The first scrimmage started late since it was pouring at 3:30. I didn't realize they would still be scrimmaging so I missed the first inning. I stayed for about 4 innings until I had to leave. Here are some notes I jotted down. Also, our fall practice jerseys have very time numbers on the back so it was difficult to identify any fielders.

Pitching:
Over 4 innings I saw 2 pitchers for each squad. Doxakis and Saenz started and were replaced by Richardson and Birdsell (Fr).
Dox sat 88-90 with his fastball on the stadium gun. He looked sharp at first as he struck out 2 batters in a row before giving up 3 straight hits including a HR. Then he settled back in to retire the rest.
Saenz was 87-88 on his FB but occasionally touched 90. Had a nice slow curve around 76. Very noticeable drop in velo. In the both innings he let the inning get away from him with walks after giving up a hit. When he missed he tended to miss high and to his arm side with the fastball.
Richardson looked good in his two innings. Also sat high 80s with the fastball. Had a pitch he threw in the low 80s as well but couldn't tell what pitch. Worked quickly and the only run he gave up was unearned on an error by Walters at first trying to start a 3-6-1 DP.
Birdsell was lighting up the gun with a FB around 92-94 that touched as high as 96. He struggled with command though. During one stretch he threw probably 6 straight fastballs at eye level. He did show a really quick pickoff move to get DeLoach at 2nd with the bases loaded.

Fielding:
As I mentioned it was hard to see who was fielding in each position. Shewmake played SS for his squad while the other one had the Ole Miss transfer Blaum. Blaum brings a ton of energy to the field and is very vocal. Showed off a strong arm from short and also made a great diving play to snag a grounder up the middle and fire to first.
The two starting catchers were Coleman and Hoehner. Coleman blocked a few pitches in the dirt and had a throw behind the runner at second that looked fine. Hoehner also looked good behind the plate and nearly caught Wingate stealing second on a bang bang play that the coaches ultimately ruled safe.
We also have a LF (maybe Watson) that has an absolute cannon for an arm.

Batting:
Morris had a monster HR off the scoreboard off Saenz. Watson (Fr) also had a HR off Doxakis that he really got a hold of.
Ty Coleman (Fr) is pretty tiny but showed great plate coverage. Drove a single into left that was about shin high after fouling off a pitch well outside. Great bat to ball skills. Wingate also showed good contact although I doubt he will ever hit to the pull side or with any power. Both hits were solid singles to right and right-center but not a ton of power behind them.
Other players with hints that I saw were Waltersand Blaum with singles, and Hoehnerwith a double. DeLoach also had a 10 pitch at bat with Birdsell where he ultimately walked.
The only players who really struggled at the plate were two true freshmen. Townsend had 2Ks where he just didn't look comfortable and Dilullo has a long, lanky frame (6'2 185) and had trouble uncoiling to catch up with fastballs.

I hope to make tomorrow's game but if not I will definitely make Friday.

Good write-up. Thanks for posting

Fall Scrimmage 3 Notes

I missed game two but was out here for game 3. The scrimmage started early so I missed the top of the first. There were a bunch of scouts out for the game today. Far more than there were on Wednesday. I got the sense that most of them were just there to see Shewmake.

Pitching:
Starting pitchers for each team were Roa and Weber (Fr). Roa looked good in the one inning I saw although he gave up 2 runs in the inning I missed. He was throwing 90-92 on his fastball, but the popping of the glove sounded like it might be a tick higher than that. He also has a pitch he throws in the low 80s that he used to completely freeze Chandler Morris on a 3-2 pitch. Weber is a freshman LHP who threw 3 innings and looked pretty solid. 87-89 FB with a 75-76 curve he mixed in. All 3 of his innings were scoreless and only gave up 2 hits.
Roa was relieved by Geisler, another freshman LHP. Geisler was also upper 80s on his fastball and touched as high as 91. He also threw some low 80s sliders and an even slower curve at 75-76, but the curve wasn't thrown much and pretty inconsistent. He throws from a 3/4 arm slot which gives him a slinging action that is likely difficult for lefties to pick up.
Weber was relieved by Wideman, a big freshman RHP (6'4" 210). He pitched the final 2 innings for his squad. FB was upper 80s and he has a low 80s offspeed pitch I didn't get a good look at.
The last pitcher of the game was Townsend, a freshman RHP that also plays OF. Townsend threw 88-90 on his fastball and also threw a 76 mph curve. His one inning of work was pretty quick so not much else to see from him.

Fielding:
The infield for the two teams was as follows (from 3B to 1B):
Maroon - Watson, Shewmake, Wingate, Spenrath
Gray - Morris, Blaum, Coleman, Walters
I feel pretty confident in the 6 guys playing 2B, SS, and 3B. I have no idea what will happen at first. Walters doesn't look comfortable there. Hunter Coleman has been playing behind the plate but he might be the best option at first base. in addition, Hoehner looks great behind the plate. Today he threw out a runner at second after blocking a ball in the dirt. He also threw a back pick behind the runner at first that was right on the money but called safe.

