After making a run to the conference championship game last season, Loyola’s baseball team has started pre-season training and is getting ready for another season of baseball.
Though the team is not yet finalized, both players who have already earned a place on the team and players still vying for roster spots are getting back in game shape. At this point in the off-season, most of the players are doing a combination of their own individual workouts along with team drills.
“Right now we’re kind of doing our own thing,” said Ryan Scott, Wolfpack outfielder and marketing senior. “You workout on your own and head over to practice and put your work in there.”
When on their own, players will lift weights according to their schedule. But, when players get to the field, they get back to the basics. “We’re doing everything,” said Brett Simpson, associate athletic director and third base coach. “We’re on the field doing offense, defense and fundamentals.”
As far as offense goes, there is a new adjustment players will have to make at the plate this year, due to new bat regulations. “From a hitting stand point, we have been pretty much exclusively using wood bats,” Simpson said.
Though the team has not gotten a chance to swing the newly designed bat, it will make it harder for the team to create instant offense. “What we’re hearing from the manufacturer that it’s going to perform like a wood bat.”
Last year, the Wolfpack showed an ability to hit balls in the gab, compiling 80 doubles on the season, the highest team total since 2008, when they hit 86. However, not many fly balls hit by the ‘Pack made it over the fences, as the team only hit 18 home runs. The LSU-Shreveport Pirates, who won the conference championship last season, hit 73 home runs in the year.
Despite this, Scott ended last season strong on offense. He had four home runs and led the team with 45 RBI while batting .378. Scott said he likes to keep it simple when it comes to hitting. “I just go up there, try to be patient and get a pitch I can hit,” he said. “I guess pitch instead of location, so if I see a fastball and it looks good I’ll swing at it.”
Along with a switch to a new bat that players and coaches expect to reduce power numbers, the team will also be switching to a new conference as they play their first season in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Though the level of competition is expected to be higher, Scott said the late season run to the conference championship game last season is going to give the ‘Pack a confidence boost headed into this season.
“It just showed us then we are at our best we can play with anybody in our conference,” Scott said.
The team had its problems with consistency last season. Though they beat two National Collegiate Athletic Association opponents last season, the ‘Pack also suffered many losses to conference opponents, including a loss to Tougaloo College, who had never beat a conference opponent before, and finished 12-23 in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.
Because they are just in their third week of fall practice, many players are still competing for starting roles on the field. In addition to the team graduating six seniors last year, infielder Brooks McMinn transferred to another school.
This has opened the door for other players to fill holes left in the Wolfpack’s starting lineup. “We had to move some guys around because of the loses last year,” Simpson said.
To replace the losses to the pitching staff, Simpson said Taylor Domengeaux, management junior, who split time between short stop and the mound last season, will be pitching more often.
“Taylor is going to pitch more so freshman Brandon Snow is getting a lot of time at short stop right now,” Simpson said.
As the Wolfpack infield takes shape, someone will have to step up in the outfield to fill those open spots as well. “Ryan Scott is solid in left field but centerfield and right field are pretty much wide open.”
When the starters are determined and the players are back in the shape, the ‘Pack will try to improve on last season’s run, which ended just shy of a conference championship.
Hasani Grayson can be reached at [email protected]
