We’re taking a break from the Dirtbags coverage for today to
take a look at a few schools based nearly 3,000 miles from Blair Field.
Though the bulk of content on this blog is going to be
geared toward west coast baseball, for the time being Dirtbag Blues is
headquartered out in our nation’s capital (i.e. I live in Washington, DC), so
it only seems fair I also take a peak at the programs I’ll actually get to
physically watch this season. Here’s a brief look at the DC-based schools.
Catholic University Cardinals (Division III)
The CUA Cardinals enter the season after a slightly
disappointing 2012. Though the Cardinals remained competitive as always, they
ultimately finished third in the Landmark Conference after they’d tied for first
in the pre-season poll. Furthermore, they made a quick exit from the conference
championship after having won three of the previous four tournaments. Though
they lost a good chunk of their 2012 team that finished 24-17, the Cardinals
return a solid group and should remain one of the Landmark Conference’s top
teams.
The strength of the Cardinals should lie in their infield,
which includes sophomores 1B Colin McCarthy (.410/.467/.620 and all-conference
1st team in 2012), SS Dan Hinchcliff, and junior 3B Marc Hanna (.394
OBP and all-conference 1st team). Additionally, highly rated
freshman Andrew Stewart should fight for playing time in the middle infield.
The pitching side should also be solid, as CUA retains five of their top seven
innings loggers from the ’12 squad, including first team all-conference pick
RHP Andrew Carroll (3.66 ERA in a team-high 59 innings).
Though CUA has only qualified for the regionals once since
the 1970s, respected coach Ross Natoli, who has headed the program for nearly
three decades, could be on the verge of building a Landmark Conference dynasty
if his young roster can come away with another tourney title in 2013.
Gallaudet Bison (Division III)
Gallaudet enters the year on the heels of one of its best
seasons in school history, going 25-17 and 10-4 in conference in 2012. Reigning
conference coach of the year, Curtis Pride, will lead a Bison team that retains
many of its key pieces from last season, including easily the league’s top
player, outfielder Billy Bissell.
Bissell posted a 1.146 OPS last year, with 16 steals, and
posses a rifle for an arm. He enters his junior season having already won two
conference player of the year awards and is a D3baseball.com pre-season
All-American honorable mention.
Three all-conference players, catcher Casey Hicks
(.393/.481/.523), shortstop Tommy Barksdale (.461 OBP, 17 doubles), and RHP
Marcus Smith (4.16 ERA in 67 innings), are also back, along with GU’s second
best arm (after Smith), RHP Brandon Holsworth (4.78 ERA in 64 innings).
The Bison failed to grab a pre-season ranking from either
D3Baseball or Collegiate Baseball, but for the first time they’ll enter the
season with a realistic chance at taking the NEAC title, and potentially a bid
to the regionals.
Georgetown Hoyas
A typical bottom feeder in the Big East, the Hoyas look
poised for another tough season in 2013. Though G’town returns most of its
lineup they will have to replace two of their top hitters from last season,
Mike Garza (8 homers, .616 slugging) and Rand Ravnaas (.400 OBP, 14 steals).
The 2013 offense will be lead by the speed of outfielder Justin Leeson (.419
OBP, 18 steals) and several seniors, including DH Corbin Bernsen Blakey (.835
OPS).
On the pitching side, the Hoyas lost their most reliable
starter from last year in Will Harris (2.85 ERA in 75.2 innings). Nine
different pitchers who made starts last season are back, but of that group only
Neal Dennison (6.19 ERA in 64 innings) started more than nine games. However,
G’town does return multiple senior relievers, lead by Charles Steinman (3.05
ERA in 44.1 innings), and balancing out those senior arms will be freshman
right-handers Matt Smith and Tim Davis, and southpaw Gino Basso.
Making an improbable run in the Big East tournament will
likely be Georgetown’s only chance at making a regional this year, so building
a reliable starting rotation that’s capable of carrying the Hoyas that far will
be key.
George Washington Colonials
As if finishing in last in the Atlantic 10, as
the Colonials did last year, didn't sound bad enough, GW's conference has now
brought Virginia Commonwealth and Butler into the fold, meaning it's now possible that
the Colonials will be bringing up the rear in the nation's largest conference
in 2013. The A"10" now boast a staggering 15 teams (and still no divisions), yet
for the Colonials it would be a successful season if they could manage to sneak
inside the top ten.
The good news is GW's rebuilding process has gotten off to
an excellent start. They've brought in a former major league coach, Gregg
Ritchie, to lead the program and have literally rebuilt part of their home
ballpark, Barcroft Field, making extensive renovations in preparation for the
2013 season.
On the field, GW will have to replace several starters from
last year's squad though their top hitter, Owen Beightol (.309/.349/.459) is
back. Virtually every significant piece of the 2012 pitching staff is back, as
each of the team's top seven innings-loggers return. The rotation will be lead
by big junior Aaron Weisberg (3.56 ERA, stands at 6'7", 250 lbs.) with senior
closer Kenny O'Brien (2.76 ERA, 6 saves) anchoring the bullpen. On top of that
the Colonials bring in a strong corps of freshman arms, including righties
Danny O’Donnell, Rob Costello and Bobby LeWarne.
It could be a long 2013 for the Colonials, but a more
competitive GW baseball program could arise within the next couple years. Of
course, by then they'll probably have to compete with 30 or so teams for the
Atlantic 10 title.
Maryland Terrapins
I’ll probably see the Terps in action more than any other
team this year, so I may have some periodic updates on them throughout the
season both here and on twitter, but being an ACC team there’s already plenty
to be found on Maryland at places like Baseball America, College Baseball Today,
and Perfect Game (they also have some nice content on the UM website). Here’s a nutshell preview anyway…
It’s going to be an interesting transitional year for
Maryland. After starting the 2012 season strong the Terps faded in ACC play,
dropping their final four series. The UM rebuilding efforts were then badly
derailed by the departure of Head Coach Erik Bakich for the University of
Michigan.
There’s some good news for Maryland, however, which brought
in a solid new coach in John Szefc (totally called it!) and retained its
drafted southpaw Jimmy Reed (2.70 ERA in 60 innings) who should anchor the 2013
rotation. The rest of the pitching staff is fairly inexperienced, however a
good crop of freshmen joins the fray including draftees RHP Jared Price and LHP
Jake Drossner.
The lineup will be much more experienced although replacing
four-year starter and team leader, SS Alfredo Rodriguez, will be tough. Leading
the ’13 Terps will be the supremely talented outfielder Jordan Hagel (.403 OBP,
20 doubles, 15 steals), powerful corner infielder KJ Hockaday (.305/.367/.404),
and senior utility man Tomo Delp (.379 OBP, had 25-game reached-base streak in
’12), whom I bring up mainly because of this awesome bat-twirl he does before
every pitch (I’ll do my best to get a video of it this season).
A long overdue regional bid isn’t out of the question for
Maryland, but for now the Terps should be more focused on simply getting into
the ACC tourney and padding their resume.
Up Next: I do my part to add to College Baseball’s dangerously
low amount of rankings; it’s the very first “Best of the Rest in the West” top
ten!
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