Nansemond River baseball preview!
Warriors "Full of Potential" for 2008 Season
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Overview: The Nansemond River Warriors have swung the big stick for Suffolk schools in recent years, and this year is no exception. Head Coach
Mark Stuffel says his pitching staff goes very deep, with some of his pitchers registering near 90 MPH on the radar gun. At the plate, the Warriors have the ability to hit for power and play small ball, making for a scary offense.
The infield looks to be sharp corner to corner, and the outfield is young and "full of potential." On top of an already strong ball club, Coach Stuffel believes he has six college-caliber players, including
Jermaine Berry, who has signed with Norfolk State University to play third base, and junior
Erickson Keeton, whom he projects to be a Major League draft pick. What holds for the season? With the loss of four year varsity starting catcher Justin Topping, the Warriors will lack significant behind the plate with experience. If the Warriors can find a reliable catcher, Coach Stuffel believes his team can compete for one of the top three seeds in the Southeastern District by the end of the season.
Nansemond River Warriors Baseball
Head Coach Mark Stuffel
2007 Record: 17-4
Future College Players: Jermaine Berry, Norfolk State University, Players to watch: Seniors Andy Topping, Chase White, and Jermaine Berry
Juniors Ombri Rivers, Johnny Pitt, and Erickson Keeton
General
1. What are your team's strengths and weaknesses?
"Our team's strength is our pitching; however, one of our weaknesses is our catching situation. We have three pitchers that throw in the upper 80's to low 90's and have to find someone to catch them. We lost a four year starter at catcher last year and have to find a patch for this year."
2. What do you expect to be the foundation of your team's success this season?
"I hope our pitching anchors us, but we have the potential to score a lot of runs."
3. What is your philosophy on the game? What do you preach to your players day in and day out?
"We want to build a team atmosphere where the players put the team first. We expect our players to act responsible on and off the baseball field, give 100% effort, and try to improve on something everyday."
4. What challenges do you anticipate for the season?
"First is the catching situation. We have a few young catchers that I feel are not ready for varsity baseball...Secondly, we will have a young group of outfielders that have not had much varsity experience."
5. In just a few sentences, describe your program in its entirety.
"We have a good core of young players and good young pitching. Our teams the last few years have set high expectation and we as a coaching staff expect our players to live up to those expectations."
6. Where do you project your team to finish in the district and further?
"If our catcher can get the job done, I feel like we could make a run at winning the district; however, I feel like we will probably finish second or third in the district. I like the depth of our pitching. If the team gels, we could make a good run at regional and states."
Offense
7. Whom do you project to be your power hitters? Whom do you project to be your contact hitters?
"Junior Ombri Rivers and senior Chase White are going to be our contact guys at the top of the lineup. They both are good contact hitters that also have good power. Senior Jermaine Berry, junior Erickson Keeton, senior Andy Topping, and junior Johnny Pitt will make up the middle of our lineup. All four are very good hitters with a ton of power. We have a few guys that are going to battle to push for spots in the bottom of our lineup."
8. Does your team thrive off small ball and defense, and/or should opponents worry about the deep ball?
"Our one through six hitters can all hit bombs; however I believe a big part of building a team atmosphere is playing small ball and teaching situational hitting, so we will always play small ball no matter how powerful our hitters are."
Defense
9. Whom do you project to be your best pitchers? How deep does your staff go?
"We are deep at pitching. Our two main guys will be Keeton and Topping. They were both our starters last year and pitched very well all year. Behind them, we have Rivers, White, Mike Curbelo, and Dylan Palovick. All four of those guys have shown that they can pitch."
10. Explain the depth you have in the outfield, infield, and behind the plate. Is there much experience?
"Our infield will be very solid. We will be good up the middle and at the corners. When Keeton is not pitching, he anchors our outfield. When he is pitching, the outfield is young but full of potential."
Phillip Hines is the Editor of Tidewater
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