BB: USAC: USA South Athletic Conference

[vabaseball]

Glad to hear the news about Trae Bailey.

[Catfishncwc]

Do to see another USA South guy getting a shot at Pro Ball. 

[WHEELIN WES]

From what I'm hearing, NCWC has good size recruiting class coming in, with some big strong looking position players. I know of 2 catchers, one from New Jersey who looks to be big strong and the real deal. Also know of help for the infield and outfield. Not heard about pitching yet, IMO the strongest facet of team already but can always add depth there especially in pen. We won't really know the quality of incoming class until fall workouts starts in late Sept.

[LTBB1971]

Nice, I spoke to my son today and he told me the incoming class has 19 freshman.  I know coach Jones and Coach Long don't over recruit so we'll see how many they end up keeping in Sept.

[coachmilburn]

SU adds 19 for 2010 spring season.  

Biggest recruit that I see and know of from this neck of the woods in the Shenandoah Valley, is Daniel Hawkins from Woodstock, VA who was given a scholarship to WVU last year.  Hawkins throws it up there in the upper 80's.  Getting Daniel Hawkins was huge for SU.

Ryan Altamirano RHP Fr R/R   Ashburn, Va./Broad Run
Wallace Andrus P/3B Fr R/R 5'11" 200 Crimora, Va./Wilson Memorial
Scott Belton P Fr R/R   Luray, Va./Grace
Jonathan Best P/OF Fr S/L 5"9' 175 Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield
Tucker Brown C So R/R 5'11" 200 Newport News, Va./Menchville
Will Burton 1B/P Fr R/R 6'4" 220 Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis
Wyatt Carpenter LHP Fr L/L 6'0" 155 Alexandria, Va./Wakefield
Vince Claudio P/1B Fr L/L 6'0" 190 Forest, Va./Jefferson Forest
Brian Fritzinger RHP Fr R/R   Hampton, Va./Hampton Christian
Daniel Hawkins RHP Fr R/R 6'4" 185 Woodstock, Va./Central
Ethan Jones C Fr R/R 6'1" 200 Gordonsville, Va./Homeschool
Kurt Krout UTIL Fr R/R 5'9" 165 York, Pa./York Central
Hunter Leight IF Fr R/R 5'11" 175 Winchester, Va./James Wood
Nicholas McMahon OF/P Fr R/R 6'2" 175 Warrenton, Va./Fauquier
Sean Morris OF So L/R 5'9" 175 Sinking Spring, Pa./SUNY Orange
Eric Rhodes OF Fr L/R 5'6" 150 Katonah, N.Y./John Jay
Mike Smith RHP/OF Jr R/R 5'10" 175 Chesapeake, Va./Potomac State
Leland Snaider C Jr R/R 5'10" 170 New York, N.Y./Queensborough CC
Steven Walker RHP Fr R/R 6'2" 180 Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen
Alexander Woods OF Fr R/R 5'11" 168 Newark, Del./St. Mark's

Daniel Hawkins is NOT enrolled at SU for the Fall semester.

[coachmilburn]

Looks like the new revised list on the roster is 15 new players ...

Wallace Andrus P/3B Fr R/R 5'11" 200 Crimora, Va./Wilson Memorial
Jonathan Best P/OF Fr S/L 5"9' 175 Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield
Will Burton P/1B Fr R/R 6'4 220 Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis
Kyle Canody 2B Fr R/R 5'9" 160 Charlottesville, Va./Miller School
Wyatt Carpenter LHP Fr L/L 6'0" 155 Alexandria, Va./Mount Vernon
Vince Claudio P/1B Fr L/L 6'0" 190 Forest, Va./Jefferson Forest
Kurt Krout UTIL Fr R/R 5'9" 165 York, Pa./York Central
Hunter Leight IF Fr R/R 5'11" 175 Winchester, Va./James Wood
Nicholas McMahon OF/P Fr R/R 6'2" 175 Warrenton, Va./Fauquier
Sean Morris OF So L/R 5'9" 175 Sinking Spring, Pa./SUNY Orange
Eric Rhodes OF Fr L/R 5'6" 150 Katonah, N.Y./John Jay
Cody Smallwood UTIL Fr R/R 5'10" 160 Stephens City, Va./Sherando
Mike Smith RHP/OF Jr R/R 5'10" 175 Chesapeake, Va./Potomac State
Steven Walker RHP Fr R/R 6'2" 180 Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen
Alexander Woods OF Fr R/R 5'11" 168 Newark, Del./St. Mark's

[WHEELIN WES]

NCWC tentative 2010 schedule is up. Looks like Coach Long plans on playing a tough schedule again to prepare the Bishops for end of the year run like they did last year. Good looking schedule.

[NoVa Baseball]

Anyone interested in posting their pre-season picks for the USA South?  Since fall practice starts tomorrow, I thought I'd throw out a topic on which everyone can have an opinion.  I was only able to see about 10 games last year and didn't get to see all of the teams.   I'll have to rate some of them off last year's stats, so be gentle in your criticism.

