April 16, 2013 · 11:23 am

Coastal at Carolina – CCU baseball at UNC

The Chanticleers head up Tobacco Road today to take on the nation’s number one baseball team in the Tar Heels of UNC.

First pitch is set for 6:00 PM at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.

This is the second matchup this season between the Chants (24-12, 10-2) and the Heels (34-2, 15-2). They played an add-on game earlier this year and the Heels won 7-1.

This is the most important game of the year for Coastal. Not because it’s a game against the number one team in the nation. Not because it’s a chance to avenge an earlier loss. Those are good reasons to look forward to the game but the real reason this game is important is because of timing.

Both teams are playing well right now and enter this game riding nine game win streaks. The Chanticleers have won 17 of their last 19 games. Team batting average is up. They lead the Big South. They seem to have righted the ship.

Critics, however, will attribute this recent success to a lower quality opponent. Well, it doesn’t get any higher than today.

The Tar Heels, on the other hand, just continue to roll – They have only two losses for the entire year. It’s a midweek game for them and that’s exactly the way they will treat it. If they win, they were expected to win. If not, chalk it up to the old “non-weekend non-starter” nonsense. Midweek or not, if this game is close at the end – and it should be – watch Coach Fox. You better believe he’ll be coaching it like a trip to Omaha is on the line.

The Chants will win tonight’s game if they continue to play solid fundamental baseball. Expect a great start from So. LHP Austin Kerr followed by Coastal’s outstanding bullpen. Mix in some error free ball with clutch hitting and you’ll have a definite W for the Chanticleers.

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April 12, 2013 · 4:53 pm

Coastal Carolina Baseball at Winthrop – Preview

The Chanticleers (21-12, 7-2) travel to Rock Hill, S.C. for a three-game series with the Eagles (12- 22, 2-7) at Winthrop Ball Park.  Game one is today at 6:00 PM; Game 2 is set for 3:00 PM on Saturday; and the final game on Sunday at 1:00 PM.

Both teams come into the series with momentum from big midweek wins. Coastal defeated College of Charleston 2-1 in a fourteen inning marathon Wednesday in Myrtle Beach. The Chants have now won six in a row and 10 out of their last 11 games.

Winthrop is riding Uncle Mo after an impressive 13-4 victory over Furman on Wednesday. Chanticleer fans may recall that Furman swept Coastal in a two game midweek series earlier this season.

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March 29, 2013 · 10:54 am

Coastal Carolina at Virginia Military Institute Preview

Coastal Carolina (13-11, 2-1) travels to Lexington, Va. to take on Virginia Military Institute (12-15, 1-2) in a three-game series at Gray-Minor Stadium. Game one is today at 5:00 PM and a doubleheader is scheduled for Saturday starting at 1:00 PM.

Audio for all three games will be broadcast live by the Chanticleer Sports Network. Saturday’s games will be available via webcast on the Big South Network.

Probable Starting Pitchers

Fri.: VMI LHP Connor Bach (1-2, 2.78) vs. Coastal LHP Ben Smith (2-1, 1.42)
Sat, Game 1: VMI LHP Campbell Henkel (1-2, 4.76) vs. Coastal RHP Tyler Poole (3-1, 2.96)
Sat., Game 2: VMI RHP Jeremy Brown (3-0, 2.96) vs. Coastal RHP Tyler Herb (3-1, 5.52)

Of Note

VMI is on a hot streak. The Keydets have won six of their last seven games, including Tuesday’s shutout of a very good Virginia Tech.

Coastal, on the other hand, is having an up-and-down season so far. After dropping a heartbreaking BSC opener last Friday, the Chants are on a two-game winning streak.

Key to the Series

Fundamental baseball – it’s that simple. The team that executes will when the series.  VMI has a slight edge in team hitting at .305 compared to Coastal’s .267 team average. Both squads are fielding at .954 and have more than their fair share of errors. The Keydets have booted the ball 46 times while the Chants have kicked it around 43 times.

The Chanticleers will win the series if they can muster up some run support.

So far this year timely hitting has been elusive for Coastal but it’s only a matter of time – hitting begets hitting. They’ll come around.

Prediction: CCU sweep.

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March 19, 2013 · 2:06 pm

Coastal at Wake Forest

The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers travel to Winston-Salemvs_coastal today to take on the Demon Deacons of Wake forest at 5:00 p.m. at Gene Hooks Field.

The Chants are 10-10 on the season and are looking to go above .500 before beginning conference play on Friday. The Deacs are 12-10 overall and 1-5 in ACC play.

