Guest Post from Cameron White

I’m Cameron White, author of The Big Fly, and I’ll be making a guest post here on The Dugout. Brett has done a good job of chronicling our baseball season at Catawba and giving some love to the unsung heroes we’ve had throughout the year. In his last post, he talked more about the team than individual players, so I’ll be talking about who I feel were the heroes from our midweek game against Wingate and our weekend series against Carson-Newman where we clinched the regular season title. Interestingly enough, all four of the people I’m going to talk about are in their first year at Catawba.

The first name to recognize is freshman 3B Chris Dula. I truly can’t say enough about how well Chris has performed this spring. It’s never easy for a freshman to step in to the lineup and play, never mind to play as well as he has. He’s been far and away our most consistent hitter, and this weekend was no different. After going 0-5 at the plate in game one on Saturday, he made sure it didn’t happen again.

Chris stepped up to the plate in the 4th inning with us down 3-0 and smacked a 3-run homer to left field to tie the game. He came up to the plate again in the 7th with us leading 4-3, and after taking two straight breaking balls for strikes, crushed the 0-2 fastball way over the left field wall to extend the lead to 8-3. He showed how good of a hitter he is by not panicking when he fell behind in the count 0-2. He jumped all over a mistake, something all good hitters do.

Another hitter I want to talk about is Blake Houston. Like Chris, Blake has been a fixture in our lineup in his freshman year with the Tribe. At the beginning of the season, Blake took some lumps both at the plate and on defense, but as the year has progressed, he has looked much more comfortable.

His batting average is slowly beginning to rise as he has started to use the whole field, and he has drawn his share of walks. Three of them came on Friday night. He used his terrific speed to drop down a great bunt on Saturday, and his speed has allowed him to make some great catches in center field. His passion to the game cannot be ignored, and his steady improvement has been key to our success.

On the mound, JJ Jankowski’s performance in game one of the Saturday doubleheader deserves mentioning. J.J. has been terrific all season after transferring in from Miami University of Ohio, but Saturday’s outing was one of the most dominant starts I’ve seen since I’ve been at Catawba. He threw eight innings and gave up just three hits while striking out 13. Every time J.J. takes the mound, we know he’ll give us a chance to win. He has outstanding stuff and he made it look extremely easy on Saturday.

On Tuesday at Wingate, Coach Gantt handed the ball to Joe Kase for the start. It was his first action in almost a month, so nobody was sure exactly what to expect. After giving up a first inning homerun, Joe really settled in and did a nice job against our rivals. Joe struggled a bit early in his first year at Catawba after transferring in from a Florida junior college, but has made three very good starts during midweek games and has emerged as another good option on our already deep pitching staff.

Tusculum comes to The Reservation this weekend, and they are always a tough team to play because they do so many things well. Every time we play the Pioneers, it seems to be a competitive, well-played game. After that, we travel to Forest City for the SAC Tournament, where we can clinch an automatic bid to regionals by winning the tournament. We have played very good baseball during the tournament the past two years, so hopefully we can keep that success going. This season has been a great one, and we’re doing what we can to extend it as long as possible.

Thanks to my teammate and roommate Brett Underwood for letting me make this guest post on The Dugout.

Clinched!!

It is clinched! Thanks to a sweep of Carson Newman this past weekend, the Catawba College baseball team is the 2011 South Atlantic Conference regular season champions.

Winning a conference title is no easy feat, and clinching the title before the final weekend arrives does not happen often! We truly pulled everything together and beat a good team in 3 straight games. I could not be more proud of this team and what we have accomplished up to this point.

In all of my blogs so far I have highlighted players who stood out in my mind as “unsung heroes.” For this one I am going to go in a different direction.

This group of guys is truly a team, more so than any other I have ever been a part of. With that being said, there are several things that come to mind about why this is more of a team than any other.

First of all, we just get along incredibly well. This is a very good and balanced group of personalities who mesh well and go together like a band of brothers. With that feeling of brothers, there are disagreements that come with, but it’s all handled with a level of love and respect that can’t be matched.

