-First, it's always great to be back at Foley. I know I say that every fall, but it's such an empty feeling when the season ends each year and it always feels like it's going to be forever before the new campaign starts up. But in reality, today was a little less than four months since the final game of the 2016 season against Tennessee. The tank rolls on. And it was a great to see the place again.
-Today reminded me a bit of going to fall practice in October 2006. You look out on the field and say "dang, where'd everybody go?" A LOT of new faces out there, to be sure. This is going to be a very young team on the field this upcoming spring, but we do have some talent in this freshman class. There's no questioning that.
-The two guys who stood out the most to me today were Aaron Schunk and Austin Biggar. I heard Schunk hit a long 2 run HR before I got there. He made solid contact in each of his ABs that I saw, including a long double the gap. Biggar looked great behind the plate. He nailed both runners that I saw try to steal on him (one was Michael Curry, I forget the other). Biggar has an extremely fast release and outstanding arm strength, based on what I saw today. He also chipped in with a double.
-Tucker Maxwell is a bit smaller than I figured he'd be. He is listed at 6'0, but I think he's closer to 5'10. Very athletic guy... covers a lot of ground in CF.
-Schunk got time at 3B and 2B today. Will Procter saw time at 3B and, I believe 2B. He might have gotten an inning at SS. Cam Shepherd and Trey Logan got most of the time at SS. Trey had a couple of nice plays and Cam, in what I saw, looks very polished also. LJ Talley saw some time at 2B and 1B. The latter position was interesting for him. LJ is not a 2nd baseman. I don't mean that as anything against him personally, but he just doesn't have the lateral quickness or the feet to play there. It was obvious last season a week into season. I'm not suggesting LJ shouldn't play at all, just that he needs to play somewhere besides 2B. And I think he will.
-Schunk looks like a thicker version of Talley walking around. He kicked a ball at 2nd to end the scrimmage today, but I thought he did a nice job at 3B.
-Patrick Sullivan and Adam Sasser also saw some time at 1B. Mason Meadows worked some at catcher also.
-No umpire showed up today, so Fred Corral donned some catcher's equipment and called balls and strikes. He and Stricklin had some funny back and forth over Corral's strike zone.
-I saw Schaefer Shepard, Trevor Tinder, Tim Elliott, and James Williams pitch today. I think I'm leaving someone out. Hard to evaluate the pitchers as they seemed to work heavily fastballs today. I thought Tinder did a nice job of hitting his spots.
-Matt Campbell, who we stole from Vanderbilt, is not an overly imposing guy in the batters box, but he's a strong looking guy and really gets some good bat speed.
-Stricklin was very light and jovial today. He was doing what he does best, teaching and explaining. He really missed his calling as a minor league field instructor, though this route is obviously a lot more profitable for him. If he can maintain what he was today, he'll be fine. So far he hasn't been able to do that and I don't think he ever will. Nobody has ever suggested that he can't or shouldn't jump on the team or individual players. There are times when that's called for. He just takes it to a different level though, and creates a tremendous amount of negativity in the process, at least from what I can see. Maybe that changes this year. He seemed today like a guy I would love to play for. It was like that last fall and the fall before that, also. Unfortunately, we've seen the other side to that story each of the past three seasons.
-After the scrimmage I drove over to Clarke Central and watched David Perno's Gladiators absolutely work North Oconee. I'm happy for Coach Perno that he's able to do what he's doing now. This was the second time I've seen Clarke this season and they definitely looked improved over the first time I saw them (three weeks ago against Oconee County in Watkinsville). Perno still has that gait and is still a "hands talker".... The head ref for the game tonight was Randy Watkins, who is also a college baseball umpire and works a number of UGA games. I got a picture of him and Perno discussing a penalty. Kinda funny seeing the paths of those two cross again on a high school football field.
-Good day in Athens overall.
-Today reminded me a bit of going to fall practice in October 2006. You look out on the field and say "dang, where'd everybody go?" A LOT of new faces out there, to be sure. This is going to be a very young team on the field this upcoming spring, but we do have some talent in this freshman class. There's no questioning that.
-The two guys who stood out the most to me today were Aaron Schunk and Austin Biggar. I heard Schunk hit a long 2 run HR before I got there. He made solid contact in each of his ABs that I saw, including a long double the gap. Biggar looked great behind the plate. He nailed both runners that I saw try to steal on him (one was Michael Curry, I forget the other). Biggar has an extremely fast release and outstanding arm strength, based on what I saw today. He also chipped in with a double.
-Tucker Maxwell is a bit smaller than I figured he'd be. He is listed at 6'0, but I think he's closer to 5'10. Very athletic guy... covers a lot of ground in CF.
-Schunk got time at 3B and 2B today. Will Procter saw time at 3B and, I believe 2B. He might have gotten an inning at SS. Cam Shepherd and Trey Logan got most of the time at SS. Trey had a couple of nice plays and Cam, in what I saw, looks very polished also. LJ Talley saw some time at 2B and 1B. The latter position was interesting for him. LJ is not a 2nd baseman. I don't mean that as anything against him personally, but he just doesn't have the lateral quickness or the feet to play there. It was obvious last season a week into season. I'm not suggesting LJ shouldn't play at all, just that he needs to play somewhere besides 2B. And I think he will.
-Schunk looks like a thicker version of Talley walking around. He kicked a ball at 2nd to end the scrimmage today, but I thought he did a nice job at 3B.
-Patrick Sullivan and Adam Sasser also saw some time at 1B. Mason Meadows worked some at catcher also.
-No umpire showed up today, so Fred Corral donned some catcher's equipment and called balls and strikes. He and Stricklin had some funny back and forth over Corral's strike zone.
-I saw Schaefer Shepard, Trevor Tinder, Tim Elliott, and James Williams pitch today. I think I'm leaving someone out. Hard to evaluate the pitchers as they seemed to work heavily fastballs today. I thought Tinder did a nice job of hitting his spots.
-Matt Campbell, who we stole from Vanderbilt, is not an overly imposing guy in the batters box, but he's a strong looking guy and really gets some good bat speed.
-Stricklin was very light and jovial today. He was doing what he does best, teaching and explaining. He really missed his calling as a minor league field instructor, though this route is obviously a lot more profitable for him. If he can maintain what he was today, he'll be fine. So far he hasn't been able to do that and I don't think he ever will. Nobody has ever suggested that he can't or shouldn't jump on the team or individual players. There are times when that's called for. He just takes it to a different level though, and creates a tremendous amount of negativity in the process, at least from what I can see. Maybe that changes this year. He seemed today like a guy I would love to play for. It was like that last fall and the fall before that, also. Unfortunately, we've seen the other side to that story each of the past three seasons.
-After the scrimmage I drove over to Clarke Central and watched David Perno's Gladiators absolutely work North Oconee. I'm happy for Coach Perno that he's able to do what he's doing now. This was the second time I've seen Clarke this season and they definitely looked improved over the first time I saw them (three weeks ago against Oconee County in Watkinsville). Perno still has that gait and is still a "hands talker".... The head ref for the game tonight was Randy Watkins, who is also a college baseball umpire and works a number of UGA games. I got a picture of him and Perno discussing a penalty. Kinda funny seeing the paths of those two cross again on a high school football field.
-Good day in Athens overall.
