Monday, November 16, 2009

2010 PRCC baseball team loaded with freshmen

     POPLARVILLE - Last season, Pearl River Community College baseball coach Jamie McMahon fielded an experienced team and finished the season 27-22.
      The roster for the 2010 season features only seven sophomores and 18 freshmen. It’s not hard to understand the focus of this fall’s six weeks of workouts.
      "Last year, we had all those sophomores and spent a good bit of the fall going over stuff and made tremendous progress," said McMahon. "This fall, with all these freshmen, we spent a good bit of time putting in new stuff and advancing their game up to the collegiate level.
      "We have a good group. They adjusted well. Some of them will be contributors for us early in the season."
      Last year’s Wildcats hit an impressive .315 as a team, but they had difficulty producing runs. "We did not have good team speed," said McMahon. "We could swing the bat, but we had to depend on the long ball and in JuCo ball, you can’t just depend on that. Sometimes it took us three singles to get a run, even if we bunted somebody over."
      There is some leadership on this team, starting with sophomore infielders Ashley Graeter of Poplarville and Jake Hawkins of Sumrall. Graeter has already signed with the University of Southern Mississippi. Hawkins is the regular second baseman but will play some shortstop when Graeter is pitching.
      Topping the pitching staff will be sophomore lefthander Brett Blaise of Heritage Academy. "He was 2-1 last year, but he has developed into a solid starter who is being recruited by the big schools in the state," said McMahon. "He has learned command of his pitches."
      Graeter hit .370 last season with six home runs.
      Other pitchers who will be counted on to contribute are freshmen Buc Bernard of Petal, Josh Hubble of Forrest County AHS, R.J. Gasaway of Pascagoula, and Robert Marzoni of Purvis, and sophomore Sean Kelly of Pearl River Central.
      The catching will be handled by sophomore Zach Farrar of Brandon, who was a designated hitter last season, and freshmen Luke Rowan of Clinton and Cody Bielstein of Purvis.
      Freshman Temple Harvey, a red-shirt last season, is the first baseman. Freshman Matt Linton of East Central will see time at third base.
      Some players mentioned by McMahon who will see time in the outfield are freshman Matthew Magee of Petal, B.J. Smith of Sumrall, and sophomore Bryn Whitehead of Sumrall.
      Other members of the team include freshman Hunter Gill of Picayune, Grae Orman of Clinton, Jarrod Smith of FCAHS, Layton Lott of Seminary, Jared Bond of Denham Springs, La., Josh McGooey of Long Beach, Ethan Ewoldt of Oak Grove and Even Nichelson of Picayune.
      "We played well at times in our game this year," said McMahon. "The freshmen had some consistency problems. Team speed is something we will have this year, which we did not have last year. Defensively, it could be the best team we’ve had since I have been here."
      Assisting McMahon this season are former Southern Miss star Josh Hoffpauir and Eddie Burger.
      The Wildcats open the season Jan. 30-31 in the Gulf Coast Panama City (Fla.) Tournament. The home opener is Feb. 16 against Faulkner (Ala.) State.

Jamie McMahon’s record

Year     Won     Lost

2005      46     12

2006      38     12

2007      24     24

2008      39     21

2009      37     22

Totals   184    91