July 10, 2011
Lineup Card
Lineup Card is a feature highlighting notes from around
college baseball.
July 1-10, 2011
Temple Nearing Choice
CollegeBaseballInsider.com
Temple appears to be closing in on its choice to replace Rob
Valli as baseball coach.
According to several sources, the Owls have interviewed three
candidates and could make a decision by the end of this week.
Among the candidates are Manhattan coach Kevin Leighton,
Richmond assistant Ryan Wheeler and La Salle assistant Bob File.
Leighton also is in the mix at Fordham, which is looking for a
replacement for Nick Restaino.
In six years with the Jaspers, Leighton has registered six
30-win seasons. Manhattan went 34-19 and reached the NCAA
Tournament in 2011, dropping two games at the Gainesville
Regional. Wheeler has been with the Spiders for five seasons and
previously assisted at William and Mary (9) and Penn (1). File
just completed his first year of college coaching at La Salle
after a big-league pitching career in which he was third in
voting for the American League Rookie of the Year in 2001.
The six-team field has been announced for the
2012 Houston College Classic. Local squads from Houston and Rice
will join Texas, Texas Tech, Arkansas and Tennessee in the
three-day event at Minute Maid Park, the home of the Houston
Astros.
LSU shortstop Austin Nola announced that he will
return to the Tigers for his senior season. A three-year starter
at shortstop, Nola was taken in the 31st round of the 2011 MLB
Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. Nola will get to play behind his
brother, Aaron, in 2012. Aaron Nola will be a freshman pitcher
for LSU next season. He was picked in the 22nd round of the MLB
Draft by Toronto, but chose not to sign.
Gabe Ribas has been named pitching coach and
recruiting coordinator at Santa Clara. He was an assistant at
Northern Colorado this past season after spending the 2010
campaign at Holy Cross. Ribas was an assistant for three seasons
at his alma mater, Northwestern. He was a pitcher for the
Wildcats from 1999-2002 and earned a dual degree in
communications and English. He was taken in the 14th round of
the 2002 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres.
Former UNC Wilmington catcher Chris Hatcher has
returned to the major leagues, this time as a pitcher. A
fifth-round pick of the Florida Marlins in 2006, Hatcher earned
a call-up in 2010 as a catcher. This past offseason, he was
converted to a pitcher and rejoins the Marlins. Hatcher was 2-1
with a save and a 2.31 ERA. He struck out 39 in 35 innings with
26 hits and 15 walks. Opponents were hitting .206 against him.
Anthony D’Albora, director of player relations at
San Francisco, has been hired as an assistant coach at Los
Medanos Community College. D’Albora volunteered for three
seasons at USF after four years as a student assistant at Chico
State. He earned his Master’s degree through the USF Sports
Management program this past December.
Fairfield head coach Bill Currier has added
Trevor Brown as the top assistant coach and Nick Rhodes as the
volunteer assistant coach. For the past two seasons, Brown was
the pitching coach at Fordham. He also coached for seven years
at Pace and two at Georgetown after beginning his coaching
career at his alma mater, Eastern Connecticut State. For the
past six years. Rhodes was the general manager and coach of the
Connecticut Tides AAU baseball program after starting it in
2005. Rhodes was the starting catcher and captain for the 1998
NJCAA National Championship team at Norwalk Community College.
He was drafted by Tampa Bay and spent three seasons in its farm
system.
Right-hander JD Learnard will receive the Raymond
W. Fairchild Endowed Scholarship at Illinois State, named for
the former ISU president (1933-54). Learnard was 8-2 this past
season, including 5-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. He
earned honorable mention all-MVC. A rising junior, Learnard has
a 3.02 GPA in biological sciences.
The Mid-American Conference will hold its
conference tournament at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio,
from 2012-14. The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission will help
with the marketing and promotion of the event. The championship
was held for the past four years at VA Memorial Stadium in
Chillicothe, Ohio.
Now that we are in a new academic year, four
schools officially have new conference homes: Nebraska in the
Big Ten, BYU in the West Coast Conference, Utah in the Pac-12
and Campbell returning to the Big South.
Raphael Cerrato and Chris Smith have been added
to Jim Foster’s staff at Rhode Island. Cerrato has been the head
coach at New Haven for the past five years (131-97, .575). A
former volunteer assistant and player for the Rams, Cerrato also
coached at Massachusetts and Brown. Smith will be a volunteer
assistant after serving as an assistant this past season at New
Haven. Smith was a two-time captain at New Haven and led the
staff in ERA in 2009 (2.00) and 2010 (2.96).
Appalachian State assistant coach Chris Moore
will be inducted into the Western Carolina University Athletics
Hall of Fame in early November. Moore played for the Catamounts
from 1996-99 and was a four-time All-Southern Conference
selection. Moore was a freshman All-American as well as an
All-American and SoCon Player of the Year as a senior. He was
taken in the 11th round of the 1999 MLB Draft by the Colorado
Rockies and played four years in their system. Moore coached at
Davidson, Lander (including four years as head coach) and West
Georgia before arriving at ASU.
Nine San Francisco Dons earned All-Academic
honors from the West Coast Conference for the spring semester.
First-team members included redshirt sophomore Jason Mahood
(3.79, Media Studies), senior Connor Bernatz (3.40, Business
Administration), senior Matt Hiserman (3.35, Sports Management),
junior Cameron Love (3.71, Business Administration), senior Matt
Lujan (3.50, Marketing) and sophomore Kyle Zimmer (3.69,
Business Administration). Sophomores Jared Denham (3.61,
Accounting), Haden Hinkle (3.53, Undeclared) and Elliott
Waterman (3.30, Business Administration) made the honorable
mention list.
Team USA had Game 4 of its series with Japan
rained out Wednesday in Kannapolis, N.C. Team USA (11-1), which
won the first three contests against Japan, is scheduled to play
the final game of its series with Japan on Friday at TD
Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., at 7 p.m. CT.
Former Ball State right-hander Bryan Bullington
will represent the Central League in the Nippon Professional
Baseball League’s All-Star Series July 22-24. Bullington is 8-3
with a 2.18 ERA in 13 starts for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. He is
second in the league in victories and fifth in ERA. Bullington
has 64 strikeouts and 22 walks in 90.2 innings. He pitched for
the Cardinals from 2000-02 and set career records at BSU with 29
wins and 357 strikeouts. He was the first pick in the 2002 MLB
Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Greg Bergeron was named associate head coach at
Tennessee. He has been an assistant with UT head coach Dave
Serrano for seven years, including three at UC Irvine and four
at Cal State Fullerton. Bergeron will coach third as well as
work with the hitters and infielders. Bergeron, 41, played for
Serrano at Cerritos College and spent two seasons at Cal State
Dominguez Hills. He finished his collegiate career at Loyola
Marymount in 1994.
Bill Mosiello will be hitting coach and
recruiting coordinator at Tennessee. He helped the Volunteers
earn consecutive SEC titles in 1993 and 1994. Mosiello was
manager of the Arkansas Travelers, the Double-A affiliate of the
Los Angeles Angels, this season. He was hitting coach at USC
(2007) and Auburn (2008) before joining the Angels organization.
Greg Wallis was picked as the volunteer assistant
at Tennessee. He will coach first, work with the outfielders and
assist Greg Bergeron with the offense. Wallis spent the past
three seasons at Cal State Fullerton, serving as assistant coach
and recruiting coordinator this past year. Wallis played for
Dave Serrano and Bergeron at UC Irvine in 2005 before becoming
an undergraduate assistant in 2006 and director of baseball
operations in 2007.
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