Tag Archives: 2013

Baseball 13 Canisius 6

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After the NC State double header was minimized to a single game, and then to cancelling the final two games of the series, Appalachian returned to Boone for their home opener against Canisius. NC State coach Elliot Avant basically said it was too cold and windy to play baseball on Sunday. The temperature in Raleigh on Sunday was right at 34 degrees at 1pm. Last year, Appalachian played in snow against Rider and in flurries against High Point. Several times last year the wind was recorded over 20 mph when games started at Smith Stadium. We didnt realize agriculuture came to a halt when the weather turned uncomfortable in Raleigh.

 Appalachian started their game against Canisius with a 45 degree temperature and 6 mph wind, at 3pm. By the time the game ended, three hours later, the temperature had fallen to 38 degrees and the wind was gusting to 15 mph. We call that another day in the High Country, but surely the Wolfpack would have needed some long johns.

Despite the cool weather, Appalachian’s bats were hot early on in the game. After hitting three home runs on Friday against NC State, Appalachian hit three home runs in the second inning on Monday afternoon. Preston Troutman led off the inning with his second home run of the season. Two batters later, Josh Zumbrook homered on a 1-0 count to left field. Three batters later, Dillon Dobson hit his first home run as a Mountaineers over the left field pitch on the first pitch of the at bat. The four run second inning was the highlight of the day, as Appalachian scored in five of their eight at bats, amassing 13 runs on 15 hits. Preston Troutman (.500) led all batters with three hits, while Josh Zumbrook (.250), Brandon Burris (.222), Alex Leach (.250), and Dillon Dobson (.250) collected two hits each. Hector Crespo (.111) was the only Mountaineers to record an at bat without a hit.

Jeffrey Springs started the game on a pitch count, and it took him 75 pitches to get through three innings, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits, striking out 4, but walking two and hitting two others with pitches. Springs did not last long enough for the decision, which went to Sam Agnew-Wieland, who went 4.1 innings in relief. Sam A.W. also walked two batters and hit two others, while giving up 6 hits, and 2 earned runs while striking out three. Ryne Frankoff finished the game without giving up a hit but walked 2 batters just like his predecessors. It was not a pretty day on the mound, and that is going to happen, but it was extremely nice to have the bats to back it up.

C-Notes: Jamie Nunn was named SoCon Pitcher of the week for picking up the win against NC State…. Appalachian hosts Butler in a Saturday doubleheader and third game on Sunday…Weather is not looking good for baseball this weekend.

Baseball 6, #8 NC State 3

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Coming into the game, it was already going to be a tall task for Appalachian to match the memorable season from a year ago. Add to it, Appalachian had to face off against a nationally ranked, in-state opponent who was giving the ball to the best pitcher in the nation. North Carolina State advanced to the NCAA Super regional a year ago and Carlos Rodon went 9-0 with a 1.57 ERA in the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference. Rodon had not lost a game he pitched since his junior year in high school until Friday against Appalachian.

The Mountaineers earned five of their six runs via the long ball, as freshman center fielder Jaylin Davis smacked a three run homer on the first pitch he saw in his college career. Davis finished with two hits in his college debut. If that wasn’t enough, defensive specialist third baseman Noah Holmes hit a solo shot in the second inning. Preston Troutman added another solo shot in the fourth inning. Holmes and Troutman batted in the bottom third of the lineup for basically all of 2012.

Jamie Nunn pitched well enough, perhaps his best start of his career since defeating Duke last season for his first win. Nunn (1-0, 1.50) allowed only three hits to a career high twenty-four batters faced, adding five strikeouts to only two walks. Taylor Thurber relieved Nunn in the seventh going 1.2 innings, holding the lead while only giving up one run on one hit. Tyler Moore got the Mountaineers out of a huge jam in the 8th inning with a big strikeout. Rob Marcello pitched a perfect ninth for his first career save.

This win will give the Mountaineers some much needed confidence for the rest of the weekend, only needing to win one more game this weekend to take the series. Jeffrey Springs, who we believe is the most complete Mountaineer pitcher will get the ball on Saturday, a game that was was moved up three hours to avoid potential winter weather. The Mountaineers should feel right at home if the weather turns cooler, especially after such an uplifting win on opening day.

