Courtesy: Will Bratton

BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- Even though classes were not in session on Labor Day that didn’t mean any rest for the Campbell University baseball team as head coach Greg Goff and his staff started the 2009 Fall practice schedule at Taylor Field.  The 2010 squad brings a total of 16 newcomers to Buies Creek including five junior college transfers.  Coach Goff and his staff are hoping these 16 players will contribute to the Campbell baseball program success after the record breaking 2009 season that saw the Camels win the most games since 2001 (27) and set 21 new team and individual records. 

“After the way last season ended, we felt that we not only needed to add depth on the mound, but we also wanted to make sure that we got quality arms with some big-time collegiate pitching experience,” Coach Goff said.  “In addition to that, we were able to add two very talented high school arms that should be able to help us early in their careers, while also having a chance to continue to develop towards their very high potential.”

Junior college transfers Ben Brown, Joe Wagstaff, Corey Carver, and Frank Zier will be expected to provide immediate depth and experience to the pitching staff 

The Fighting Camels staff also added two high school pitchers, Ryan Mattes and Clinton Ingram, that should contribute to the depth of Coach Goff’s pitching staff this year.  

The summer recruiting was rounded out when the Camels added a versatile hitter from USC-Sumter, 1B/OF Alan Denman.  

These seven recruits join Noah Zipko, Matt Marksberry, Kyle Brandenburg, Logan Self, Ben Fish, Blake Boyce, David Rivera, Matt Sergey, and Cameron Nelson to make up the 16-member recruiting class.  They will be joined by a high number of returners from last season’s record-setting squad. 

Leading the way for the Camels offensively will be a trio of seniors and record-setting junior.  Seniors Chris Bangi, Zach Johnson, and Kevin Nelson, with second team All-South Region performer Ellis Lowe, will be counted on to continue their offensive production from a year ago.  The pitching staff will also return some very valuable experience this season.  Seniors Jeff Rydman and Logan Davis are back after combining for an 11-3 record, 131 IP, 34 appearances, including 20 starts as juniors.  Rydman will be aided with the experience of having an successful summer campaign in the Northwoods League with the Duluth Huskies.

“This is a very important fall for both the players and coaches in our program.  It is an opportunity for us to improve in all facets of the game and hopefully continue to move our program in the right direction,” Goff said.  “With all of the new players, and the guys that we have returning, depth should not be an issue on this team.  And we look forward to going out and working hard this fall in order to get ready for what promises to be a very exciting and challenging spring.”

 

The fall workouts will be a combination of team practices and inter-squad scrimmages.  The fall team practices will consist of the coaching staff instructing, teaching, and installing the program’s offensive, defensive, and pitching philosophies.  The inter-squad scrimmages will be a mixture of controlled scrimmages and regular games in which members of the team will compete against each other.  All practices and inter-squad games are open to the public.

Other events that will be happening this fall are the annual Pro Scout night, Parents’ Day, and the Fall World Series.  Pro Scout night will be held on October 14^th and it will allow the players to showcase their talents in front of scouting representatives from nearly every MLB club, and the MLB scouting bureau.  The fall concludes with Parents’ Day on October 17^th for the families of the current Campbell baseball players.  The 17^th will also host the beginning of the annual Fall inter-squad World Series, as games 1 and 2, of the 5 game series; will be played that evening at Taylor Field.  Games 3, 4, and 5 will conclude the fall team practice period, being held daily from October 19-21.

2009 Fall Dates:

The public is welcome to attend any practice or scrimmage

SEPTEMBER:

11^th: Scrimmage

12^th: Scrimmage (DH)

15^th: Scrimmage

18^th: Scrimmage

19^th: Scrimmage (DH)

23^rd: Scrimmage

24^th: Scrimmage (DH)

OCTOBER:

2^nd: Scrimmage

4^th: Scrimmage (DH)

6^th: Scrimmage

7^th: Scrimmage (DH)

13^th: Scrimmage

14^th: SCOUT NIGHT

17^th: PARENTS’ DAY/ WS GAME 1 & 2

19^th: World Series Game 3

20^th: World Series Game 4

21^st: World Series Game 5

2009 By the Numbers:

1^st Winning season since 2001

1^st Player taken in the MLB draft since 2003 (Ryan Hamme; 31^st round, White Sox)

2: Individual national leaders (Bangi—HBP, Z. Johnson—2B)

2: NEW Atlantic Sun Team Records (Team BA, Runs per game)

3: NEW Individual Career Records (Hamme—2B, Sac Fly, HBP)

6: NEW Individual Single-season School Records

10: NEW Team Single-season School Records

11: Individuals in the Top 15 in the National Rankings

12: Top 3 finishes in Atlantic Sun Team Statistics (#1 nine times)

21: NEW records set by the 2009 team 

27: Wins, most since 2001