DUE WEST, SC---Head baseball coach Kevin Nichols sat down to answer a few questions about the team as it gets ready to open up fall practice a week from today.
Q: Coming off a 36 win season which saw the Fleet start six freshmen, how many new faces are we going to see on the diamond this season?
Nichols: Starting off the fall we like to keep every position open and let guys battle it out for jobs. It is still too early to tell who has won specific jobs. I will say that we have a group of sophomores that are coming off great years and I hope they can continue to improve.
Q: It looks like the short stop position is a hole that needs to be filled. Who is going to replace Shelton Cisson (NCAA career hits and doubles leader)?
Nichols: Cisson has been our starting SS for four years and a great player for us. It will be difficult to replace him, but we have several guys battling for that spot. It looks like Derek King, Atlee Pearson, Bubba Owens, and Josh Miller are the front runners so far.
Q: After losing only one pitcher from the staff. Are we going to see the same guys on the mound?
Nichols: We lost several guys early last season due to injury that forced several freshmen to pitch right away and they should be better this year with a year of experience under their belt. We should have guys that did not throw last season like Mike Moore and Andrew Guest back to battle for jobs. With our recruiting class and returnees, our pitching staff is as deep as it has ever been since I've been at Erskine.
Q: Speaking of the recruiting class, give us some names that we can be looking for this season.
Nichols: Again, it is still very early. We have several highly ranked freshmen that should contribute right away. There has been a couple of guys that are starting to separate themselves from others. Ross Hanna has a real good chance to hit; Derek King is stellar on defense, Atlee Pearson looks like he is going to be a force on the mound and may see playing time as a position player. Hard working Josh Miller is determined to get in the line-up. Bubba Owens, Jon Bolding, and Corey Hopper look good as well. We will have a better idea when we start playing this fall.
Q: Returning several starters and having a talented recruiting class, what can we expect for 2008?
Nichols: On paper, we should have a chance to have a great team. We feel very good about this season, if we can avoid injuries and play up to our potential.