Despite youth, baseball eager to begin new season

With 20 lettermen, seven position players returning with starting experience and eight pitchers with at least 15 appearances, the baseball team began practice last Monday at Russ Chandler Stadium.

Last season the team went 44-21 overall and 18-5 in the ACC. They went on to set a school record with 20 consecutive wins en route to the NCAA Super Regionals. This year the team will have to continue without 11 players from last year’s squad. The team also lost two of their recruits to the professional draft, as well as pitcher Micah Owings, who transferred to Tulane.

“We lost 11 very good players to professional baseball,” said Josh Holliday, assistant coach. “I think that any team that loses that many players would have a lot of question marks, but I don’t think that we are in that position. We have a lot of innings that will be taken up by new pitchers this year. I just think that the major question is can we come out every day and work our absolute hardest.”

During the past three seasons, Head Coach Danny Hall has led the Jackets to very respectable finishes. In 2002 the team appeared in their most recent College World Series. In 2003 the team won the ACC Tournament Championship but was knocked out of the NCAA Regionals. Last season the Jackets won the ACC regular season title and finished second in the ACC tournament.

“I think Tyler Greene has improved a great deal,” Holliday said. “He went from a good player to an exceptional player. I think Steven Blackwood continues to get better. Whit Robbins has impressed me a lot. Those guys have all shown me something that says that they can be very special players.”

With the departure of Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Scott Stricklin and Volunteer Coach Jon Palmieri, Hall added a new face, and a not-so-new face, to his coaching staff for the upcoming season.

Holliday replaces Stricklin as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Holliday spent last year at NC State and the previous four at Oklahoma State. Also, after announcing his retirement from professional baseball this fall, former Tech shortstop Victor Menocal joined the coaching staff as a volunteer coach.

“Coming into Georgia Tech for the first time for me was a bit of a question mark,” Holliday said. “I wouldn’t say question marks as much as learning opportunities. To learn about each player and understand what they want to improve upon.”

Despite the loss of the entire weekend rotation, the Jackets pitching staff is already finding ways to shore up the starting spots for the upcoming season. The loss of 319 innings pitched from the previous year’s starting squad should decimate them, but there are several capable arms to help the pitching staff remain in a prominent role without being as high profile.

“The pitching staff is young. We need the core of our pitching staff, the sophomores, to step up,” pitching coach Bobby Moranda said. “They had some good moments and some bad moments, but they came out this summer and got some experience.”

Lee Hyde has become a front-runner for one of the spots in the weekend rotation. Last season Hyde had a 5-2 record in nine mid-week starts. Hyde is also stepping up to the challenge of being the sole starter from last year’s team to remain. Blake Wood and Ryan Turner have helped out with four spot starts apiece last season. If Tech is to be successful in the upcoming season, Hyde will have to step up to the challenge of being a weekend starter.

“We’re trying to make some mechanical adjustments this fall,” Moranda said. “[Hyde] needed a changeup, so this summer we had him work on it, and it’s really good. We are now working on other areas mechanically that will help him throw for longer stints in games because we felt that he had some effort in his delivery, so we want to take it to another level where it’s easier, so that he can throw a longer outing every time he goes out on the mound. He has great ability. I think he’s going to be one of the premiere guys in this league.”

Despite suffering from a severe allergy to the strike zone for the past few seasons, Jason Neighborgall appears to have overcome whatever was ailing him. He now has figured out how to throw consistently in the strike zone, and that is a dangerous thing for opposing hitters. In 6.2 innings pitched last season, Neighborgall had 11 strikeouts but threw 13 wild pitches, walked 24, and hit three batters. His fastball has the potential to overpower hitters when Neighborgall finds his mark, and that mark appears to be headed as a starter in the weekend rotation.

“I’m very pleased with him,” Moranda said. “He’s had a great six weeks. The best fall since he’s been here. The command of three pitches right now. He’s making strides mechanically and with his confidence in attacking the zone.”

“In the intrasquad game he threw a perfect three innings,” outfielder Jeremy Slayden said. “If he gets it going, he could be our Friday night guy. I’m really excited, for me, I’m happy for him. I think that he can be great. Last year, Neighborgall occasionally closed. If he can continue to throw strikes, he can do whatever he wants.”

John Goodman should also be looking to come into his own this season. His older brother Chris was a pitcher for Tech from 2000-2003 and left very big shoes for him to fill.

“He had a great summer up in the Cape Cod League,” Moranda said. “We’re not sure what we are going to do with him. Whether we are going to start him or leave him [in the bullpen], his arm is too good not to play.”

Jeremy Slayden will be a key returnee for the Jackets. After a torn rotator cuff sidelined him for most of last season, Slayden should be back with a vengeance and with a lot to prove.

“We’re taking it really slowly,” Slayden. “With every new step I feel like I’m ready to throw, and since I’m not feeling any pain, I’m really not so tentative. It’s actually feeling better than I would’ve expected. I’m very anxious to get back. It was a good thing for me in a way because I’ve played with pain for a long time and knowing that I can go into the game full speed again is very exciting for me.”

Slayden was the only player that was drafted in last season’s draft that decided to stay at Tech.

“That was an easy [choice],” said Slayden. “I enjoy it here, and I think that we have a great program. I wanted to finish it on a good note. I didn’t want to end it on a medical red-shirt type year where you don’t really play.”

The Jackets have another excellent recruiting class. It features nine outstanding players, including five pitchers. This year’s recruiting class has been ranked No. 5 in the nation by Baseball America.

“They are exciting because they get better everyday,” Holliday said of the freshman class.

The team has two weeks of practice left featuring several intrasquad scrimmages. The fall practice culminates with the White and Gold games. In the games the coaching staff will be able to see how the players are handling game situations and where the players will best fit into the Tech system in the spring.

“We are coming together a lot earlier this year than we did last year. Last year it took a while for the team to come together,” Hyde said. “Last year we had a pretty good season, but we started off slow. I think that if we come together as a team at the beginning of the year we’ll be fine."