and looks to do that again this year.

Sophomore Justin Burns is back and has made significant strides defensively -- he was an infielder in H.S. He's got the arm and great speed. He needs to be more aggressive on the bases than last year and trust his speed. If he can improve his hitting and square up some balls, his game will take off. He's strong.

Junior Ian Gallagher played short, third and DH last year. To get him in the lineup this year, we moved him to the outfield. He needs to play everyday and is rangy in the outfield. Basically, he's an Energy Giver, so I want him in our lineup.

Sophomore Ronnie Mannella is now in the outfield. He's a left-handed bat and his strength is doing whatever he needs to do. He played some short, third and pitched for us so far. He just got his new glove in and wants to play. First guy at practice all the time.

Sean Urckfitz is a transfer from MCC. He caught and played some third there. With all our catchers, we moved him to the outfield. He's fast and has a great arm. He and Lorenzo also spent an hour or two after every practice hitting in th cage. I think our bucket of balls and missing bats are still in his car.

Two freshmen are in the mix. Ryan Carmody is a smooth defensive outfielder and will get some starts this year. As he adjusts to college pitching, he could earn more playing time. Adam Bronson was a catcher in H.S. and moved to the outfield. He has a patient approach and as he makes some adjustments, will develop into a power hitter.

Heading into the spring, all our outfield spots are really still up for grabs. Greco and Larson will be on the mound at times. Gallagher still owns his infielder's glove and could play there. We have a long off season. Get better, fellas.

Congrats! Bowling!

During this past week we were hit with unfortunate inclement weather which did not allow us to practice for a full week. However, we managed to use this time to appreciate some of the more fun parts of baseball while still competing verse one another.

                Each team came up with a variety of skits to perform  during our rain delay which turned into a full fall suspension. We posted videos of the skits on our blog and allowed our followers to vote who they thought was the best overall skit.

Taking first place was of course Coach Matt Sullivan for their creativity in their bowling skit with 32% of the votes. The roller, played by Dillon Lowe, threw roommate Ian Gallagher into a crowd a pins with the head pin (played by Connor Lorenzo) going down first and to complete the strike, the wobbling 10 pin was played by Big Cat.  

Coming in with a close second was Coach Andrew Dlugosz with the very clever Tug O’ War with 21%. The other three skits put up a good fight, but were not good enough to win.

                                                                                                              ~ Coach Sully

Now we're done

Four days of rain effectively ended our fall season. Our Alumni game was washed out today (we are going to shoot for next Saturday). I will post our thoughts from the fall over the next week.

PITCHING
Pitching is deep. We have 12 arms -- 13 if we count Nowak, a real competitor and a solid hitter in our everyday lineup.We have a lot of strike throwers and most guys have three quality pitches. Our off season goal is to get stronger and increase velocity. We have a lot of pitchers in the high 70's. At the same time, practice three days a week limited what we could do this fall.

In order to get stronger, our pitchers are going to need to have a plan and push each other. Sean Larson and Steve Sturm have been doing the 90 MPH Club workout. Both picked up some speed from last year. They are two very motivated players. The other staff members need to follow thier lead.

Our only senior pitcher, Dan Greco, missed a lot of the fall to to an undisclosed illness. He also missed a lot of mound time last year with a pulled muscle, but did play a lot of outfield. Junior transfer Josh Gascon also missed some time as he is on the Rugby team. Both should factor big into our plans.

We also have four lefties this year after having only one last year. Ace Sciandra is now a junior. We got sophomore Kyle Grey on a rebound -- he went to another college as a freshman. Not only did he live around the corner from former All SUNYAC pitcher Ricky Carlson in Frewsburg, but he throws just like him.

Steve Ramsdell and Tommy Morris, both freshmen, are the other two lefties. We plucked Ramsdell from across the border -- Northeast, Pa. He had only one walk this fall and will see a lot of mound time. Morris has great stuff. We screwed around a lot with his pitches and tried some different things with him. He throws low to mid-80's with the best breaking ball on the team (according to Ronnie Mannella). He has some funk and could be an everyday reliever and work in some starts this year. he bounces back quickly.

Our two returning juniors Zach Murray and Ace have pitched like, well, themselves. They are pretty much the same everytime they throw. When we send them out to the mound, they give the same solid effort each time. The challenge for them now as the two staff veterans, is to push everyone else and get stronger.

Zach Hugg made the team as walk on fron Corning CC. No walks the entire fall. He got better everytime he threw. He picked up things quickly (fielding his position, a change up, etc.), and will learn a lot in the coming year. Five more MPH on his fastball, and he could be real tough.

Fellow junior transfer Joey Tingue transferred from Jamestown CC and showed great stuff. One small mechanical adjustment and he could be a horse for us. He throws hard and has a great breaking ball. Consitency is the key. He's a lot like Jordan Hibbard who turned into our ace last year as a senior.

Rounding out the staff are Zach Jordan, Ben Senior and Evan Carmello.

Zach had a great fall and may figure into our rotation. He never said much, so I won't say much about him, other than he's a big righty and reminds me of the original Hoss, Brandon Miller. He is also our team's SAAC rep along with Ramsdell.

Ben missed most of the fall with a twisted ankle. They must not have stairs in Angola. At 6'3'', he has good potential (which is French for "he hasn't done anything yet"). He was a three-sport athlete in high school, so it'll be good to have him focus on one sport year round.

Carmello only threw once, and may be more of a hitter -- batted over .350. He's smart and was the No. 1 pitcher at Fredonia HS this past season. His role is as of yet undefined, but he is a baseball player and very smart. His dad, Al, played at Fredonia State back in the day.