For HS seniors..get ready- Report on College Practices?

i'd also like to hear from some of the jr. college guys along w/ dII and dIII guys. there is a lot of good baseball being played in these groups as well w/ a lot of local guys involved.

 

Practice went well until about Wednesday when the school was closed because it was needed as a shelter for the Hurricane. I am home in Cary, spendin some good time with the family. Don't know when I will be headed back... classes were cancelled Thurs and Friday (today). We are supposed to practice Saturday and play Sunday, so it looks like I'll be back on highway 70 tonight headed towards Kinston for that early practice tomorrow. But if practice is cancelled tomorrow (most of the team went home for the hurricane so it might be hard getting everyone back by tomorrow morning)... you can find me in Carter-Finley around noon watchin that Wolfpack.

Budman, I am at Lenoir CC in Kinston, NC. Did you have any questions about JUCO ball?

Take care everyone

 

Glad you're ok Jere....I'll write you a note to your coach if needed

 

None in particular. I just know there is some good baseball being played at that level and was interested in hearing how everyone was doing. I'm just a big fan of college baseball and like to hear how everyone is doing.

 

There is some awesome talent at the JUCO level. I think I mentioned it in an earlier post... most of the guys playin JUCO ball had offers from D1, D2, and many D3 schools. Grades are the ticket that most people don't realize until late in their senior year of HS, and by then it is too late to go to a University. Also, some guys look at JUCO as a one year stop before getting drafted... instead of going to a D1/D2/D3 school and having to wait until after your Junior season to get drafted. There are many plus's (sp?) about going to a Junior College to play baseball or any other sport at. I have been amazed so far at the talent in Junior College and I have only been here since late August.

Braves, haha... Thanks for keeping me in mind! We were without power in Cary last night for about 30 minutes, without cable for most of the night... but it wasn't real bad here. Few trees down and some yard fences blown over, but that is about it. I am curious to know how Kinston is doing. Message on Coach's machine said call back after 7pm to get the word on tomorrow... this could make for a late drive tonight.

 

Hey everyone...

We had our first inter-squad scrimmage of the year today. It went really well. The team got after it really hard. We played seven innings. I threw 2 innings and am pleased with my performance. The freshmen overall were who I was most impressed with. Freshmen accounted for 8 of the 16 hits given up in the game. I fel

 

Sorry about the unfinished post, my computer messed up.

Anyways, I was saying that it felt weird to be on the mound again and have the feeling that I was a youngen again. It was the same feeling that I had when I was throwing against 18 yr olds when I was 14, but now the guys are 21-22 yrs. old. It was so much fun. The guys from Charlotte are representing in full force. Mike Daniel is off to a great start this fall along with Tyler White. Griffin caught me up today, he and I were on the same page all day long. He is not only a catcher with solid tools, he thinks ahead of the game and helps out his pitchers very much. Bard looks good as always off of the bump. His command is right there. He hit a little "bump" though Monday when he found out that he had Mononucleosis. So he has been sitting on the side throughout the week, but he should only be out for one more week or two at the most.

I just thought that I would make an attempt to update all of you with how things were going up here. I am going to do my best to keep everyone updated with things up here, especially the Charlotte guys. If you have any questions about anything, I will be more than happy to answer it.

I hope everyone is doing well, keep us guys away from town updated with fall workouts, who is committing where and any other sort of news that you can think of from the Charlotte area.

 

Sorry to hear about Daniel Bard....he's only going to miss a week?

Great to hear about Tyler White and Mikey D. Up...I know you did well in your appearance. Don't be surprised if you get more innings then you thought. Good things happen to those who prepare and no one prepares better than you.

Did you catch the AFLAC HS baseball game? Adenhart looked mighty good...certainly will look good in baby blue.

I am truly amazed about how good UNC is doing in their recruiting. They are getting the Top Dogs, year after year

 

Hey there Braves...

Yes, the doctor's believe that Daniel had already had mono for at least 2 weeks and did not know it. Daniel says that he feels fine everytime I ask him and tells him how frustrating to not even feel sick and yet not be allowed to practice. So we will see how things play out. That is why I said a week or 2 at the most, because it doesn't appear that it will last much longer than that...but then again, I am not a doctor or even planning on going into pre-med.

Thanks a lot for your support Braves. It is still early. You know better than I that the fall and spring is not a sprint, but a marathon. I am pleased with my performance yesterday, but there are many more workouts and scrimmages remaining and today is a new day. It is a new opportunity to prepare for my next outing (which I believe will be next weekend). To do that, I have to take the pros and cons of yesterday and better myself from them, because I know that that is what the hitters on our team are doing, so I must do it 2x better than them and everyday.

Yes Tyler White and Mike Daniel are doing very well. Tyler is working out in center field and Mike is in left field. Mike is "on" at the plate right now. He is looking great in field BP everyday, but he looked even more comftorble yesterday at the plate in the scrimmage. Tyler hit a couple balls real well yesterday, but hit them right at people. He is getting after it and it is awesome to be back on the same team with him.

