Anyone have any insight into the nascent fall practices?  Are the new players mixing in well?  Are any of them standing out and dominating?  How are the returners looking?  Did anyone gain 100 lbs over the winter (in either a good way or a bad way?)  Are they happy with the changes to the field? 

One of the cool things about the field is that it retains heat, even in the winter that surface will stay notably warmer than the surrounding air.  That will be a nice benefit over the winter practices. 

When we wanted to get some extra "unofficial" practice, we used to go to a field across from the Carmichael Towers. However, that field is long gone and now buried under some new building.  Is it illegal for the kids to go out on the University field even if there are no coaches around?

Not much to report on the early practices (the field is just finalized as of the last couple of days, so they can now have really full sessions).  That said, I've posted the first of my season preview pieces.  http://whenitstrikesme.com/?p=3219

Thanks for the overview.  It was nice to see Coach Corbin's summary too.

Just read the writeup on main site and it said that three sophomores and a freshman will not play this weekend.... Why!!!!!!

I read the VUCommodores article to which you refer. LINK


It doesn't say why the players are out, but at least it names them: Ravenelle, Harvey, Brian Miller and Buehler.

The article also lists both rosters by name, class and position. The most interesting part is that it calls attention to our shortage of catchers. Jack Lupo, who played catcher and outfielder at the Air Force Academy, will apparently catch all three games for the Black Team.

I thought we had a catcher redshirting last year, with Navin, Fann and Harvey getting all the action. Lupo may have caught one game. I guess I was wrong. As Harvey seems more suited to DH/1B, Lupo may see significant action behind the plate in 2013.

Speaking of 2013, the VUCommodores "Official Baseball Roster" page lists what it calls the "2012 Roster" with the current players. Should be the "2013 Roster" but who's counting?


And one more roster note ... Based on the positions listed, Vanderbilt has only 5 outfielders: Yaz, Harrell, Norwood, Cooper and Wiseman. WhenItStrikesMe suggested that Vince Conde may see some time in the outfield. That could start with this Black-Gold series.

It's going to be interesting. Games are Thursday and Friday at 6:30 CDT, Sunday at 1 pm CDT.

Free admission. Also looks as though there will be audio on All-Access. I don't see anything about video, GameTracker or local radio. Try WNSR-AM560.

Versus75 wrote:

I thought we had a catcher redshirting last year, with Navin, Fann and Harvey getting all the action. Lupo may have caught one game. I guess I was wrong. As Harvey seems more suited to DH/1B, Lupo may see significant action behind the plate in 2013.

Harvey is injured right now and would be the #2 catcher. Lupo is the emergency catcher, which is why he will get all the playing time behind the plate this weekend. None of the incoming freshmen is a catcher.

I was looking at the roster for the black and gold games
and did not see Philip Pfeifer. Does anyone know why he
is not listed?

Pfeif was an oversight and should have been listed among the non-participants. He has mono and is sidelined for a while with that.

Thanks for the info strikes and for all the information you
provide on the team. I appreciate it. I've been looking forward
to these games for quite awhile.

Unfortunately, I still haven't found a flight down that doesn't break the bank. I hope to make it, but I may not be able to see the guys in action. I still plan on doing a rundown of the recruits soon.

... Vince Conde is playing 3B for the Black Team and frosh Kyle Smith (listed as IF) is playing RF.

No other surprises. Ziomek and Pecoraro are the starting pitchers.

I don't suppose this is on TV somewhere is it? 

Anyone have the whole lineups? I worked a little late and didn't get home until the second batter and didn't hear the lineups.

3-0 for Gold over Black so far.

I think this is the lineup:

Black

1 Kemp, Tony 2b

2 Lupo, Jack C

3 Yastremski, Mike RF

4 Conde, Vince 3b

5 Gregor, Conrad 1B

6 Cooper, Will

7 Smith, Kyle RF 

8 Swanson, Dansby SS

9 Luna, DJ

Ziomek, K P

 

Gold

1 Norwood, John LF

2 McKeithan, Joel SS

3 Navin, Spencer C

4 Harrell, Conner CF

5 Turner, Xavier 3B

6 Weil, Zander

7 Wiseman, Rhett RF

8 Campbell, Tyler 2b (Oregon)

9 Harris, Andrew 1B

 Pecoraro, TJ P

5-4 for black now.

Believe #7 will be the SS for the next 3 years.

Don't know if it is the new turf, but everyone looks faster. One of the guys sitting around us speculated that Kemp would not get as many triples due to the turf being faster, but lo and behold, Kemp hit a triple on his next trip to the plate.

The freshmen pitchers pitched like freshmen usually do in the fall, but Ferguson displayed several pitches in the 93-96 range.

Yeah, #7 is Dansby Swanson. There was the belief among a lot of folks when he got through the draft that he could beat out Joel as Gomer's successor. I think he's surprised everyone by just how outstanding he is.

Swanson definitely looks like the real deal.  His throw from deep short to get Xavier Turner was fantastic.  He also swung the bat well.  Tyler Campbell at 2nd for Gold also looked good with 2 hits, including a double, and a nice sac bunt.  Wiseman took his lumps at the plate with three K's and two HBP's but he has a nice swing and, hopefully, will catch up to college pitching by the time spring rolls around.  It was also encouraging that there was only one error the entire night (high throw by McKeithan on Swanson's grounder in the 3rd.)  

Overall, the freshmen looked very good hitting and fielding.  We got to see quite a few of the freshmen pitchers and they were also impressive.  Pat Delano is a giant!  Raasch has a nice sidearm delivery.  I think this year's freshmen class promises to deliver a lot more than the freshmen did last year.

I'm definitely thinking this team will be a threat to go to Omaha next June.

How did it go tonight?  I saw a 4-3 score, but didn't really catch much of the game.  My biggest question is how did the hitters look and did anyone stand out?

Stand out hitters to me were Harrell, Kemp, Swanson, and Campbell -- that includes both Thursday and Friday nights. Wiseman is struggling but has a nice swing (he's a lefty). Last year's group of Yaz, Gregor, Navin, Lupo, Conde, Castellano etc. have not hit well, the hitting starts have mostly been Harrell + Kemp + freshmen.

Freshmen pitchers are impressive. Beede and Nevin Wilson are still stuggling with their control. Beede was hitting the mid-90's and just about everybody is in the low nineties (excepting Pecararo who's best pitches are his other pitces.) Pec and Ziomek both looked good for 3 innings until they tired out on Thursday. Starters Beede and Fulmer gave up early runs on Friday, a lot due to walks, but looked pretty good otherwise.

See the other thread about Game 2 for more observations.