Hitting:
Of the freshman hitters, I've been most impressed with Ty Coleman and Hunter Watson. Coleman consistently makes solid contact and Watson has a nice swing from the left side and plenty of power. Speaking of power, Joseph Menefee has a ton of it. Needs to cut down on the swing and miss though. Dilullo struck out again when he was late on a fastball. He may need some time to adjust since his body is so long.
From the upperclassmen, Coleman, Blaum, and Hoehner all hit well today. Morris and Taylor also had strong at bats that ended in a walk or good contact.

These scrimmages have been a good chance to see a bunch of the freshmen play. Here is a list of the players I have yet to see:
Brandon Ashy (looks like he is our bullpen catcher)
Justin Ruble
Asa Lacy (probably the game I missed)
Ty Condel
Bryce Miller
Kasey Kalich
Mason Cole
Jonathan Childress
Chandler Jozwiak

Lacy and Joz started Thursday. Blaum took Joz deep in the first AB of the scrimmage, as Joz looked a bit rusty. I don't believe Lacy gave up a run, but took too many pitches to get out of the 2 innings he pitched (multiple runners LOB each inning). He obviously needs to be more efficient. Bryce Miller looked good out of the pen, as his offspeed stuff had the hitters fooled. As an aside, Shew hit an opposite field HR & it got out in a hurry! The ball was exploding off Shew's bat on Thursday looked like he was in mid season form already. On D, Hunter Coleman outplayed Walters behind the plate (as Walters appeared to make a couple of mental errors) & Ty Coleman mishandled several balls at 2B throughout the day and was easily outplayed (from what I saw) by Wingate at 2B. Could have just been a down session for Ty.

Wednesday 10/10 Scrimmage Notes

Gray:
1. Wingate SS
2. Blake LF
3. Hoehner C
4. DeLoach CF
5. Frizzel 1B
6. Foster RF
7. Menefee DH
8. Coleman 2B
9. Morris 3B
10. Corbett DH
11. Townsend DH

LHP Saenz 87-89 FB, 83-84 SL, 74-76 CB
RHP Wideman 87-89 FB, 74-76 CB

Maroon:
1. Blaum 2B
2. Brown DH
3. Shewmake SS
4. Walters 3B
5. Ducoff CF
6. Coleman C
7. Taylor LF
8. Watson 1B
9. Rodriguez RF
10. Spenrath DH/1B

LHP Jozwiak 88-89 FB, 80 CH, 75-76 CB
RHP Miller 89-92 FB, 81-82 CH, 70 CB

Pitching:
Jozwiak started for the Maroon squad and threw 2 hitless innings. He added a leg pause in his delivery that he varies which seemed to throw off the hitters. His only mistake was a 3 run HR to Townsend after a couple of soft singles that barely got through the infield. He was relieved by Miller who threw the final 2 scoreless innings. He made a mistake on a changeup to Foster that he left belt high, but otherwise looked good on the mound.

Saenz started for the Gray team and also started with 2 hitless innings. He worked around a leadoff double in his 3rd inning and finished with a scoreless 3 innings. He was relieved by Wideman who really struggled in his 2 innings. In the first inning he hit 2 batters and gave up a run but was able to escape bases loaded with only the 1 run. In the final frame he gave up a walk, double, single, before a walkoff triple.

Fielding:
Shewmake had some nice plays at SS as did Wingate. Blaum misplayed a ball at 2B when he got stuck sliding in the grass. Blake had a nice diving catch in LF to save a run. Defense was otherwise unremarkable. It was interesting to see Wingate get work as SS and Walters at 3B. I had previously only seen them at 3B/2B and 1B, respectively.

Hitting:
Townsed has really impressed with the bat. His HR today was an opposite field shot to RF that landed in the bullpen. On the other hand, Menefee hasn't looked very good. Really struggles with offspeed pitches and then gets caught looking offspeed and is late on the fastball. Blaum doesn't look very fast, but had 2 SB. Brett brown had a walkoff triple to right center field to end the game.

Thursday 10/11 Notes:

Spoke to a scout at the scrimmage on Thursday who was there to watch Shewmake and Mason Cole. He was also there to get eyes on Aaron Walters which was interesting.

