August 14, 2011

Lineup Card

Lineup Card is a feature highlighting notes from around college baseball.

August 8-14, 2011

Tag Montague has been hired as an assistant coach at Richmond. A native of Richmond and a graduate of VCU, Montague was an assistant at Old Dominion the past two years. He also coached at Marist, George Washington, Virginia Wesleyan, Richmond and Randolph-Macon.

Ryan Shotzberger has been added as an assistant coach at Houston. He will coach third base, work with hitters and base runners, and serve as camp director. Shotzberger coached at TCU for the past five years. He coached at Duke prior to his time at TCU. Shotzberger was an all-conference shortstop at McDaniel College.

The ACC has revealed its logo for the 2012 Baseball Championship. The event will be May 23-27 at NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, N.C. The top eight teams will play round-robin pool play with the championship game scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 27.

Jamie Serber has been promoted to director of operations at High Point. Serber was a student assistant coach this past year after a four-year career as a pitcher for the Panthers. He will handle facility and grounds maintenance along with equipment and practice organization. Serber will assist with video coordination, on-campus recruiting and camps as well as serving as alumni liaison.

Gabe Gross and Wes Gilmer will be undergraduate assistant coaches for Auburn this season. Gross will work with the outfielders, while Gilmer will work with the infielders and catchers. Gross was a 2000 All-American outfielder and played in the Major Leagues for seven years. He is returning to Auburn to complete work toward a degree in business management. Gross was a first-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2001. Gilmer was a 2011 team captain and is working to earn a degree in exercise science.

FIU has promoted Frank Damas to recruiting coordinator. He has worked with the outfielders and hitters over the past three years, helping the Panthers reach the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons. FIU also added Alan Burr as Strength and Conditioning Coordinator and Tommy Kanganis as Director of Baseball and Softball Operations. Burr has been at Central Connecticut State, while Kanganis was at St. Thomas working on a Master’s degree in business and sports administration.

Adam Vrable has been added to the staff at The Citadel. He will work with the hitters and outfielders. A 2007 graduate of Coastal Carolina, Vrable worked at Furman this past year. He was outfield, base running and hitting coach for the Paladins. Vrable was an instructor at the Coastal Baseball Academy in Myrtle Beach, S.C., prior to his time at Furman.

Liberty will build a new 3,000-seat stadium which should be ready for the 2013 season. Its current home, Worthington Stadium, will be converted to a softball stadium.

Adam McConnell, a junior infielder from Richmond, is on a five-day mission trip to the Dominican Republic through SCORE, a Christian Athlete group that does short-term mission trips. Former New York Yankees chaplain John Zeller is leading the trip. Former Kentucky head coach Keith Madison is coaching the 15 Division I student-athletes. click here to read McConnell’s blog

Valparaiso will hold its annual Parents/Alumni/Friends Day on Sept. 24 with golf in the afternoon and bowling in the evening. A cookout will follow the golf outing.

James McCann, former Arkansas catcher, has signed a professional contract with the Detroit Tigers. He was chosen in the second round, the 76th overall pick, and was the first selection by the Tigers. McCann was the first collegiate catcher taken in the draft. McCann hit .306 in 2011 with six home runs and 38 RBI. He was the 2011 SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award.

Furman has promoted Jeff Whitfield to full-time assistant and brought in Chris Edwards as an assistant coach. Whitfield just completed his fourth season with the Paladins. He will continue to work with the catchers and hitters and will become recruiting coordinator. Edwards will be Furman’s pitching coach after spending the past three seasons at Presbyterian.

Jason Anderson has been hired as the volunteer assistant coach at Illinois. Anderson was a first team All-Big Ten pitcher for the Illini in 1999 and 2000. He was taken by the New York Yankees in the 2000 MLB Draft and reached the Major Leagues in 2003. Anderson also pitched with the New York Mets and the Cleveland Indians. He spent the past seven years in the minor leagues and independent baseball before retiring in July.