It’s hard for me to even describe how amazingly we get along and how close we have become. What class you are in has become completely irrelevant and we have all grown together like we are truly family.

Another reason we are such a great team is our approach to the game. It is very easy to get caught up in the mindset of trying to build your statistics or just do what is best for you personality.

This is especially true in the game of baseball. We play a game which is all about individual players making individual plays. That makes it seem like the better our stats are as individuals the more games we are going to win. What we have learned throughout the year is that we are individual players making individual plays for the benefit of the team.

That simple change of mind, or addition onto the mindset has made a huge difference in not only our ability to execute, but the effort in which we give. That is why effort is the third and final thing which comes to mind about why this team is so successful.

Our level of effort is unimaginable for most people. The reason we give effort is because of the first two things I pointed out: we are a family and we want what is best for the team. We work our hardest on a daily basis, not for ourselves, but because we don’t want to let the guy next to us down.

The recipe for winning is when one of us walks up to the plate with a runner on base and thinks, “I am going to get a hit right here because the person in front of me got on base, and I refuse to leave them out there.”

This post is a little bit all over the place, mainly because it’s so difficult to truly capture what the word "team" means to us and how much we have embraced our philosophy. There is not a better feeling than knowing you are on the field with a group of guys who care about and are going to do whatever they can to help you, not for their own benefit, but for the team.

We can only hope that this closeness will carry us into the playoffs and keep us winning; but even without the wins, we are creating bonds that will not be broken when the season ends.

Getting Closer!

Two more weeks of baseball and two conference series leave us 6 wins away from clenching an outright conference title.

After losing 2 out of 3 games at Anderson, and losing our first conference series of the year, we bounced back this past weekend to sweep Brevard and move one step closer towards our goal. 

Along with winning 4 out of 6 conference games, we won both midweek games the past 2 weeks.  The first over Pfeiffer and the second over 20^th ranked, Belmont Abbey.  Not only are we setting ourselves up nicely for a conference title, but we are in the process of building a respectable resume for regionals.

One of the major highlights of the past couple of weeks was Coach Jim Gantt receiving career win number 500 in our first game at Anderson.  This is an incredible feat and one that a small percentage of coaches become a part of.

It is a great honor, as players, to play for a coach who has had the success and has the great reputation that Coach Gantt does.  This was a great milestone and I am sure it is just one of many more to come.

Perhaps my favorite moment on the baseball diamond this year came when Nate Furr stepped on the mound for the first time this season.  Nate was the South Atlantic Conference pitcher of the year last season.  During the off season he underwent shoulder surgery which was keeping him off the mound.  

On March 16, at home, against Pfeiffer, Nate made his 2011 debut.  I have personally witnessed him working extremely hard to rehab is shoulder and get back to the point where he could throw during games.

Seeing Nate step on the mound again was a great inspiration of what kind of work it takes to reach a goal, and a great testimony to the level of dedication and perseverance Nate has.

The final player I want to recognize is Jordan Kuhn.  Jordan is sophomore from Ohio who plays first base.  He got his first hit in game 3 at Anderson and his first start in game 3 against Brevard.  

To say that he played well in his start would be an extreme understatement.  Jordan went 3 for 3 with 4 runs batted in!  He looked extremely comfortable as he absolutely crushed the ball and led the charge towards the sweep of Brevard.

As of right now, the main thing our team is focused on is narrowing in on the conference championship.  We are in a great position as we control our own destiny.  

A number that we are focused on at the moment is 6.  6 is the number of wins we are away from clinching an out-right conference championship. 

We have a total of 9 conference games left and we try to chip away at that number 6 as Lenoir-Rhyne comes to The Reservation this weekend. 

Let’s Go!!

Spring Break Baseball!

After a busy spring break, I am back to fill you in on the last 2 weeks.  We started off slow, losing our first game on Wednesday, March 2^nd at Pfeiffer.  We ended with a bang however, winning 7 of our next 8.

This included taking 2 out of 3 from conference rival, Wingate in a very intense series. The next week (which was our spring break) we traveled to South Carolina and won 2 games against USC Aiken followed by a weekend sweep of Newberry.