Gray:
1. Blaum 2B
2. Brown DH/LF
3. Shewmake SS
4. Ducoff CF
5. Walters 1B
6. Coleman C
7. Taylor LF
8. Rodriguez RF
9. Watson 3B
10. Spenrath DH

LHP Weber 89-90 FB, 85-86 (maybe 2 seam), 78-79 CH, 70-72 CB
RHP Kalich 88-91 FB, 84-87 SL, 82-83 CH, 75-76 CB
LHP Richardson 89-91 FB, 77-78 CB, 80-81 CH
RHP Cole 90-93 FB, 87-88 SL, 80-82 CH

Maroon:
1. Wingate 3B
2. Blake LF
3. Hoehner C
4. DeLoach CF
5. Foster RF
6. Frizzel 1B
7. Coleman 2B
8. Townsend DH/RF
9. Morris SS
10. Menefee DH
11. Corbett DH/LF

LHP Lacy 91-93 FB, 83-84 CH (or SL), 77-78 CB
LHP Childress 89-90 FB, 85-86 SL, 77-80 CB
RHP Birdsell 91-94 FB, 75-78 CB

Pitching:
Curveball use has been really heavy this year. Might be a point of emphasis from the staff because I've seen every pitcher throw one and usually multiple per at bat. Childress had his curveball working today. In 3 innings he struck out 4 batters with his curve with most of them swinging right through it. Cole has a very good changeup. Struggled with command in this outing, but the talent was there. Birdsell has a great arm. Fastball up as high as 94 and a curve under 80 to compliment it. Just like the last time I saw him though, he struggled with fastball command to his glove side and left his curve hanging to the inside of the plate.

Fielding:
Morris at SS was the 4th different player I've seen at the position this fall. He looked fine at the position until he jammed his shoulder on a diving play toward second. Coleman had an incredible diving stop to his left to rob Brown of a base hit. Ducoff showed off a strong arm in the outfield as he almost nailed Corbett on a sac fly. Taylor doesn't have a great arm.

Hitting:
The big hit today came from Ducoff when he hit a grand slam over the LF wall off Richardson. Walters had a nice bunt for a hit down the 3rd baseline that was perfectly placed. DeLoach had a great "squeeze" bunt with a runner on 3rd with 2 outs that he was able to beat to first. Both DeLoach and Blake have lots of speed. Those 2 executed a 1st and third double steal later in the game where both ended up safe. I've also been impressed with Hoehner at the plate. Usually gives a professional at bat which is nice to see. I can't see him not starting at C this year.

Friday 10/12 Notes:

Fair amount of scouts out on Friday to watch Roa and Doxakis on the mound. Most of them left after those two finished pitching.

Gray:
1. Wingate SS
2. Blake LF
3. Hoehner C
4. DeLoach CF
5. Foster RF
6. Frizzel 1B
7. Coleman 2B
8. Townsend DH
9. Ashy DH
10. Menefee DH
11. Corbett 3B

LHP Doxakis 91-92 FB, 84-87 SL, 80-82 CH
RHP Ruble 88-90 FB, 84-85 SL, 76-78 CB
RHP Townsend 90-91 FB, 81-82 CH, 77 CB

Maroon:
1. Blaum 2B
2. Brown DH
3. Shewmake SS
4. Ducoff CF
5. Walters C
6. Coleman 1B
7. Taylor LF
8. Rodriguez RF
9. Watson 3B
10. Spenrath DH

RHP Roa 90-91 FB, 82-84 CH, 76-77 CB
LHP Geisler 89-93 FB, 80-81 CH, 76-78 CB

Pitching:
Roa looked good during his 3 innings on work. He struck out 5 including striking out the side in the 3rd. He also benefited from strong defense behind him including a caught stealing, a pick off, and a diving play in the outfield. Doxakis only pitched 2 innnigs but looked good for the most part. His only mistake was an elevated slider to Shewmake that was put over the wall. When Doxakis missed, it was with his fastball which was high to the arm side.
In relief, Ruble looked fine, but not overly impressive. He threw his curveball a ton. Probably 50% of his pitches were the curveball. He has a long, lanky frame that probably needs to fill out a little bit. Geisler really struggled in his first inning. Walked 4 in the inning before the coaches called it and the teams switched sides. His 2nd inning was much better as he worked a clean inning outside of a leadoff double. The best pitcher in relief was Townsend who pitched the final half inning. He made Watson look silly with 2 fastballs at 91 before dropping in a curve at 76. Great sequence.

Fielding:
Strong day in the field for both squads. Blake made another great diving play in LF. Ducoff continues to show off a strong arm from CF. Blaum had a nice diving stop at 2B. Hoehner was excellent behind the plate. Caught Ducoff stealing and picked off Dilullo with a nice back-pick at first.

Hitting:
Shewmake crushed a hanging slider from Doxakis for a solo HR. He also ripped a single to LF for an RBI later in the game. Foster had a nice double into the right center field gap. Frizzel hit a "double" off the wall in left, but stopped at first and was immediately pinch run for at second. Coleman had a similar treatment when he was replaced by a pinch runner after walking. Blaum and Watson both contributed well hit singles as well.

Had a baby girl!