With just over a month until the Crimson Tide baseball team starts their 2014 campaign, we decided to take just a sneak peak at the men on the diamond. Fifth year Coach Mitch Gaspard and staff are heading into the season ranked 29th with only 6 other SEC schools ahead of them (LSU, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt).
The Crimson Tide will open the season with six straight home games and welcomes the Saint Louis Billikens to Sewell-Thomas Stadium for a three-game series Feb. 14-16 to open the season. Alabama then hosts Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 21-23. The Tide is returning 21 players from last year’s squad including 9 pitchers and 5 starters that participated in the NCAA Regionals. The Tide finished the season with a 35-28 overall record while finishing Southeastern Conference play 14-15.
The Tide will welcome back the 2013 Gold Glove Kyle winner Overstreet for another season at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Gaspard, staff and the fans will also see the return of Ray Castillo and Mikey White. Castillo set a freshman record with 12 saves for the season.
Mikey White | Photo Credit: AL.com
Alabama returns 409 of its 574 innings pitched from a year ago, to give the Tide an experienced pitching staff that finished the 2013 season with a 3.70 earned run average. The pitching staff will be led by senior right-handed relief pitcher Tucker Hawley (5-2, 2.93) and junior starters Spencer Turnbull (4-3, 3.70) and Justin Kamplain (1-0, 4.77). Alabama also returns relievers Jay Shaw (2-1, 1.61), Taylor Guilbeau (4-2, 3.14) and Mike Oczypok (5-2, 3-02) to the staff.
Bama definitely has the experience coming back this year but just need some of the younger guys to step up and dominate those other starting positions.
Coach Gaspard and the University of Alabama also welcomed 9 early enrollees( five pitchers and four skilled positions). Below is a rundown on their bios from RollTide.com
Here are the five pitchers that Alabama signed for 2014-15.
Logan Ashworth is a 6-2 right handed pitcher from Port Neches-Groves High School. Ashworth is currently ranked as the 43rd best player in Texas and the 18th best right handed pitcher in the state. He is a two-time high honorable mention preseason high school Underclass All-America and was the only player from his area to make the final cut of the Texas Rangers Area Code Tryouts, resulting in a selection to the 2013 New Balance Games in Long Beach, Calif.
Listed at 6-7, 225 points, right-handed pitcher Andrew DiPiazza is rated 371 nationally by Perfect Game USA and rated as the 128th best righty in the nation. DiPiazza attended Central Regional High School where he posted a 9-0 record with a 0.85 ERA as a junior. Following that 2013 season, he was an honorable mention MSG Varsity’s 2013 All-New Jersey Team selection.
Zac Rogers is a 5-10, 175-point right-handed pitcher from Benjamin Russell High School. Rogers currently ranks as the seventh best right-handed pitcher in Alabama and the 20th best player in the state. He was selected to play in Alabama Baseball Coaches Association All-Star game in 2012.
Jake Walters signs with the Crimson Tide as a senior at Thompson High School in Maylene, Ala., the same school where current Alabama pitcher Jon Keller played his high school ball. A 2013 honorable mention preseason all-American by Perfect Game USA, Walters garnered ASWA First Team Class 6A All-State honors following his junior season. Walters is currently rated as the 14th best player and the fifth best right-handed pitcher in the state by Perfect Game USA.
Alex Watkins is the only left-hander pitcher in this year’s signing class, and will come to Alabama from Albertville High School. The 6-5, 160-point pitcher was an Alabama Class 6A honorable mention all-state selection in 2013, and is currently rated as the fourth best high school pitcher in the state.
In addition to the five pitchers, the Tide inked four position players, including a catcher, an outfielder and two middle infielders. “We’re trying to get more athletic by recruiting players that can do multiple things,” Gaspard said. “We feel that the last couple years we’ve done that. We have some guys in this class that are pretty versatile and can play two or three positions. It’s much easier to move athletes around, and we feel like we have an athletic class.”
Here is a look at the four signed position players for 2014-15.
Chandler Avant comes to the Tide from Pike Liberal Arts High School. The 6-0, 175-pounder is rated as the top middle infielder in Alabama, and is ranked 201st in the country by Perfect Game USA. Avant was named the 2013 Alabama Independent Schools Association Hitter of the Year as well as earning 2013 Alabama Sports Writer’s Association AISA first team all-state honors. As a junior, he hit .480 with 12 home runs, 38 RBI and 56 runs scored.
One of two catchers in the class is Cody Henry, who is a 6-2, 200-pound catcher from Pensacola Catholic High School. As a junior, Henry hit .400 with four home runs and 43 RBI, helping the team post a 30-0 record in 2013 en route to the school’s second straight a Class 4A state title.
Jamal Howard will join the Tide from Central High School where the 6-3, 205-pounder is rated as the top outfielder in the state, while garnering a 159 nationally ranking by Perfect Game USA. In 2013, Howard hit .355 with six home runs and 27 RBI and stole 17 bases as a junior.
The second catcher in this year’s signing class is 6-1, 190-pounder Matt Morgan. Morgan currently attends Thorsby High School and is rated as the top catcher in the state by Perfect Game USA. Nationally, he is rated as the 24th best catcher and the 185th best player overall by PG USA. Morgan was a
“This group also fits well with the classes we’ve brought in the last two years and we’re always trying to make a complete team and not come up short in any areas,” Gaspard said.
With who we have coming back, it should be another exciting season for the Tide. Hopefully, they show improvement as they did last season and we press just a bit further than the Regionals.
Be sure to go out and try to catch some games at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. As some of you may know, the board approved the go ahead to start the $30 million renovations shortly after the season.
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