2013 Appalachian State Baseball Preview

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Luckily, I was able to in take a few innings of Appalachian’s final scrimmage before their opening series this weekend at NC State. It was hard to keep track of the players, considering the players were not wearing their numbers. It seems the team has not had as much live action as they did last year when the winter was milder in Boone.

The relatively young pitching staff will be depended on heavily this season. Returning are sophomores Jamie Nunn and Jeffery Springs who are expected to be the Friday and Saturday starters. Both Springs and Nunn had great freshman campaigns. Nunn finished 5-2 with a 4.24 ERA in twenty-three appearances, six of them being starts. Nunn spent time in the bullpen in the last half of 2012. Springs was 2-1 in twelve appearances, five starts and held a 4.80 ERA. In a weird twist, last year’s 2012 Sunday starter Rob Marcello has been moved to the closer role, where he will look to fill in production lost from Nathan Hyatt who had 16 saves in 28 appearances. Marcello had trouble getting deep into games last season. Filling in the third starter role will be junior college transfer Sam Agnew-Wieland, who began his career at Georgia State. The right-hander is considered a strikeout pitcher, but will also give up a lot of singles. His 2011 Georgia State statistics can be found here. At Middle Georgia College in 2012, Agnew-Wieland started fourteen games and went 7-3 with a 2.36 ERA with three complete games, while leading the staff in innings pitched (84.0). If Agnew-Wieland does have a weakness, he tends to hit batters quite often. His full 2012 stats can be found here.

In 2012, Appalachian had a memorable season and went to the NCAA regional for the first time in decades. Outside of their starting pitching, the Mountaineers got plenty of run support from their experienced lineup. That lineup lost several seniors to graduation and juniors to the minor leagues. Tyler Tewell was expected to catch this season, but was drafted by the Atlanta Braves after playing right field exclusively last season. Expect Preston Trouman to take over in right field. In center field, Appalachian expected to see the return of Tyler Zupcic who was injured last year in the regional against Oklahoma. Zupcic suffered a setback in rehab late last year and is expected to redshirt. His loss will affect the leadership and run production at the top of the Mountaineer lineup. Taking over in center field for Zupcic will be the freshman Jaylin Davis, who has similar tools as Zupcic. Davis can cover ground in the outfield and will be expected to steal some bases. Brandon Burris will likely be in left field. Burris spent time at several positions in 2012, but was mostly effective in left, and his bat will be counted on as he is one of the toughest outs on the team.

The infield does not see nearly the turnover as the outfield. Alex Leach will start at first base, taking over for the graduated Trey Holmes. Hector Crespo and Will Callaway provide a very solid middle infield on defense and offense. Both have the green light to steal bases and will likely be at the top of the lineup. Third base is a question mark. Noah Holmes has always played great defense at the hot corner, but his bat is shaky. Freshman Dillon Dobson could see time at third base if he can swing the bat. Dobson is maybe the best true athlete on the team. Josh Zumbrook will likely start the season at catcher, but expect to see a rotation behind the plate. Alex Minton was Zumbrook’s high school teammate at West Wilkes, so expect some competition at the position between the former teammates.

Expecting the season Appalachian had last season is a lot to ask for. Even the SoCon writers and coaches feel the Mountaineers will take a step back. The media picked Appalachian to finish fourth while the coaches picked the Mountaineers to finish sixth. Four points separated fourth place Samford, fifth place Georgia Southern and Appalachian in the coaches poll. In the media poll, Appalachian edged out Georgia Southern by one vote and Western Carolina by four votes.

Predicting the season:

Predicting a baseball season is tough, but we will try it for the first time ever. The Mountaineers are scheduled for 56 games, thirty of those  in conference. I think the Mountaineers can easily win 15-17 games in conference play. There is a fine line between the top six and the bottom five in the conference.

The 26 non-conference games include NC State, Butler, Cornell and Gonzaga in three game series. Two games series are scheduled with North Carolina A&T, Georgia, ETSU, High Point and UNC-Asheville. Single games will be played against Canisius, Eastern Kentucky, Campbell and North Carolina. I expect the Mountaineers to also win 16-17 games in non-conference action. So, in the end, I think we are looking at a team that can go 32-24 give or take a few games and rainouts. Appalachian will only be as good as their pitching staff this season, which is very young, but also talented. Middle relief will be heavily relied upon early on. Run production will come, and Appalachian will need a find a way to replace the base stealing, and extra base hits that the team excelled in last season.