One of the most encouraging aspects of these two weeks was our defense.  We only made 4 errors in 9 games as we began to create separation between ourselves and those chasing us for a conference championship.

There are 4 players I want to recognize for the work they did throughout the 2 weeks or a moment they had during these weeks.

The first 2 guys are both pitchers out of the bullpen.  

Corey Norman is a senior from East Bend, NC and a player who works tremendously hard day in and day out.  Corey made 3 appearances these 2 weeks, pitching 3 innings, giving up only 3 hits and striking out 3 batters.  He allowed no runs and looked better than I have seen him at any point in the last 2 seasons.

The next pitcher is Clay Watson.  Clay struggled much more than he expected to start this year, after having a great sophomore season last year.  The last 2 weeks have shown that he has everything figured out and is back to the great pitcher we have seen in the past.

The junior from Lexington, NC entered game 2 against Wingate for the final 2.2 innings and did an outstanding job.  He only allowed 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 2 to earn the win.  This was a huge win and we can largely thank Clay for coming in and shutting the door on the Wingate offense.

Clay also saw action in our second game against USC Aiken, in which he picked up another win.  He pitched 1 inning and gave up 1 hit in another great outing.

This momentum carried into the weekend where Clay made 2 appearances, threw 1.1 innings, and only allowed a single hit and 0 runs.

It was a great couple of weeks for our bullpen, especially Clay Watson and Corey Norman.

The next 2 players to recognize are roommates, Kevin Parrish and Garrett Robinson.  Each got their first collegiate at-bat in game 3 of the Newberry series.

Kevin came up in the sixth inning and delivered a RBI single into centerfield.  The reaction in the dugout was awesome as everybody was really excited to see Kevin succeed like he did!

Garrett had a great first at bat as he saw a lot of pitches and fouled off several tough pitches with 2 strikes.  His at-bat eventually ended as he lined out to center field.  He hit the ball very hard however and looked very comfortable at the plate.

The last 2 weeks of baseball have been exciting and successful as we continue on our quest for a conference title.  Another midweek game against Pfeiffer, followed by a 3 game set against Anderson creates another important week and another opportunity to prove ourselves.

Another Conference Sweep

Following a tough mid-week loss at home against Barton, our Catawba College baseball team went to Mars Hill and swept the series.

Week In Review 

Our first game of the week was on Wednesday against Barton.  We ended up losing the game 10-7 but a showed a lot of competitiveness after being down 10-0 after 5 innings.

The weekend sent us on our first true road trip of the season as we went to Mars Hill on Friday night preparing to play two games Saturday and one Sunday.  We won all three games by scores of 9-8, 14-1, and 9-1!

A Game of Firsts

Our loss against Barton was disappointing because none of us like to lose, but it also had some very great moments, including two guys getting their first collegiate hit.

With runners on first and second and two outs in the eighth, Keaton Hawks reached on an infield single.  This was the Keaton’s first hit of the season and first as a college player.  A freshman from East Davidson High School, Keaton has a lot of potential and I am sure this was the first hit of many as an Indian.

Michael Whited, the freshman infielder from Ragsdale High School, got his first hit of the season in the ninth inning.  This RBI single came with two outs and brought the go ahead run to the plate.  Even though he went to Ragsdale (my high school’s arch-rival), I was still thrilled to see him come through in a big situation.

Defense Wins Championships

Saturday, in game one of the series, it was a seesaw affair with one team scoring and the other answering in the next inning.  It’s in those types of games where defensive plays become even more important.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, we were winning 5-4 with runners on second and third and one out.  The Mars Hill batter swung and ripped a line drive down the first base line.  Luckily for us, Austin Moyer was playing there and made a great play.

Moyer quickly (and yes I used Moyer and quickly in the same sentence) moved to his left and snagged the line drive preventing two more runs from scoring.  We then got the next guy out and finished the inning with no more damage. 

Austin making that play was a huge momentum shifter and was worthy of me giving a huge fist pump after the play.