I don’t know what is more surprising – the fact that the Chanticleers are playing .500 ball or that Friday night ace Tyler Herb is the projected starter for tonight’s match-up.

Herb has made five starts already and has a 5.73 ERA through 22.0 innings with 14 strikeouts.

The Chants won 10-2 in Conway in 2011 and have a 15-13 overall record against the Deacs.

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February 9, 2013 · 9:38 am

Burke and Connolly named to 2013 NCBWA Preseason Stopper of the Year Watch List

Coastal Carolina senior pitchers Aaron Burke and Ryan Connolly were named to the initial watch list for the ninth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, as announced by the association Friday. The award is given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball.

From NCBWA Press Release

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (NCBWA) — Seventy-five players have been named to the initial watch list for the ninth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball, as announced by the association on Friday.
Oregon junior Jimmie Sherfy, a 2012 Stopper of the Year Award finalist, and Texas junior Corey Knebel, the 2011 winner of the Stopper of the Year Award, headline the list of preseason nominees for the 2013 award.  Sherfy recorded 19 saves and went 5-3 with a 2.20 ERA and 93 strikeouts as the Ducks advanced to the 2012 Super Regionals. Last season as a sophomore, Knebel collected nine saves and went 4-5 with a 2.08 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 73.2 innings pitched for the Longhorns.

Joining Sherfy, a first team preseason All-American by the NCBWA, and Knebel on the watch list is NCBWA 2013 first teamer Jonathan Holder from Oregon State and Michael Wagner of San Diego, a preseason first team selection.  Holder had nine saves a year ago with a 2-1 record and 0.32 ERA in 24 appearances as a freshman, while Wagner had 19 saves.

Among the other most notable nominees are members of the NCBWA preseason All-American second team (Michael Lorenzen of Cal State Fullerton, Tyler Webb of South Carolina, David Berg of UCLA and Tyler Burgess of Missouri State), along with third team member Colby Suggs of Arkansas.

The Southeastern Conference and the Pacific-12 Conference led the way with seven players each on this year’s watch list, while the Big South had six pitchers on the list.

Nominations for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award were made by baseball sports information/media relations contacts. The initial list will be updated with a mid-season release the week of April 16, including the national saves leaders. At the conclusion of the regular season, the Division I national saves leader and four other relief pitching standouts will be selected as finalists and released Wednesday, June 5, prior to start of NCAA Super Regional tournament competition.

From the list of finalists, the NCBWA’s All-America Committee will select a winner. The ninth annual winner will be announced in Omaha on Saturday, June 15, the opening day of the College World Series.

Texas hurler J. Brent Cox won the inaugural Stopper of the Year Award in 2005, with Don Czyz of Kansas claiming the honor in 2006 and Luke Prihoda of Sam Houston State winning it in 2007. Georgia’s Joshua Fields topped the field in 2008, San Diego State’s Addison Reed grabbed the honor in 2009 and Texas’ Chance Ruffin earned the honor in 2010. Knebel won in 2011 with Southeastern Louisiana’s Stefan Lopez picking up the honor in 2012.

The NCBWA, founded in 1962, presents the Dick Howser Trophy to the nation’s top player. It also selects All-America Teams for all Divisions, a Division I Freshman All-American team, Division I and III Players of the Week, Division I District Players of the Year and Division III Players of the Year.

2013 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List

Pitcher                          School                         Yr.

Brady Anderson                   Florida Gulf Coast              So.

Barrett Astin                          Arkansas                                Jr.

Kyle Bartsch                         South Alabama                    Sr.

David Berg                             UCLA                                       So.

Josh Biggs                              Evansville                              Sr.

Tony Bryant                         Oregon State                         Sr.

Michael Burchett               Sam Houston State             Sr.

Nick Burdi                            Louisville                                So.

Tyler Burgess                      Missouri State                      So.

Aaron Burke                        Coastal Carolina                  Sr.

Chase Byerly                       Butler                                       Sr.

Gunnar Carroll                    Army                                       Jr.

Will Chesney                       East Tennessee State        Jr.

Pat Christensen                  LaSalle                                    Sr.

Adam Cimber                      San Francisco                      Sr.

Ryan Connolly                    Coastal Carolina                 Sr.

Bret Dahlson                        Loyola Marymount          Jr.

Ryan Deeter                         UCLA                                     Jr.

Josh Dezse                            Ohio State                             Jr.

Matt Dunbar                         Arizona State                      Sr.

Todd Eaton                           Southern Illinois               Jr.

Eric Eck                                 Wofford                                 Jr.

Alex Facundus                     Tulane                                   Jr.

Scott Firth                              Clemson                               Sr.

