tidbit on UNCW & ECU from Baseball America

Pitching figures to be a strength for UNC Wilmington. Junior righthander Bradley Holt (Albemarle,NC/Albemarle HS) battled command problems this spring and saw his ERA balloon from 3.48 in 2005 to 5.90 in 2006, but new Seahawks assistant Jason Howell said he looked very good this fall. If he throws strikes and commands the zone, Holt could give UNCW a reliable rotation anchor thanks to a 90-92 mph fastball that touches 94, a pair of promising breaking balls and a changeup with split-finger action. Also keep an eye on quality freshmen arms Justin Bradley(Wilmington, NC/Ashley HS), Cameron Roth(Poquoson, Va./Denbeigh HS) and Stephen Harrold(Raleigh, NC/Leesville Rd HS). The lanky Bradley has touched 90 mph this fall, while Roth reaches 87 to go with a decent breaking ball, and Harrold has a 90-91 mph fastball and a build that evokes former North Carolina closer Andrew Carignan.


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East Carolina has a pair of very intriguing two-way players who figure to see time on the infield and the mound. Ryan Wood, a lanky 6-foot-4, 175-pound second baseman, hasn’t pitched since high school, when he tore his labrum and later had surgery. He looked very good at times filling in at shortstop this spring when Dale Mollenhauer got hurt, but the Pirates plan to move him back to second base, where his footwork plays better. East Carolina will also likely use Wood out of the bullpen, where his sinking 89-91 mph fastball and promising hard slurve could make him an effective setup man. ECU assistant coach Link Jarrett said Wood struggled to command the strike zone at times this fall, but the potential is clearly there.
As for high-profile transfer Justin Bristow, who left Auburn for Greenville after his 2007 sophomore year, he’s in the mix at shortstop but is more likely to play a corner infield position. Jarrett said Bristow did not hit any home runs this fall but did start stinging line drives to both gaps toward the end of the fall. Bristow is more likely to be used in a starting role off the mound than Wood, potentially even on Sundays. His 89-91 mph fastball has some run, his 84-86 cutter is effective, and he’s shown a good curveball and changeup at times. He’ll compete for a spot in the weekend rotation with freshman righthander Sthil Sowers(Lenoir, NC/North Lenoir HS), who throws an 87-88 mph fastball with good sink, a slider and a change. The Pirates want Sowers to be more physical, as they had to shut him down in the fall, but he does a good job keeping the ball down in the zone.
If Bristow plays third base and Wood second, that means sophomore Brock Sutton would be the favorite to play shortstop, though freshman Dustin Harrington and junior Drew Schieber are also in the mix. Meanwhile, the closer role vacated by Shane Mathews is likely to be filled by junior righty Bailey Daniels, a strike-thrower with an 87-89 mph fastball, a slider and a changeup.


****courtesy of Baseball America...http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/college/?p=312#more-312

 

UNC-W freshman

UNC-W should get offense help from NC high school batting average record holder; freshman Alex Hill (Vance)

 

If being a pinch hitter off the bench provides us offense so be it. As of right now I dont see him getting very many at bats. Theres a lot of guys in front of him at the moment. Just tellin you what ive seen...

 

UNC-W

I was wondering what you saw because i saw a kid who swung the bat pretty good and you got me curious. Who are all the people in front of him that you saw. It is early but if the season were to start today he would be in the starting lineup or in the top four depending on the pitching rotation for the other team. It is just our opinion because only the coaches know.

 

If the season started today it would look a lot like this...Justin Barefoot in LF, Marc Locklear, Bobby Leeper or Grayson Evans(most likely to start) in CF, and Jason Appel in RF. Thats 5 possible OF starters there, not to mention Tyler Stott & Cody Stanley played some OF in the Fall world series as well...



Dont get me wrong Alex Hill is ok and I expect him to help us down the road, but he's got a long way to go before he cracks the starting lineup and provides us offense...



but like you said, the coaches will make the call...