Baseball Preview
February 06, 2006 03:47 PM | General
February 6, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia baseball coach Greg Van Zant can find a lot of reasons to like this year’s team: a competitive schedule, little turnover from last year and 17 viable pitchers to choose from. But the thing that gets him most excited is having two of the Big East’s top power hitters returning in senior Stan Posluszny and junior Justin Jenkins.
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| Senior Stan Posluszny has the WVU career home run record in his sights, needing 12 this year to tie Tim McCabe (2001-03) with 35.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
Posluszny, a third-team all-Big East selection last year, smacked 12 home runs and now has 23 for his career. Poluszny has a legitimate shot of breaking Tim McCabe’s school record of 35 home runs set in 2003. Once a 21st-round draft pick by the Anaheim Angels, getting Posluszny back for his senior season was Van Zant’s biggest recruiting victory of the year.
“Stan is one of the best power hitters in school history,” said Van Zant, now 312-279-1 at WVU heading into 2006.
Jenkins also hit 12 home runs last year and had one of the most productive offensive seasons in the conference, hitting .359 with 23 doubles and 43 RBI.
“Justin really hit the ball well last spring and he was our best hitter in the fall,” Van Zant said. “If you look at his numbers closely he had one of the best years offensively and he doesn’t make preseason all-Big East.”
Jenkins will play third base and Posluszny will most likely start the season in left field.
“Those are two real veteran players to have around,” Van Zant said.
Joining Jenkins in the infield are three holders in all-Big East shortstop Doug Nelms, sophomore second baseman Tyler Kuhn, and junior first baseman Kyle Matuszek.
Nelms hit .349 while Matuszek was third on the team with eight home runs last year. Kuhn batted .298 and led the team with 11 sacrifice hits. The sophomore had his knee scoped during finals but is expected to be ready for the season opener.
“We’ve got our whole infield back,” Van Zant said.
David Carpenter took over the starting catcher duties last year and in Van Zant’s words is “one of the best defensive catchers in the country.” Van Zant says Carpenter’s bat is also improving.
“The way he hit in the fall we think he could bat sixth or seventh in the lineup for us this year,” said Van Zant.
Mike Schmidt, Bob Stumpo and Justin Parks will back up Carpenter at catcher.
The coach is high on a pair of outfielders in Jason Pape and Adam White. Both have outstanding speed and can run down fly balls in the gap. Pape transferred from Division III Allegany College in Meadville, Pa., where he played infield.
“We’re not sure where Jason is going to play yet but he’s got to be out there somewhere,” said Van Zant. “He’s either going to play one of the outfield positions, DH or play in the infield. He’s a really good player.”
White was a three-year standout at Phillipsburg-Osceola (N.J.) Area High School who spent last season as a redshirt. “He’s one of our fastest players and like Pape, could be a real factor on the bases,” said Van Zant of White.
Senior Casey Bowling will get the first opportunity in right field. The Chapmanville, W.Va., resident has been a consistent performer for the Mountaineers both offensively and defensively, hitting .269 as a junior.
Provideing depth in the outfield are junior Brandon Drespling, junior Brent Lockhart, and promising freshman Austin Markel.
There are several capable candidates to fill the designated hitter’s spot. Bill Wooten, a Potomac State transfer from Logan, W.Va., is expected to see time against right-handers along with Trent Ridgley.
The top three candidates to play DH against left-handers are Pape, Schmidt, and sophomore Michael Burger.
Van Zant said he will probably start the year with Kuhn leading off, followed by Nelms, Jenkins, Posluszny and Matuszek as his top five.
“Our three, four and five hitters are guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark,” said Van Zant.
Although the pitching staff doesn’t have an all-Big East caliber returner, Van Zant likes the depth and versatility of the arms available to him this year. The top three pitchers heading into the season are probably senior Marty Fagler, who got a sixth year of eligibility, and sophomores Kenny Durst and Matt Yurish. All three are lefthanders.
“Marty pitched well for us at the end of last season and Durst and Yurish have some pop on their fastballs with good breaking balls,” said Van Zant.
Fagler posted a 6-3 record with a 2.92 ERA last season and was West Virginia’s most effective pitcher down the stretch going 8 2/3 in a 1-0 win over Villanova on May 13. Durst appeared in 13 games, pitching 42 innings while Yurish posted a 1-2 record in 10 appearances.
Morgantown native Kevin Korzun had a solid 3.86 earned run average in 42 innings pitched, while junior left-hander Wes Osbourn ate up innings last year and finished the season 7-4.
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| Justin Jenkins was one of the most productive third basemen in the country in 2005, hitting .359 with 36 extra base hits and 43 RBI.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
Fourth-year junior Brendan Bergerson was one of the top pitchers in the fall and has developed a pretty good breaking ball to go with his fastball and changeup.
Sophomore right-hander Levi Maxwell has the most upside of any pitcher on the staff, touching 92 mph on the radar gun with his fastball, but he has to get a better command of his stuff.
“Levi is the unproven commodity but he’s the one getting the most letters from pro scouts because he’s got a live arm,” Van Zant said.
Van Zant lists Maxwell, Korzun and junior college transfers Dan Leatherman and Joe Stupka as his top four right-handers as of now. Leatherman was the top pitcher at Frederick Community College last year and has a good mound presence. Stupka pitched for former Mountaineer assistant Doug Little at Potomac State last season, appearing in the JUCO World Series.
Eric Saffell, who signed out of high school with Kentucky and played first base at Potomac State last year, is another pitcher that has caught Van Zant’s eye. The lefthander had an 8-2 record at Princeton High School in 2004.
“We put him on the mound in the fall and no one could hit him,” Van Zant said. “He keeps the ball down and his ball moves a lot. He’s also very smart.”
Ripley’s Josh Whitlock, who spent last year at Surry (N.C.) Community College, was the state player of the year in 2004 when he won 16 games and led Ripley High School to the Class 3A state championship.
Ridgley, who had a 2.57 earned run average in seven appearances, is one of the toughest pitchers to hit, according to the players.
Ryan Hill, a sophomore lefthander, went 3-2 last year in 37 2/3 innings pitched.
Schmidt could wind up being the team’s closer. “He might be one of our best right-handed pitchers,” said Van Zant.
Other pitching candidates include senior Ryan Lipscomb, and freshmen Billy Gross, Shawn Yearego and Jordan Yost.
“We’re going to try and use as many pitchers as we can those first couple of weeks and just see what happens,” Van Zant said.
West Virginia opens the regular season on Friday, Feb. 17, against Bucknell in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Mountaineers also face N.C. State, Virginia Tech and Penn State at neutral sites and then take on Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C., before opening at home against Niagara on Tuesday, March 7.
The Mountaineers are only scheduled to play five doubleheaders this year and have 37 home games, second-most to Tulane according to Van Zant.
West Virginia does not play either Notre Dame or St. John’s during the regular season this year, due to a new Big East scheduling format that skips two teams each season. All Big East games this year are nine-inning, Friday-Saturday-Sunday affairs.
The top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament to be played in Clearwater, Fla., May 23-27. West Virginia was picked to finish tied with Villanova for seventh place in the Big East preseason coach’s poll. Posluszny, Carpenter and Nelms were preseason all-league picks.
“I have a real good feeling about this team,” said Van Zant. “The good thing about it is we’ve got some really good, young kids in the program and the older kids are really teaching them.”
