SCRIMMAGE: SAT 12 OCT 24

With a chance of rain, today’s scrimmage was moved to 10 this morning rather than the programmed 115 start time. Unlike yesterday, when we saw an inning and a half, we were blessed to manage 6 innings to make up for innings lost. Seven pitchers made their 2024 preseason debut: 3 returnees, 2 freshmen, and 2 in the portal. With 21 pitchers on the roster, there will be plenty to review in the coming weeks.

Returning pitcher Nick Robert, a contender for being one of the 3 starters, opened the morning’s scrimmage throwing for two innings. No runs were given up and struck out three. He looked very good on the bump throwing in the low to mid 90’s. He Needs to stay healthy and as of right now, I have him possibly as the Sat or Sun starter. Still way too early only seeing 3 pitchers but he looked solid on the mound.

Throwing opposite Nick was Jordan Vargas who saw some relief work last season. He had a rough first inning after striking out leadoff Dorian Gonzalez. Amaury De Jesus followed with the first hit of the day, advancing on a WP and scoring on back-to-back hits by Nolan Johnson,RBI, and Renzo Gonzalez. Renzo is returning from an injury last year which kept him out most of the season. It is good to see he hasn’t lost his eye at the plate and will be competing with Todd Hudson at first, a transfer from Liberty, as well in the outfield where there is the usual overage of talent. Todd at 6’6″ is potent and intimidating with the bat. He recorded the team’s first homer of the preseason in the 4th clearing the CF fence. He should be a great addition to the roster.  Finishing with Jordan, his second inning ran into problems hitting Daniel to start the inning. Fabio Peralta reached base on an Amaury De Jesus error at short. With runners on 1st and 2nd, a double to left-center by Brandon DeGoti brought in Daniel and Peralta. I am sure this was not the way Jordan wanted to start the preseason but he will have more bites from the apple to improve his status for relief out of the BP.

Brandon Olivera, a returning sophomore, relieved Nick in the third and tossed two innings. The third inning was a bit shaky but managed to pitch his way out of a BL situation with one out. Daniel Cuvet didn’t help Brandon cause with an opening error throw to first to lead off the inning. A pair of walks to Dorain and De Jesus loaded the bases. Nolan Johnson struck out. What should have been a SF to left kept the bases loaded from a mental mistake by Michael Torres at third. Cost a run by going 2/3 of the way to home before realizing the ball was caught in left. Whether he thought the hit was going off the wall or over he just wasn’t thinking. Either way, he would have scored. I call it a freshman brain fart. You can be assured it won’t happen again. That is the reason for scrimmaging. Brandon never got to see if he could get the final out running through 5 recorded batters. This was a bit confusing in that normally they pitch to 5 batters but at times today, they went beyond that number to see if he could work out of the jam. The 4th inning he started off with “why did I throw that pitch” when Todd Hudson went long to center with his first and team’s first HR. Brandon bounced right back striking out Daniel Cuvet, Jake Kulikowski, and Fabio Peralto. A solid finish and a plus coming in for relief work.

Jake Dorn, redshirt soph. transfer from Lake Sumter State, threw for two innings. He faced 4 batters in the 3rd, walking one. In the next inning, opened with a double from Renzo Gonzalez down the LF line. Ethan Puig is hit, followed by a WP putting runners on 2nd and 3rd. An error by Brandon DeGoti scored Renzo from third. A WP pitch advanced the two runners to 2nd and 3d before Jake settled down striking out Dorian and De Jesus.

Brixton Lofgren, soph. transfer from Fordham Pitched the 5th and the 5 batters faced, did not give up a run. He walked the second batter faced, and proceeded to hit Derek Williams. Elijah Hurt singles advancing both runners. This is where more brain farts came to light. Ogden who ran to third made his turn to home and then decided to change his mind. Meanwhile, Williams sees Ogen heading home gallops to third and you can guess the rest. Both end up standing on 3rd and the old saying “two can not occupy the same space at the same time”. Williams is tagged out. Problem: no coach on 3rd which would have avoided a costly mistake if happened during the regular season.

James Kleiven, freshman, got to throw a single inning which turned out to be one of the best outings of the day striking out the first two he faced (Nolan Johnson, Max Galvin) and having Renzo grounding out 6-3.

To finish the day with a pair of innings Michael Fernandez another freshman. He gave up a run in each of the innings he pitched. The first came on a lead-off single by Edgardo Villegas who stole second and came home on an RBI single by Evan Taveras. The next inning was a double steal with runners on 1st and 3rd. Nolan Johnson,catcher, made the throw unsuccessfully to second and the throw to home wasn’t even close.

Preseason is all about pitching and JD has a lot to look at. It is also about learning and improving on one’s fundamentals and some of the mental mistakes made on the field today reflect that there is work to be done.  

Hitting, there seems to be never enough time in the batting cage and on the field to hone in on your swing. Nine hits today, three for extra bases. One with multiple hits. Doubles: Brandon DeGoti, Renzo Gonzalez. HRs: Todd Hudson. Multiple hits: Renzo Gonzalez.

Tomorrow we will try, weather permitting, to conclude the first weekend of preseason at 115PM. Got off to a better start pitching-wise from last year where trouble raised its ugly head early. Hitting because of our poor pitching last year was a standout and hopefully this year we will be looking at likewise before preseason concludes. Todd Hudson has shown he can go the distance. Just waiting on Daniel to make his presence known.  Last year, left too many stranded on base which if we are going to play winning ball this can not happen. Must capitalize with RISP. Have to keep our fingers crossed regarding pitching. Can’t have another season like last year where pitching gave away everything the offense would put on the board. With 21 pitchers there is no shortage of bodies. Only have to find the right ones.

So many questions, and not enough answers. Hopefully, some will be answered tomorrow at maybe 115; weather permitting.