2010 CofC Baseball Season Ends

By Reid Armstrong

The College of Charleston men’s baseball team has wrapped its 2010 season. The team wrapped its season up with an impressive 44-19 overall record.

The Cougars are incorporated within the elite Southern Conference, and finished with a 22-8 interleague play. With teams such as the Citadel, Georgia Southern, and Davidson also in the league, a second place does not come as a disappointment.

While the majority of the team just finished up their 2010 season in a typical fashion, five of the Cougar line-up will be heading on to the next step in baseball. These five players are considered to be part of an elite category that only 1/30,000 consider themselves a part of.

Of the 100 million plus baseball players in the US, only 4,500 are paid to play the game. These previous Cougars will be taking on new team names; while having their skill tested at the professional level.

Heath Hembree a junior from Cowpens, S.C was selected in the fifth round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft by the San Francisco Giants. Hembree is a right-handed pitcher, and finished up this past season with a 6.52 ERA and a record of 5-3. He will be placed into one of San Francisco’s minor league teams as the position of a closing pitcher.

Rob Kran a sophomore from Randolph N.J was chosen by the Cincinnati Reds in the 16^th round as the 487^th overall pick. Kran was the starting catcher for the Cougars, and batted an impressive .344 this past season. Of the five players leaving Rob was the leading homerun hitter in the bunch. He also led the Cougar infield in fielding percentage at an amazing .985.

Joey Bergman a senior from Jacksonville, F.L. was picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 33^rd round as the 1009^th overall pick. Bergman held the conferences highest honor in 2009 when he was voted the Southern Conference player of the year award. Joey played shortstop for the Cougars and will continue his position for a minor league Cardinals team.

Kevin Decker a senior from Washington, Ind. was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 39^th round as the 1176^th overall pick. Decker was the only starting pitcher for the Cougars with a perfect 8-0 record. He finished the season with a 3.78 ERA, and had a .246 batting average. He was second, by one, on the team with strike outs. He was also second on the team by only allowing four homeruns to be hit off him in his eight one innings pitched.

Casey Lucchese from Lexington K.Y. was also chosen in the 39^th round, by the Chicago Cubs as the 1180^th overall pick. Lucchese was also able to remain undefeated in the 2010 season, with a slightly less impressive 4-0 record. More impressively, Casey was able to strike out 52 batters this season, while only walking 16. While Casey was able to complete four starts for the Cougars his place on the Cubs will remain as a closing pitcher.

Some would say that a team with five players being picked in the MLB’s draft is comparable to major universities such as Clemson, Texas, and Oklahoma. Others are worried about what is going to happen in the 2011 season now the team is down five professional athletes.

A student at the College of Charleston Jordan Chaplin says, “Where does this leave the team? Do they even have five players that are experienced enough to carry on those guys positions?”

Only a few days after the news came out about these five players making it to the “Big Leagues” the Cougars announced its nine new signees for its 2011 roster.

This 2011 class is comprised of three pitchers and six fielding position athletes from four different states. Five of the new players are graduating high school seniors, and the remaining four are junior college transfers.

The biggest help from this recruiting class will come from outfielder and left handed pitcher Marty Gantt and right handed pitcher Brandon Glazer.

Gantt played this past season for Spartanburg Methodist College and finished up with a 1.67 earned run average. He also was able to accumulate an amazing .410 batting average, which will fit in nicely into the Cougars lineup.

Glazer finished up his senior year of high school at Clear Spring High with a 1.30 earned run average. He was able to bat at a .509 season average, which translates into a .300 or higher at the college level.

The remaining students joining the line up include two more right handed pitchers, one left handed pitcher, three infielders and one outfielder. All these remaining athletes have equally noticeable accolades which will hopefully help to fill the void in the lineup.

Many fans are excited for the upcoming season, and others are weary of the gaps left by the newly defined professional athletes.

When asked to speak about the new recruits, next seasons starting catcher Robert Pritcher said, “I have not seen tape on all of them, but for the few I have… they look good. I think this season is going to turn out to be more of a success than the last.” When Pritcher was asked to emphasize more on the success comment all he said was, “Next year Omaha will be fun”.

The remaining players are ready for another trip to Omaha, and the fans are defiantly ready for another trip to Omaha. We will see if the “new nine” are ready to help the Cougars get there.