BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- After opening fall team practice in late September, the Hilltopper baseball team took the field last Friday in its first intrasquad game. First-year head coach Matt Myers was pleased with what he saw from his team last week.
"Great first scrimmage," Myers said. "Not as many things as I would think to go over from a negative standpoint outside of typical communication stuff that is brand new. The guys are playing with great energy, really working hard and when they do that and they are paying attention, we make less mistakes."
Six pitchers took to the mound during the scrimmage, led by starting pitchers left-hander Tanner Perkins and right-hander Justin Hageman, junior Tim Bado, sophomore GJ Strauss, junior Taylor Haydel and redshirt senior Ross Hammonds also appeared out the bullpen.
"From the pitching standpoint, they threw a lot of strikes, attacked the zone and the arms looked like they were in really good shape," Myers said. "I was real happy with those six guys."
Myers was also impressed with the defense his young team showed and will look to that as an asset for the 2012 Hilltopppers.
NEIGHBOR TO THE NORTH: On Sunday, the Hilltoppers took on the Ontario Blue Jays at Nick Denes Field. The two teams played 11 innings with WKU coming out on top 23-1, including an eight-run first inning. Junior catcher Ryan Huck highlighted the frame with a grand slam.
The Blue Jays came through Bowling Green on a tour they do every year that usually sees them playing games against a number of Division I opponents.
"It was really neat to see our third time out as a club, playing that well and play that in sync," Myers said. "Our pitchers threw strikes and we only gave up four hits and one. We had 23 hits and 23 runs so offensively we did a very nice job."
PRACTICE MOTTO: With the first few weeks of fall practice underway, Myers has made it clear to his players that energy and hard work are important. One of the ways he is doing that is with the Hilltoppers motto for practice. The everyday motto is Energy=Focus, Focus=Execution, Execution=Wins.
TOPPERS ON THE MEND: Two Hilltoppers outfielders are sitting out of the fall practice period due to surgeries during the summer. Both senior outfielder Jared Andreoli and incoming freshman outfielder Ryan Fucci are recovering from surgeries to repair torn labrums.
Myers expects both to be back to full strength before the season in the spring and knows they will both provide depth at the outfield positions.
In 2011, Andreoli was named second-team All-Sun Belt Conference after starting all 57 games for the Hilltoppers in left field. He hit .352 with three home runs and 38 RBIs and also stole 17 bases with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
Fucci joins the Hilltoppers from Tates Creek High School in Lexington, Ky., and projects as a center fielder. He was named All-City basketball and baseball his junior year. He was also named All-State basketball as a junior.
MYERS LIKES HIS OPTIONS: With the graduation of All-American catcher Matt Rice and loss of shortstop Logan Robbins to the draft, the Hilltoppers will have to make some adjustments to their every day defensive lineup at the start of the 2012 season.
Serving as the backup catcher to Rice for the majority of the last two seasons, junior Ryan Huck will take over the duties behind the plate for WKU while the shortstop position is still up for grabs. Huck started 40 games a year ago at first while Robbins started all but six games at the shortstop position.
When asked who will fill the voids left by Huck and Robbins, Myers cited his recruitment of athletes who can play more than one position as a positive development for the Hilltoppers.
"I think the neat thing is we've got options," Myers said. "So how we play our lineup and how we do our catching rotation, probably dictates a lot what happens at first."
Both sophomores Jordan Cessna and Justin Hageman will see playing time at first and Myers noted that Huck will still see playing time at the position when he is taking a day off from catching. Third baseman Casey Dykes could also see some action at first.
On the left side of the infield, Myers said fans should look to sophomore Scott Wilcox, freshman Steve Hodgins along with redshirt sophomore Blake Crabtree and freshman Brennan Pearson. Rotating with Huck behind the plate will be redshirt freshman Ryan Messex and junior-college transfer Devin Kelly.
Of Wilcox, Myers said he is a kid that has had a great fall defensively and is a great player so they will look to find a place for him so he can be in the lineup every day.
SIMMONS SHOWS HIS SPEED: When asked what individuals might have started to stand out in the first few weeks of fall camp, Myers found it difficult to narrow down the list to just a few names. He said that in the past WKU teams have had that one name to point to and this year's team wants to put forth a united front. The one name he did single out however was that of sophomore outfielder David Simmons.
Last season, Simmons played in 14 games for the Hlilltoppers, seeing most of his action as a pinch runner while making one start in center fielder. The Indianapolis, Ind., native has tremendous speed and has really improved his game Myers said and "is putting himself in a position to really be a big asset for us."
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: With two and a half weeks of practice left leading up to the WKU Fall World Series (November 3-5), the Hilltoppers will continue a similar schedule as they have followed thus far this fall.
WKU will scrimmage every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday with an additional bunt scrimmage on Tuesday. Three of those four scrimmages will feature live pitching. Myers said the focus of the work has been to put the teams in as many scenarios as possible.
"We are trying to put our guys in as many situations where it's the seventh, eighth and ninth in our scrimmages and we are trying to win those last three innings and trying to finish a game," Myers said.
Myers feels that he has seen improvement in his team each of the first two weeks and wants to see that improvement continue over the final stretch of the fall period.
"I told the guys when we walk out of our Fall World Series in November, that we as a coaching staff want to feel like all three facets of our game, defense, pitching and offense, are at a high level. We feel very, very good about where we are at."
A FACE LIFT FOR THE NICK: Not only does the fall provide a chance for the Hilltoppers on the field to improve, but it provides a period for improvements to Nick Denes Field. The first of those improvements involved new landscaping in front of the Paul C. Orberson Clubhouse. After putting in irrigation to help with the life of the grass, new sod along with landscaping (rocks, boulders, and plants) were installed in front of the building.
"The landscaping looks great," Myers said. "I think all of those little touches for details keep showing that we are growing and continue to evolve into one the top programs around."
Other plans call for new cages in the indoor hitting facility and new turf behind home plate and down the foul lines. Both projects are scheduled to begin in November.
"We are excited to add those to the Nick and get this place looking better than it is, which I think is one of the best places in college baseball and definitely in this region of the country," Myers said.