Yes I did catch some of the AFLAC All-American game. Adenhart did appear to be very legit. He is good guy as well. I hung out with him some when he came here for his official visit and he seems to really want to some to college. I think that there is a real chance that we get him next year, but then again he can only turn down so much money. But like I said, we are all pumped about Adenhart and the rest of the forming recruiting class. Horton, Shelton, Flack, Trice and co. are going to fit in real well up here and everyone up here is very happy about their decisions to come here. On the AFLAC game, Bard was wathcing the game with me and said that almost every one of his junior team USA team was there. I really enjoyed the game. I hope that it can build into a "McDonalds-like" (basketball) All American event. I have one question about the game though, who were the announcers? Bard and I feel that we know one of their life stories because of the amount that he talked about himself. We couldn't believe it.

That is about all that I have right now, thanks again Braves for your comments and support. We have our second scrimmage tonight at 6. I will have the opportunity to learn how to keep the charts up here, as well as chase chase down a "mean" foul ball. I am looking forward to it though, all of the pitchers sit in one dugout, while everyone else sits in the other. There is a true comradery (sp?) up here amongst the pitchers. We have an awesome time together.

Talk to ya'll soon. Have a great Sunday.

 

This is Lucas Dalton from Northwest Cabarrus in Concord. I'm a freshman pitcher at UNC-Greensboro and I've been here since around mid-August. Thus far, my adjustment from high school to being a collegiate student-athlete has been a huge change, to say the least. I was introduced to college baseball with a morning run at 6:15 beginning on the same Monday as first classes for all students….we’re now in our 7th week here, and needless to say, tomorrow I’ll be waking at 5:30 to continue the ‘infamous’ morning run. The first day included: a warm up lap, 2-800 meters, 4-400 m, 8-220’s, and 6-110’s, all in which had to be under a certain time, or else we’d have to do it again until we made the mark. We continued this sort of regiment, with slight variations, for several weeks, Mon-Friday. As of late, we’ve slowly begun to conform more into shorter sprint work: an 800m, 16- 110’s, 16- 60’s, and 12-30’s. I can remember back in high school, just this past January, I could barely breath from only having sprint 2- 60’s….Of course I’ve gotten into much better shape since then, and my speed has increased tremdously….I’ve learned that conditioning is something that must be done more than just once a week, and that stays true the same with pitching, working on mechanics, hitting, fielding, weight training, etc. I truly wish that I would have worked harder through high school before arrival in college (hopefully, in 5 years I won't say the same thing about wishing I had worked harder in college.) For those that do work hard now, the benefits will be great, and at least that adjustment will be much easier to deal with. For those looking to play ball at the next level--don’t put it off, get to work now! My coach always says, “You gotta work harder than hard.” I’m just now realizing that, and in all actuality, I probably still won’t fully realize the extent to those words for some time from now…..Balancing school work with my baseball responsibilities has been probably the most difficult thing to adjust to in the long line of conformities I’ve had to make since being here…..I’ve found myself trying to fit in 15 or 20 minute naps, wherever possible---its true….. Personally, the schedule I’ve been on is very tight and there’s not much time to just sit around and not do much(which can be a good thing) and I’m sure it’s similar at any college throughout the nation.

We’re starting fall practice a little later this year, and it’ll be about another week until we have full team practice, but I’m looking forward to really getting out on the field as a team….MWF’s are very busy. After morning run, pitchers have arm exercises to do, ranging from light free weights, to rubber band, to trampoline drills, which last about 35 minutes (It took me a while to get used to the order of arm workouts)…..We stretch (it takes almost an hour) as a team MWF, at 3:30 and then do countless agility drills those days as well. I then get ready for, and pitch my bullpen at 5:00. Afterwards pitchers do jump rope, medicine ball, and latter drills. I then get my arm iced up and ride the bike for 20 minutes, eat dinner then get ready for a lift at 7:30....Thus far, we’ve been having 4 man practices: 2 catchers, 2 pitchers. As of right now, I pitch 3 bullpen’s a week-M/W/F. I have pitcher’s defense on Thursdays, and as a team we get Sundays off. (But, that doesn’t mean we can’t work on our own individual skills, in fact, we’re expected to.) I’ve improved dramatically in just the past few weeks, due in large part to just being in better shape, along with the new instruction.

I have a new found respect for all collegiate athletes, not just baseball players. The demands both physically and mentally are much more than I had expected, but I can already see the positive change it has made upon me. The coaches here are tough on you, but its making me better in many ways….Incoming players- don’t expect to be ‘babied’ anymore, or have your hand held throughout everything. It’s your responsibility to learn what needs to be done, and to do those things precisely, with both school work, and baseball. DON’T BE LATE TO ANYTHING! The first week, the older ball players made sure to let us new guys know to be at least 15 minutes early for everything….5 mile runs are handed out for being late to a team lift, workout, or pretty much anything (one of my new goals is to not have to pull that one!)……I agree with all of the posts I’ve seen so far from the other guys---it’s a whole new ballgame…..