Closin’ It Out

One batter. That is what game one of the weekend series ended up coming down to.  A Mars Hill batter, Tyler Reboulet, who had swung the bat very well on the day, walked to the plate down a run with runners on first and third and two outs. At this time, Ross Whitley entered the game for us.

The result was a fly ball to centerfielder, Blake Houston, and a victory in game one.  Not many people think too much about one simple out in a game where a team makes 27 of them.  In this situation, it came down to that one batter.  Ross (or Rossy as he is now being called) got the job done and sealed our first win on the weekend.

Looking Ahead

With the upcoming week comes another trip to Pfeiffer and a home series against heated rival Wingate.  Just a heads up, this series is going to be intense.

Week Three Brings Conference Play

It is that time of year. Conference play has begun and the fight for a conference championship started off with a bang!

After having no games during the week, we went 3-0 this weekend as Lincoln Memorial came to The Reservation to kick off the conference season. We won the first game 9-2, the second 9-8 and the third 2-0 to complete the sweep of the Railsplitters.

I am lucky to be a part of an extremely hungry team who is refusing to walk away from this season with anything less than a conference championship. There are only two players (Wil Huneycutt and Nathan Furr) who have experienced winning a regular season conference title. This is a feat that the rest of our team is eager to reach.

There were three particular people who really stepped up and helped our team reach the sweep. These three were either not noticed, simply got looked over or their “shining moment” got forgotten by many.

The first person who needs to be recognized is Mario Parisi. He is a freshman from Shirley, New York who has switched positions several times since he has become a member of this team. That can be a very frustrating experience but Mario does not let that get in the way of his support for this team.

Throughout the games this weekend, Mario was extremely into what was going on and cheering on everybody. He truly kept the dugout alive and was a great support to me when I would hear him cheering.

One of the characteristics of a great team is one which fully supports each other and fills each specific role with the understanding that every role is different and just as important as the other. Mario is one of the great examples of people who put this idea to work.

The second “hero” of the week in my eyes was Wil Huneycutt. Wil is the definition of consistency on a baseball field. I honestly could put him in this blog every single week, as he always gets the job done.

One of the main things I notice when Wil enters the game is the comfort and confidence every player gains in knowing that everything is now under control. It appears that a sigh of relief comes across our faces because he is just that good.

Often times he goes unnoticed because he is far from flashy, he usually throws in the middle to late innings, and he just never appears to be in trouble to have opportunities to get out of trouble.

This weekend Wil entered the first game in the 7th inning with two runners on base and two outs and struck out the batter. He then went on to have a great 8th inning only allowing a 2 out, infield single.

Huneycutt also threw in the first game of the double-header, coming in for the 8th inning of an 8-6 ball game. Wil did a great job as he got through the frame allowing only one run on two hits and obtaining two strikeouts. As he always seems to do, Wil entered the game with a lead and left it the same way.

The job Wil does game by game is unbelievable and he does not receive nearly enough credit for how well he performs every time he pitches.

The third shout out this week goes to my partner up the middle, Julio Zubillaga. In the 2nd inning of the 2nd game of the series, Zubi (as he is known), hit his first career homerun as a Catawba Indian.

Leading off the inning, he got a fastball and he did not miss it. He made solid contact and hit a homerun over the left-centerfield fence which was a no-doubter as soon as it left the bat.

We were all extremely excited for Zubi and even more excited when his lead-off homerun led to a 3-run inning and an early lead.

Due to a lot of ups and downs late in game 2, many people let Zubi’s homerun slip their mind, but this was a big moment in his career. It is always extremely exciting when players accomplish something for the first time and I get to experience and be a part of this excitement with them.

Getting the sweep in our first conference series made for a great third week of the season! We are all looking forward to a home game Wednesday against Barton and a trip to Mars Hill for a weekend, conference series!

Week Two!

Week 2 was one which started in a miserable fashion but quickly transformed into a great week and a major confidence builder.  

We opened the week on Tuesday afternoon at Pfeiffer with a loss.  Not just any loss, but a loss of 10-0.  Needless to say, we were not at all pleased and to be honest…quite angry.  Luckily we had an opportunity to redeem ourselves the next day with a home game against the same opponents.  This time we came out on top, winning 6-2.