Max Garner                          Baylor                                    Sr.

John Garrett                         VMI                                        Sr.

Michael Gomez                   FIU                                          Sr.

Joe Goodman                      High Point                            So.

John Gorman                       Boston College                   So.

Trevor Gott                           Kentucky                             Jr.

Zack Hartman                      UNLV                                     Jr.

Preston Hatcher                   Western Carolina            Sr.

Taylor Haydel                      Western Kentucky          Sr.

Nate Hill                                Troy                                        Sr.

Dylan Hills                            Southeastern Louisiana  Jr.

Jonathan Holder                  Mississippi State              So.

Brett Huber                           Mississippi                           Sr.

Chris Huffman                      James Madison                 So.

Kyle Kingsley                       North Dakota State          Sr.

Corey Knebel                       Texas                                      Jr.

Clark Labitan                        Virginia Tech                      Sr.

Steven Leasure                   South Florida                       Sr.

Brett Loeding                        Northern Kentucky         Sr.

Michael Lorenzen               Cal State Fullerton            Jr.

Ryan Mattes                         Campbell                                Sr.

Justin McCalvin                   Kennesaw State                  So.

Hobie McClain                     New Mexico                         Sr.

Ronnie Muck                        Illinois                                    Jr.

Jake Naumann                    Evansville                             Sr.

James Norwood                  Saint Louis                            So.

Kenny O’Brien                     George Washington          Sr.

Thomas Olson                     Dartmouth                             So.

Race Parmenter                  UC Irvine                               Sr.

Drew Reynolds                    East Carolina                       Jr.

Joel Rinehart                        Navy                                       Sr.

Bradley Roney                    Southern Miss                      So.

Reid Roper                           Illinois                                    So.

Kyle Ruchim                        Northwestern                        Jr.

A.J. Salcines                         Miami (Fla.)                          Jr.

Logan Scott                          California                              Sr.

Jimmie Sherfy                     Oregon                                  Jr.

Dan Slania                            Notre Dame                          Jr.

Michael Smith                     Dallas Baptist                       Sr.

Chad Sobotka                      USC Upstate                        So.

Colby Suggs                         Arkansas                               Jr.

Tim Swatek                           Fordham                               Jr.

David Teasley                      Mercer                                   Sr.

Kellen Urbon                        Cornell                                   So.

A.J. Vanegas                        Stanford                                 Jr.

Dylan Vogt                            Nebraska                              Sr.

Michael Wagner                  San Diego                             Jr.

Tyler Webb                           South Carolina                     Sr.

Nate Williams                       Kansas State                        So.

Mark Winkelman               Creighton                              Sr.

Nate Young                          Elon                                        Sr.

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December 31, 2012 · 8:56 pm

A Simple New Year’s Resolution

As we get ready to say goodbye to 2012 and ring in the New Year, many of us will make a list of Resolutions for 2013.  Some will be elaborate while others may be less complex but equally challenging. I can only imagine the possibilities. From losing weight to working harder, or maybe not working as hard, to – you name it. The list is only constrained by imagination.

Unfortunately, most of those lists won’t last long.

I have a better idea. My resolution is simply to use good judgment. Hopefully, it’s not something that we wait until after Auld Lang Syne to get started. It should be something we’ve worked on all year. But we can reflect on it today. We can simplify our lives today. Just use good judgment.

If I need to lose weight, all I need to do is use good judgment with my diet and maybe exercise. If I want to work harder (or smarter), then that’s what I will do. No task is too complicated if we plan it out. If my schedule is full, then I need to simplify it. Maybe I shouldn’t take on that new potential client. If my case work is “caught up,” maybe I should use that extra time to hone my trial skills – or spend it with my family. The list goes on and on and yet it is as simple as anything has ever been.

Today I will use good judgment. Tomorrow will take care of itself.

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August 11, 2012 · 11:15 am

A Legal Adviser?

Yesterday I was in court for a preliminary hearing. I love going to court for preliminary hearings. Sometimes a case is dismissed at a prelim; sometimes it’s not. But always sometimes, it’s just entertaining interesting.

Yesterday’s breaking-up-the-monotony moment occurred when a defendant’s legal adviser addressed the court.  It went something like this:

Legal Adviser (LA): I’m here for the defendant. I need you to help me with some subpoenas to get the evidence.

Court: Are you a lawyer?

LA: No, I’m [the defendant’s] Legal Adviser.

Court: I can’t give you legal advice.

LA: I’m not asking for legal advice.

Court: You just asked me to help you with some subpoenas.

LA: If you’re not going to listen to me, I’ll file a motion.

Court: You are excused.

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