Wilson Boyd joins the Winthrop staff as a volunteer assistant coach. A native of Denver, N.C., Boyd played four years at Clemson (2007-10) and was an assistant coach at Hickory (N.C.) High School this past year. Boyd had a career batting average of .306 with the Tigers and played in three regionals, three super regionals and one College World Series.

John Lembo of Bradenton.com wrote a feature story on former Army standout Cole White. click here to read story

The Cape Cod League announced its postseason awards. Travis Jankowski of Stony Brook was named Most Valuable Player. He started all 44 games for Bourne, batting .329 with 22 RBI and 15 steals. He led the Cape with 57 hits, 31 runs and seven triples. Ryan Eades of LSU was Pitcher of the Year. He was 3-0 in seven games with a 0.84 ERA. Eades allowed 19 hits and walked seven in 32.1 innings with 23 strikeouts. Trevor Gott of Kentucky was Relief Pitcher of the Year. Gott notched a league-best 13 saves for Orleans, posting a 1.23 ERA in 18 games. He allowed 14 hits in 22 innings with four walks and 28 strikeouts. Ben Waldrip of Jacksonville State won the 10th Player Award. He batted .276 for Orleans with six home runs and 23 RBI. Victor Roache of Georgia Southern was named Outstanding Pro Prospect. He hit .316 for Cotuit with 12 doubles, six home runs, 30 walks and 28 RBI. Pat Cantwell of Stony Brook captured the Daniel J. Silva Award for sportsmanship, as voted on by the league’s umpires. Cantwell started 32 games behind the plate for Bourne and hit .277. He helped the Braves’ pitching staff register a team ERA of 2.77, second in the Cape.

Mike Neu has been named pitching coach at California. He was head coach at Diablo Valley College for the past three years, posting an 87-41 (.680) mark with a pair of Big 8 Conference titles. After his pitching career at Miami (Fla.), he played professionally in the systems of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, Oakland Athletics and Cincinnati Reds. Neu reached the Major Leagues with Oakland on April 9, 2003. He was an associate scout for the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Royals.

David Pierce has added Sean Allen and Philip Miller to his staff at Sam Houston. Allen was an assistant at FIU over the past four years, helping the Panthers post a 130-103-1 record with NCAA bids each of the past two seasons. He was recruiting coordinator, pitching coach and infield coach at FIU. Allen was an assistant at Houston from 2002 to 2007, working with infielders and hitters. Miller was an assistant the past two years at Northwestern State after serving as a volunteer assistant at SHSU for three seasons. He was infield and defensive coach for the Demons as well as first base coach.

Matt Kirby will be the volunteer assistant at Virginia this season. A 2003 graduate of William and Mary, Kirby coached at Georgetown the past two years. He also coached at VMI, W&M, Brown and Villanova. Kirby was a four-year letterman for the Tribe as a catcher and pitcher.

Houston will face Rice and Texas in 2011 fall scrimmages. The Cougars will host the Owls on Oct. 9 and will travel to Austin to face the Longhorns on Oct. 16 at 1 p.m. Houston will begin fall practice on Sept. 6 and conclude with the trip to Texas.

UNC Wilmington will host the USA and Canadian Junior National Teams next month as the squads prepare for the COPABE Pan American AAA/18U Championships in Cartagena, Columbia. The Seahawks will play Team Canada on Friday, Sept. 16, at 6 p.m. and Team USA on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 4 p.m. Both contests will be played at Brooks Field.

For the second straight year, centerfielder Chad Hinshaw has been named the recipient of the Stephen Heaton Endowed Scholarship at Illinois State. Hinshaw batted .244 in 54 games as a sophomore with 10 doubles, three triples, 46 runs and 22 RBI. He led the team with 31 steals in 37 attempts, the third-highest single-season total for thefts. Hinshaw has not committed an error in 109 career contests. Hinshaw has a 3.55 GPA through four semesters.