1)  Shenandoah (trip to WS and lots of talent returning makes them even tougher)
2)  Methodist (Returns most of starting lineup and rotation)
3)  NCWC (Last year's reg season and tourney winner - lost some offense and pitching talent though)
4)  CNU (Regional run will help young players - lost a lot of offense - pitching is a question mark)
6)  Greensboro (Veteran team should improve - coaching situation - huge recruiting class = uncertainty)
7)  Ferrum (Rotation returns but must improve - only lost 1 starter offense should improve this year)
8)  Averett (Good offense - weak pitching needs to improve)

[hokieone]

Not a good sign, the first fall practice at CNU canceled due to heavy rain. Hard to do any predicting until we see how the transfers and freshmen look. It will be hard to replace the group of seniors that moved on, they had talent and good team chemistry, but a lot of underclassmen got a lot of good experience last season, and two consecutive Regional appearances should be the baseline for measuring 2010 performance. 

[vabaseball]

HokieOne: are there some transfers at CNU this fall? Any details?  A few of those freshman really did get some serious playing time last year and produced pretty nicely.

[hokieone]

     Three transfers, but as I haven't seen any scrimmages yet (heck, they haven't practiced yet due to rain...), no idea as to how anybody looks.  Most of the pitching will be familiar faces, with the addition of a re-habbed arm or two that didn't throw last year. I understand CNU's #1, Josh Brinkman, worked really hard this summer and was pumping it in there pretty well by summer's end. If he throws what I was hearing, he'll be a pro prospect. Unlike Kenny Moreland, who was amazingly overlooked in the draft and is now doing well for the Frederick Keys (Orioles High A), Brinkman has the height the scouts like to see.  I saw Kenny pitch at Frederick  this summer and his control is just pinpoint, with the same bulldog mentality he had at CNU.  I'd never bet against him in anything.   

[hobie]

Jesse Fuller SS out of Ferrum College, sign contract with Sussex Skyhawks of the Can-AM Association on Aug.12.

[coachmilburn]

Matt Aker Hired as Pride Baseball Coach




9/4/2009 11:26:34 AM
Matt Aker has been named head baseball coach at Greensboro College, announced Pride Athletics Director Jean Lojko.

Aker completed his sixth year in the 2009 season as a GC assistant coach.  He has served as the hitting, outfield, and base-running coach for The Pride. The son of former major league pitcher and coach Jack Aker, he pitched at Ole Miss and graduated in 1993.

"We are very excited that Matt Aker will lead our baseball program," said Lojko. "Matt is an outstanding person who we believe will lead Pride baseball to a championship. He is familiar with the players, the program and the USA South Conference and has great interpersonal skills. Matt will be a great addition as a full-time athletics staff member."

As an assistant at GC Aker has been part of much GC success. In 2006, The Pride reached the USA South championship game for the first time since 1998 and defeated eight ranked teams during the season. GC set a program record with seven all-conference honorees, including five first team selections.

Under his guidance, Pride hitters have hit over .300 as a team for six consecutive seasons, while leading the USA South in at least one offensive category in each of those years. The Pride has led or come in second in 23 top offensive categories over the past four seasons.

While at Ole Miss, he was primarily a pitcher, but also saw time in the outfield and at third base.  Aker was an assistant at Ole Miss in 1993 and a high school head coach at Magnolia Heights in Senatobia, Miss. and Chaminade-Madonna in Hollywood, Fla. for ten seasons before coming to Greensboro.

Aker attended Palm Beach Community College for his two college seasons. He was the PBCC Scholar Athlete of the Year and made the Dean's List each semester. Aker earned all conference honors and was picked to play in the Florida Junior College All Star Game.

As a head coach, Aker's high school teams won seven consecutive conference titles and he was named Coach of the Year six consecutive years. He coached the North State All Star team twice while in Mississippi. He had numerous players go on to college baseball careers and three players taken in the Major League Baseball Players Draft. Aker also served as a assistant varsity football coach.

Aker becomes the third head coach in program history. He follows Scott Rash and Ken Carlyle. Rash started the program in 1993. Carlyle then took over in 2003 before resigning last month.

In addition to coaching at GC, Aker worked since 2004 as the technology facilitator at Greensboro Academy.

Aker and his wife, Keisha have three children: Mallory, Cole, and Blaine. They reside in Kernersville.

[NoVa Baseball]

Heard from my son last night and he seemed pretty optimistic about CNU's team this spring.  He felt the transfers were doing well and would definitely provide some depth in the batting order.  Bailey was a huge stick to replace, but he feels that top to bottom the offense should improve.   Brinkman remains the Ace but Jenkins is looking good, Chitzas appears to be returning to his pre-Tommy John form and McElhenny apparently had a very solid summer in the CGL - good news for the rotation.  The bullpen appears solid. 

I realize it's the fall and I'm sure several of the USASAC teams have reloaded too, but its good to hear some optimism coming from CNU after losing so much talent to graduation. 

[hokieone]

 Chitzas has looked good in the weekend scrimmages but I dread it if he throws regularly-there's no way to properly say his last name. Heck, I asked him how to pronounce it, hopeful of an inflection tip that would allow me to say his last name out loud, but hearing him say it wasn't helpful.

Fall scrimmages conclude Sunday at 1:00.