Baseball | 2/19/2015 9:37:00 AM
BALTIMORE – The Coppin State baseball team enters the 2015 season with plenty of optimism fueled by many returning veterans and a strong recruiting class.
The Eagles finished third in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division last season and won a game in the conference postseason tournament for the second consecutive season. Under fifth-year coach
Sherman Reed, Coppin State is looking to take the next step and capture the Northern Division.
"The success we have had the past two seasons with 30 combined wins including three in the conference championships proves that we are close as a program," Reed said. "With the large number of key seniors on this roster, the guys actually now believe that they have a chance to win every time we take the field. That's the progression you look for in a seasoned group of guys who have been through the grinds together."
Coppin State won 12 games during an injury-riddled season in which 11 key players missed significant time. The Eagles return a pair of .300 hitters in senior outfielders
Jeffrey Fitch (.311 batting average) and Jack Kraft (.307). The pair combined for 72 hits and 40 runs batted in last season. Fitch finished the season strong by producing 23 hits over the Eagles' final 15 contests, including a three-hit performance to key a 6-1 victory over Delaware State in the MEAC tournament.
Meanwhile, Kraft led the Eagles in slugging percentage (.409), RBIs (25) and triples (four). He also had nine extra base hits. The Eagles also return sophomore infielder
Randal Mendez, who batted .289 in 15 games last season for the Eagles. Junior outfielder
Darien Percell (27 hits) and sophomore infielder
Bryant Miranda (25) each finished with over 20 hits.
Senior outfielder
Mike Wright and senior catcher Alex Brown return to add depth and experience. They each had clutch moments during the 2014 season. Wright drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to walk off Maryland Eastern Shore. Meanwhile, Brown, slugged a three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to help CSU defeat Delaware State and end a 21-game losing streak to the Hornets. Brown finished with 21 runs batted in last season.
Other key returnees on offense for Coppin State include junior second baseman
Colin Dower, junior outfielder
Kareem Sallay, sophomore outfielder
Jonathan Calvin and junior infielder
Alejandro Hernandez. Reed is hoping the addition of newcomers Bobby Dragon,
Lance Montano,
Daniel McCrea,
Joshua Doyle,
Jacquez Hunn and Chris Rodriguez boost an offense that scored three or fewer runs in 54 percent of its games last season.
McCrea, who missed all of last season, started 15 games in 2013.
"The 2015 team came out of the fall season injury free and with great enthusiasm and expectations." Reed said. "The addition of the junior college transfers along with the return of most key guys from the 2014 roster puts us in great shape for the coming season. The offense clearly will be the strength of this year's team along with the experience pitching staff that we have put in place. The only real concern is the depth at our catching position and the health concerns of one of our key pitchers."
Anchoring the Eagles pitching staff will be sophomore Dillion O'Brien, junior
Anderson Burgess, junior
Jhar Devilme and senior Yayha Muhammed. Senior pitcher
Chris Vasquez made seven appearances last season. After missing all of 2014, redshirt junior
Myles Taylor also returns to add depth to the Eagles staff. Taylor had a 3.63 earned run average as he helped Coppin State win 18 games in 2013.
Devilme led the Eagles with three wins and 49 strikeouts in 62.2 innings. O'Brien pitched 6.1 stellar innings where he allowed two hits and allowed one run against Delaware State in the MEAC tournament. Over his last five appearances last season, O'Brien allowed two runs in his final 10 innings.
Newcomers DeSean Rabb,
Chase Valerio,
Jesse Kraft and
Chris Estrada will round out the Eagles' pitching staff.
"We will go as far as our experience pitching staff takes us this spring," Reed said. "The additions of key junior college transfers like
Chris Estrada and
Desean Rabb complement our pitching staff well. With the fierce competition displayed by the guys this fall, it will be a very difficult task determining the three starters for weekend conference play. Burgess, Devilme, Muhammad, O'Brien, and Taylor all have made strong claims for this assignment."
The Eagles begin their 50-game slate with a weekend series against Jacksonville on Saturday. During the season, Coppin State will play games in Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina. Coppin State's home opener will be on Wed. Mar. 4 against UMBC at Joe Cannon Stadium. Coppin State will begin its 24-game MEAC schedule on Sat. Mar. 14 with a weekend set at UMES.
The Eagles schedule features non-conference games against schools from nine different leagues. The 2015 MEAC tournament will be held in Salisbury (Md.) at the home of the Delmarva Shorebirds from May 13-17.
"We have another very challenging out-of-conference schedule designed to make us battle tested prior to entering conference play," Reed said. "The guys are really looking forward to trips to Florida, Kentucky, and South Carolina to battle great programs like Jacksonville, Morehead State, and Wofford. When we return from these trips, we will have a much better read on where we can go this spring."
