Christmas is not the most wonderful time of the year at least not for Dudy Noble Field. The Polk-Dement Stadium comes alive in February for basball season. 
With spring around the corner, it is almost time for “The Dude” to crank up the volume, along with the grills, and prepare for another season of Mississippi State baseball. With a new season come new expectations for what a consistently talented Diamond Dog squad can accomplish.
Head Coach John Cohen enters his seventh year as manager of the Bulldogs, and he feels confident on his team’s focus going into the opening week.
“Our kids are really excited about playing somebody else,” Cohen said. “We have done a lot of drill work. Our kids have worked hard in the weight room and in conditioning – all of the stretching, all of the rehab type of things that you have to do to get ready for a season.”
Although the team lost key players from last year’s lineup, such as C.T Bradford and Brett Pirtle, Cohen said he feels this team could have more power at the plate than his previous teams. A name he constantly brings up is sophomore outfielder and designated hitter Reid Humphreys.
“Certainly you talk about a Reid Humphreys, who has really come along and become a guy that can provide some power in the middle of our lineup,” Cohen said. “He had a really nice first year, but I think he’s ready to take that next step forward.”
Senior first baseman Wes Rea also complements Humphreys in the lineup. Both players can get a barrel on the ball and change a game with one swing. Rea struggles at times hitting in the middle of the lineup, but said he feels this team can put an emphasis on extra-base hits.
“That was our philosophy going into this season,” Rea said. “We said we have to be aggressive and drive the baseball. Even the smallest guys on the team have had that mindset. I think it has shown up a lot.”
The Bulldogs are just as strong on the mound as they were a year ago, even after losing All-American closer Jonathan Holder and left handed pitcher Jacob Lindgren. Senior left-handed pitcher Ross Mitchell looks to carry out the tradition of a stellar bullpen that the Bulldogs have had success with the past three seasons.
Mitchell and senior right-handed pitcher Trevor Fitts were starters in 2014 but will move to the bullpen for the start of the 2015 campaign. Fitts said he hopes to fill the role as a closer, which is where he feels most comfortable.
“My fastball was not good enough to survive five innings in the Southeastern Conference,” Fitts said. “I think it is going to be good for five to six outs, or however my team needs me.”
Fitts also had strong words of confidence about the Bulldogs’ bullpen as a whole.
“It is limitless,” Fitts said. “We have a lot of new guys people do not really know much about. They are going to step up and do a good job.”
One of the pitchers Fitts feels will step up is Vance Tatum. Tatum is a power left-handed pitcher with a good breaking ball that hopes to fill the role left open by Jacob Lindgren.
With opening day around the corner, junior right-handed pitcher Preston Brown said he thinks the starting rotation is ready to step up in the early season. Much needed depth has been added from last year’s rotation and looks to be a solid part of the team.
“I think we have five or six guys that can go out there every weekend and go deep into a game,” Brown said.
However, the most important aspect of the team for Cohen is the team’s character.
“I think the kids are really loose because we have great character. We have great kids and they come from great families,” Cohen said. “They have really bought into what we do and I use that word collectively – we – because the kids are so important in the recruiting process and so important in what we do on a daily basis; their spirit, their togetherness, all of those things.”
The much anticipated first pitch for the 2015 Diamond Dog campaign will be Friday night at 6:30 p.m., as the Bulldogs host Cincinnati and Miami (OH) for the opening weekend of collegiate baseball.