Mix of Underclassmen and Experience Makeup Baseball Squad in '09
Joe Brown
Issue date: 2/11/09 Section: Sports
|
Head coach Buddy Bolding, entering his 31st year coaching the team, could be heard by all the players on the diamond. "All a fly ball does is make a pitcher's day easy," Bolding said to his players while throwing batting practice. It's one of the many things Bolding is emphasizing while preparing his team for the upcoming season.
Lancer Stadium's facilities were upgraded during the offseason. A new locker room was built, fully equipped with showers, a flat screen television, Xbox, individual lockers and couches. The environment in the clubhouse will allow teammates to relax and get prepared for their games against visiting opponents.
Longwood has a challenging schedule for the 2009 season. "One of our big games is when we travel down to UNC. They're preseason-ranked No. 1 in the country. I'd say it's probably the biggest game on the schedule this year," said Assistant Coach Sean Abell. "Outside of that, we play games against University of Richmond, Old Dominion, Virginia Commonwealth and William and Mary. Those are always big games for us. We want to perform well against in-state schools."
With the graduation of Rob Moody, John Farrell and Nick Von Gersdorff, the team will be looking for the incoming freshman class to step it up.
"We have a total of eight freshmen. All of them are going to see the field at some point. We're looking at three of them starting for us this year. They are all very good and capable of starting for us. … It's going to be a collective effort from all of them," Abell said of the rookies.
Freshman Robbie Newman will be the starting designated hitter for the Lancers. At 6-feet-two-inches and 207 lbs., Newman brings power to the Longwood lineup. He broke a district record during his senior season of high school, collecting 12 home runs while captain of his team. He will be hitting in the five hole for the Lancers.
Be the first to comment on this story