Warrior Baseball Outlook

2012

There have been a lot of words used to describe past Lewis-Clark State baseball teams and the program overall.

Dynasty, talent-laden, dominant, and mentally tough are just a few.

This year, the key word is versatility, a somewhat new word in the Warrior vocabulary.

This 2012 version of the Warriors features a number of multi-position players and even some players who will both pitch and play a position, something that has been rare in the program.

Along with the usual player who will see playing time at 2-3 infield or all three outfield positions, this year’s squad has players who are both infielders and outfielders, catchers who are infielders and two pitchers who are also infielders.

“Did we specifically go out and recruit this way? No.” second-year Warrior coach Gary Picone said. “But I tried to find players who were more flexible for the roster. We didn’t necessarily look at pitcher/outfielders, but guys who could play more positions, which makes us more flexible with our lineups.”

The Warriors will need to be more flexible because this year’s roster has only 34 players, including two freshmen who will redshirt. Of the 32 active players, half are newcomers and of the 16 returning players, six were redshirts last season.

“We tried to find some guys with power and some guys with speed, with a left-right (handed hitting) balance in mind,” Picone said. “We do have fewer guys, but I think we definitely have more flexibility in what we can do.

“We’re really happy with our returning players because most were our top players last year and have continued to improve.”

With fewer players, a key this season will be to avoid injuries. The Warriors have a few players coming off serious injuries from last year and will need to keep healthy, especially on the mound with a fairly new staff. LCSC returns only five pitchers who were a combined 5-3 with three saves last season. That’s eight decisions in 55 games last year.

“Our pitching staff is almost completely new,” Picone said. “We really tried to find a left-right balance that we thought we were lacking last year.”

Picone said the Warrior coaching staff also concentrated on guys who had closer experience.

 “We have a lot of guys with experience as a closer and as a starter,” he said. “That was the goal. I think that’s part of our strength. We have guys who can play multiple roles for us.”

Something else new for the Warriors this season will be their schedule. LCSC is opening the season in the Arizona Desert Classic, which also involves Point Loma Nazarene, Wayland Baptist, College of Idaho, and Fresno Pacific. Picone was the key organizer of the event, which will be held in Phoenix. This will mark the first time LCSC has opened the season on the road since 2002.

The Warriors will then play host to a pair of tournaments in February that involve NCAA Division II and III schools, and then will start NAIA West League play the final weekend in February. League play, however, has changed this year so that all teams in the North and South Divisions play one another in four-game series. For example, instead of playing British Columbia eight times in league play, as it has done the past few years, LCSC will only play UBC four times, all in a four-game series in Vancouver, B.C. Next season, UBC will visit LCSC for its four league games.

Mixed in the league schedule, LCSC will play host to Embry-Riddle in a four-game series in March and then host Linfield in a three-game series in late April. The Warriors end the regular season against Division III foes in McMinnville, Ore.

Because LCSC receives an automatic berth to the Avista NAIA World Series, it does not have to take part in NAIA playoffs. That means the Warriors will not have a game from May 6 to the start of the national tourney on May 25 unless the schedule should change.

“The schedule has significantly improved,” Picone said. “Clearly the quality of teams in our tournaments has gone up. We have George Fox, British Columbia, and Concordia in the opening tournament, and then St. Martin’s, Central Washington, and Western Oregon in the second tourney. It will be much tougher competition.”

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2008 outlook

2007 outlook