Baseball Opens Fall Practice
9/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina University baseball team started its fall practice Sept. 7. The Chanticleers will practice five days a week until the Chanticleer World Series, which begins Oct. 9 and concludes Oct. 14.
Coastal and Head Coach Gary Gilmore are coming off a magical 2007 season which saw the Chanticleers win 50 games for the second time in three years and win the Big South regular-season and tournament title. They also earned the top seed and hosted the Myrtle Beach Regional and had a record seven draft picks in this year’s Major League Baseball First-Year Draft. Coastal has a mix of upperclassmen with talent and experience and 13 newcomers ready to help the Chants have another spectacular season.
"The thing we have to look for in fall practice is interchangeable parts of our defense," Gilmore said. "Who is going to be our second baseman? Who is going to challenge the other guys in the infield? I think this year we have some great athletes, but we’re going to spend the whole fall putting together the pieces. It’s going to be a great challenge for our coaches across the board to figure out who is going to fill the voids.
"We need to have two or three guys like Tommy Baldridge have career years," Gilmore continued. "We may have to have some guys that have played the infield their entire life play outfield and vice versa. Pitching-wise, we’ve got some big shoes to fill in (Andy) DeLaGarza and (John) Mariotti, especially just the innings they logged and experience they brought. I think there is a tremendous amount of ability on this team, there is just a whole lot more question marks than we had a year ago. The trademark of this team is that we’re a versitile team with great athletes and we have more overall depth."
Many of the Coastal players are coming off playing in the collegiate summer leagues. Juniors Bobby Gagg (Hamburg, N.J./Wallkill), David Anderson (Lexington, S.C./White Knoll) and junior Jeff Richard (West Bloomfield, Mich./Central Michigan) all played in the Cape Cod League this past summer. Gagg and Anderson played for Yarmouth-Dennis while Richard was on Bourne. Junior David Sappelt (Saxapahaw, N.C./Southern Alamance) hit .329 for Battle Creek in the Northwoods League. Senior Tommy Baldridge (Fort Mill, S.C./Fort Mill) split time between Rock Hill and Thomasville and was named the top prospect in the Southern Collegiate League by Baseball America. Senior Joey Haug (Holt, Mo./Maple Woods C.C.) had a 1.20 earned-run average with Peninsula of the Alaska League and sophomore Nick McCully (Lakeland, Fla./Santa Fe Catholic) threw a no-hitter for North Adams of the New England Collegiate League. Also, both Dock Doyle (Conway, S.C./Conway) and Pete Andrelczyk (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Twp.) were named to the All-Star Games of the Great Lakes and Valley League, respectively.
Along with the team practices, the Coastal baseball team continues its relationship with the Miracle League. The Grand Strand Miracle League is a baseball league specifically designed for children with mental and physical disabilities. The Coastal baseball program will once again be helping out at the games and serve as Buddies for the Miracle League kids.
Sept. 7 Start of Fall Practice
Sept. 25 Pro Day
Oct. 9 Start of the Chanticleer World Series
Dec. 1 Start of the Chanticleer Challenge
Important Dates
