As the 2005 Major League Baseball season wraps up, the 2006 college baseball Bulldogs have gotten their first few chances to take the field.
For the last six weeks, Ron Polk’s 2005-2006 baseball squad has been going through fall ball. Though the session has been productive, it has not been without its drawbacks.
“We’ve got some guys banged up, but that’s nothing unusual in fall baseball,” Polk said. “For the most part guys have been playing hard.”
Fall ball is the traditional time for a squad to adjust to life without the graduated seniors, and for new players to learn the techniques and systems of the particular coach. Polk has developed his fall training schedule down to an art form.
“This is my fifth year here, and we’ve done the same thing every year,” senior reliever Brett Cleveland said. “(Coach Polk) just puts in all the signals, defensive plays and picks.”
Fall ball means different things for different players. For the veterans, it’s a chance to hone those skills that have remained dormant since the early part of the summer. For freshmen and transfer students, fall ball is merely a rite of passage, paying their dues and learning the ropes of Bulldog baseball before being thrown into the fire of the Southeastern Conference baseball schedule.
“The new guys always come out a little over-excited trying to impress everyone,” senior outfielder Jeff Butts said. “Now they’ve settled down a little bit and just started playing.”
The newcomers have played so well that they upended the veterans in the Maroon/White Game a few weeks ago by the final score of 7-6. The game was knotted at four until the seventh inning when Bryan Turner logged an RBI single followed by redshirt-freshman Ryan Wiser’s two-run double. The veterans in white would muster two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but their rally would fall one run short, as the maroon squad would hold on for its first victory over the veterans in 23 years.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” senior starting pitcher Brooks Dunn said, “but that just means we’ve got really good rookies. I think last time (the newcomers won) they went to the World Series. Maybe it’s an omen.”
Last year the Diamond Dawgs surprised the nation by posting a 42-22 record and winning the SEC Tournament. They went on to lose to Miami in the Coral Gables postseason regional but only after logging two wins over Florida Atlantic.
That team has remained mostly intact, losing only one starting position player, Brad Corley to the MLB draft.
“This is a veteran ballclub,” Polk said of his squad. “We’re still having to do some teaching, but for the most part, it’s been easier because we don’t have as many new guys as we’ve had the last couple of years.”
Most of the veterans have picked up right where they left off at the end of last season.
“Thomas (Berkery) has switched positions again, and he’s looking more comfortable at shortstop,” Dunn said. “Brad Jones is really tearing the ball up right now. Everything is just coming together really well. The pitchers are throwing strikes and the hitters are hitting them. Everyone is doing great. So far we look better than any year I’ve been here.”
The newcomers are learning their place also. Each of them is finding their own niche within the Bulldog schema, and some are beginning to turn the heads of their teammates with their talent.
“I think Chad Crosswhite is going to be pretty good,” Cleveland said. “He redshirted last year, and he’s been pretty consistent. We’ve got a (junior college) pitcher coming in named Jared Koon who looks real good, and I think Andy Rice is going to be a good guy for us in right field this year.”
The fall baseball period concluded with the annual Banana Split Series at Dudy Noble Field earlier this week. The white team-comprised of Thomas Berkery, Brad Jones and Brett Cleveland-won the best-of-five series, sweeping the first three games.
That was the last time the team will have a chance to show their talents to their fan base until the end of February 2006, at the start of the season.
“The fall is long, and we’re ready for the spring,” Butts said, “But we know we’ve got a lot of work to do before then.”
While February may seem like a distant vision, many of the players feel as if it is just around the corner.
“We’re counting down the days (until the spring season starts),” said Dunn smiling. “We ended the year on a good note by winning the SEC Tournament but then on a bad note my losing to Miami. A lot of us just can’t wait to get back out there.”