Baseball Fall Practice notes

[Brad]

Courtesy USF:

University of South Florida Fall Baseball Practice

Day 1 Notes

Sept. 28, 2008

Red McEwen Field

-- The Bulls took to the field at 5:30 p.m., worked through fielding drills and batting practice, then played a scrimmage game to end the session.

-- During fielding drills, pitching coach Lazer Collazo worked with the catchers, coach Bryant Ward assisted the infielders and undergraduate assistant Charles Cleveland worked with the outfielders. Head Coach Lelo Prado could be found roaming around the entire field.

-- Nearly 40 parents and fans attended opening day.

-- Eric Baumann, known best for his grand slam against the Yankees last February, came out to watch practice this evening. He finished classes at Duke this fall and is now working in marketing in Tampa.

-- During warmups, Collazo shouted, "Here we go, right now. Let's play some baseball."

-- Numerous players saw time at a few positions tonight, including:

Catchers: Trey Manz, Daniel Rockhold, Ryan Garcia and Andrew Longley.

First Base: Todd Brazeal and Brandon Smith.

Second Base: Peter Brotons, Jordan McGillis and Andrew Robinson.

Third Base: Brandon Smith, Jonathan Koscso, Zach Rios and Andrew Robinson.

Shortstop: Sam Mende, Andrew Robinson and Jonathan Koscso.

Outfield: Mike Consolmagno, Ryan Lockwood, Chris Rey, Ian MacGeorge and Junior Carlin.

-- The infield looked like this for the first inning: P Matt Stull, C Trey Manz, 1B Brandon Smith, 2B Peter Brotons, 3B Jonathan Koscso, SS Sam Mende, LF Chris Rey, CF Ryan Lockwood, RF Mike Consolmagno.

-- The first round of batters included Garcia, Robinson, McGillis, Brazeal, Rockhold and Carlin. Brazeal had a lot of pop, including a home run and a double.

-- The second batting group was Manz, Koscso, Mende, Brotons, Lockwood and Rey. Manz and Koscso each connected on a single in their first at bat while Lockwood continued where he left off in 2008, cracking a double in his first at bat of the year. Lockwood, the Collegiate Baseball News Freshman of the Year, ended the 2008 season on a 30-game hitting streak.

-- Pitchers for the night included Matt Stull, Doug Wagner, Kyle Eastham and Andrew Salgueiro.

Quotes

Head Coach Lelo Prado on the first practice of the season -

Today was exciting. There are a lot of kids out here that know how to play the game. I think we threw out more guys [stealing bases] today than we did all of last year with our four catchers. The guys that threw, they threw the ball well. We played good defense and I saw some good things offensively. It is a great start to what I think could be a special season for us.

Prado on some highlights of the day –

Sam Mende is going to be fine offensively and he looked good in the field. Peter Brotons looked good at second. The catchers looked good throwing the ball. It was good to see Salgueiro throw today. Lockwood is the same Lockwood as always. Garcia had some good offensive power today. Todd Brazeal hit a home run, which is a positive. Overall it was a pretty good first day. If we keep going with the attitude we have, on and off the field, we are going to be a good team.

Pitching Coach Lazer Collazo on the pitchers –

The pitchers did a great job for the first day of fall practice. They threw a lot of strikes and only walked about two batters in eight or 10 innings. The number one thing you want to have when you start in the fall is a lot of strikes and we had that tonight.

Visit South Florida's Fall Baseball Central:  http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=1591847