The series signaled the end of fall team practice and sends the WKU baseball team into their late fall and early winter workouts.
Hilltopper coach Chris Finwood was pleased with the growth and progress his team showed as a whole during fall workouts, especially the newcomers.
"I think the team really worked hard this fall and I am proud of the daily energy and enthusiasm," Finwood said. "The new players are busy learning how to practice effectively and how to make adjustments and become better baseball players. Much of this process is mental and it takes a while to learn."
Finwood is also excited about the depth that the 2011 Hilltoppers should have with its core of returning players.
"Although the new players are always what everyone wants to know about, it is really more important to realize that we have six of our eight starting position players back and this is a great foundation to build on and around. I like the blue color mentality of this team and feel like it has a chance to be a team that can stand up to the grind of a long season. We have a chance to have much more quality depth than last year and that will be a big plus for us."
The fall world series allowed the coaches to put the players in competitive situations and see who might be in that starting lineup come February.
"We have some great battles going on in our pitching staff," Finwood said. "I don't think the starting roles will be figured out until our February scrimmages are close to being done. In the field, we are close to having a starting eight figured out and the top backups at each position filled in as well.
A few individuals were able to stand out among the rest during the fall world series.
"The fall world series really allowed some guys to shine," Finwood said. "Jared Andreoli finished up the fall on fire and continued that into the series. Newcomer David Simmons was probably the MVP of the fall world series, and that was after not really getting much playing time at all early in the fall. Ryan Huck made some great strides both with the bat and behind the plate and gives us a great catching option, when he is not playing first base."
Some additional players that had very productive falls were Justin Hageman, Scott Wilcox and Jordan Cessna.
Since arriving on campus at the start of school year at the end of August, the Hilltoppers have worked through periods of individual instruction and team practices to prepare for the 2011 season.
"I am very pleased with the fall as a whole," Finwood said. "We still need to define some roles on the pitching staff but we have some young guys starting to figure it out and I see a bright future there."
The Hilltoppers open the 2010 season at home on February 18 against Bowling Green State.