With the weekend came a 3 game set with Shippensburg (Pa.). We came out on top in all 3 games after trailing at some point during each. The scores in a double header on Saturday were 2-1 and 5-3 and then Sunday finished at 11-5.

In a week which we went 4-1, one of the major bright spots was our ability to execute in “small-ball” situations.  As a team, we worked extremely hard this past week on having a purpose at the plate and being sure to get a certain job done when the task was placed in front of us.

With new restrictions on the bats we are allowed to use, we are beginning to learn that runs are more difficult to come by and we have to move runners when we get opportunities.  It was great this week to watch our practice translate into game situations.

On Wednesday, there were four specific times when situational hitting was carried out to perfection. 

In the first inning, with Josh Hohn on first, Garrett Furr was given the sign for a hit and run.  With Hohn running on the pitch, Garrett singled into right-center field and Hohn was able to advance to third.  This was great work by our clean-up hitter (4^th in the batting order) and what makes him such a valuable player.

The second inning had three batters in a row who executed in situational roles.  With me on first, Julio Zubillaga was given the slash sign.  This means that he squares around to bunt and then as the pitcher throws the ball he pulls the bat back and looks to swing.  He hit a hard ground ball up the middle which got through into center field and gave us runners on first and second with no outs and a great opportunity for more runs.

The very next batter, Blake Houston, laid down a great bunt on the third base line and beat the throw for an infield single. Following Blake’s picture perfect bunt, Ryan Bostian hit a hard line drive to left field which allowed me to score on the sacrifice fly.

This inning was a great example of what our team needs to do in order to put runs on the scoreboard.  Hoping that this execution was not just a fluke, we looked to carry this play into the weekend.

In game one against Shippensburg, Cameron Beard was asked to lay down a sacrifice bunt and he answered the call.  Beard put a bunt directly on the first base line and allowed me to advance to second with one out; another great display of the “small-ball” tactics we hope to implement into our game plan.

On Sunday, in game three against Shippensburg we continued to put pressure on the defense with three different bunts.  With Brett Holmgren on first, I laid down a bunt between the pitcher and first baseman which resulted in a hit. 

Following my bunt, Julio Zubillaga laid down a sacrifice bunt which put me and Holmgren on second and third.  Blake Houston then singled into center field driving in both runners.

In the bottom of the sixth, with Chris Dula on third, Holmgren on second and nobody out, I was given the bunt sign. I put down a bunt and as the ball was leaving my bat, Dula broke for the plate and scored with ease.  This play, called the safety squeeze, worked out perfectly.

Following several batting practices in which we focused solely on bunting scenarios and situations to advance runners, it was awesome to watch our team perform these tasks when it really mattered.

Along with the “small ball” plays, there were several other occurrences which made this week a great one.  Saturday as a whole was simply a great day as we won both games of a double-header. 

The day began as we all walked into the locker room and saw a couple of pictures posted on Nick Lomascolo’s locker which pitcher, JJ Jankowski, found online.  These were a couple of pictures of Nick trying (and ‘trying’ being the key word) to dance.

JJ putting these pictures up really lightened the mood in the locker room and apparently helped Nick as well as he went on to throw eight innings and allow only one unearned run.  For the sake of everybody involved with Catawba, it is a good thing Nick is on scholarship as a pitcher and not a dancer.

It was really funny to see how a simple joke could loosen up a locker room and get everybody relaxed before playing two games.  With that being said, thank you JJ for bringing in those pictures.

The last shout-out goes to a player who was far from an unsung hero in the second game of the double header.  Austin Moyer hit a walk-off, two-run home run to give us the 5-3 victory.  The amazing thing about this home run was that it was Moyer’s first hit as a Catawba College Indian. 

 

I also was extremely excited about this because it was the first game I have ever played in where my team won on a walk-off home run.  That was a really cool experience for me and one that I will never forget.

Week 2 of the 2011 Catawba baseball season was a success in terms of wins and losses, practice transitioning to games, and a little locker room fun!