February 11, 2010

NORTHEAST BASEBALL READY TO ‘SWING’ INTO ACTION

BOONEVILLE, Miss. -- Northeast Mississippi Community College head baseball coach Kent Farris and his team have long awaited the start of the 2010 baseball season and the time has finally arrived.

After prepping during the fall semester and being limited in practice time -- due to the inclement weather -- Farris says, “(the baseball team) is more than ready for some action on the diamond this spring with the first pitch only five days away.”

“The weather has really slowed us down this year,” explained Farris. “Even back in the fall and into this new year, we have not had much time to get outside and put in hours on the field.  However, I think this team will be ready to play in the season opener come February 16 against Hinds.”

With the season set to begin in Raymond, the Tigers are bracing for what could be one of its toughest schedules in school history, according to Farris.

Although Northeast is coming off an impressive showing in 2009 where the Tigers posted an overall record of 33-14 and enjoyed continued success in North Division play with a 17-7 mark, including knocking off the nation’s fifth-ranked team Itawamba Community College for the first time since 2004 in the final game of the regular season…this season looks to be more of a challenge.

“We are playing teams from eight different states and these guys are some of the nationally ranked teams,” Farris said. “Our division alone will be full of some tough competition so we have to be ready to play day in and day out.”

Leading the way for the Tigers offensively will be sophomore outfielder Seth Kennedy a product of Tishomingo County High School. Kennedy was selected as one of this year’s team captains and brings a .360 batting average over from last season.  Kennedy will be followed by another upper classmen Ty Shirley, a center fielder from New Hope High School who will bat leadoff for Northeast.

“Shirley had an excellent fall and really made some big improvements since last season and he is a guy that is really going to set the table for us and get things going swinging the bat.”

In the outfield, Shirley will be joined by sophomore right fielder Michael Collie (Houston, Tenn.), who also had some big hits and plenty of success on the mound for the Tigers in 2009. Joining Shirley and Collie will be outfielders Hunter Mize (Lafayette) and John Stephens (Ripley).

“Mize is an excellent defender and played a key role for us last year, while Stephens brings strength, size and speed in his third year here at Northeast and looks to have the lead on a spot in the outfield position,” Farris said.  “All these guys will give us plenty of solid depth in the outfield and that is always helpful.”   

Defending the infield for the Tigers will be sophomore Brandon Farley from Cookeville, Tenn. who will also toe the rubber for the Tigers in clutch situations. Nathan White from Pontotoc will get the call at first when Farley takes the mound for the Tigers. Also contributing to the middle of the infield will be a transfer from Mississippi Delta Community College Justin Smith from Lafayette. 

Freshmen Jordan Gurley of Corinth and Jacob Long of Houston, should provide depth in the middle of the infield along with Justin Smith (Lafayette) and Tyler Pritchard (Tishomingo) -- who is also a member of the Tiger basketball team -- and at the hot corner will be Ripley’s Ben Wallis while Drew Dodds (New Albany) will help hold things down at first while also seeing some action from the mound as a lefty. 

“This group has progressed dramatically since the fall began and we expect a lot of our success this spring to be determined in a huge way by the way that they perform,” Farris said. “What I like about our team is that we have more depth than in the past and the day-to-day competition is more intense than in the past.”

Setting the tone from the mound will be Farley a right-hander from Cookeville, Tenn., and Brad Luna of New Albany. The tandem hurlers will be the one-two punch in the season opener as the number one and two guys coming out of the gate for Farris versus the Eagles. The Tiger pitching staff is under the direction of second-year assistant baseball coach Clint McAuley.

“These two guys are sophomores who show great leadership skills and they have had an exceptional fall while continuing to be productive at practice,” explained Farris.

Not far behind Farley and Luna is Zane Treadaway out of East Union. The southpaw sophomore pitcher will be one of the other team captains for the Tigers and Farris is looking upon him to have a big year in 2010.

Manning the dish for Northeast will be returning catcher Brock Foster from New Albany along with the freshman Will Wallis of Ripley.

“Brock has really improved and he works extremely hard in the weight room,” Farris said. “We hope he can continue to get the job done handling our pitching staff this year.”

"Also vying for playing time are sophomore pitchers Adam Kay (Belmont) and freshmen Blake Powell (Christian Brothers, Tenn.), Brett Morgan (Tishomingo), Craig Bullock (East Union), Seth George (Tishomingo), Matt Davis (Tishomingo), and Cody Woodiel (Hernando)......all these guys are trying to emerge as contributors on the mound. Lee Grifffin (Tishomingo) and Jimmy Marshall (East Union) are two freshmen competing for playing time in the outfield, along with Justin Jordan (Myrtle) who will seek to provide depth at third base. Sophomore Kyle Emison (Mooreville) is a catcher who also could see time at designated hitter."

Farris knows that for success to happen everything must line up as it did in Northeast’s run to the postseason in 2009.

“Overall we have a great bunch of guys that I think can be very successful this year on the diamond,” Farris said. “The main thing we stress to our guys in order for that success to happen is to play hard and to do the things we ask them to. I think winning will be a result of doing those things and it’s not a goal of ours…..it’s just a result of what we do.”

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