Adam MacDonald
VALDOSTA — The Valdosta State baseball team begins its third season under the direction of head coach Greg Guilliams on Monday, when the Blazers head to Melbourne, Fla. to take on Florida Tech.
If the program continues to progress like it did the past two seasons under Guilliams and his brother Todd, an assistant coach, the Blazers could be headed for a big year in 2010.
In 2008, the Blazers surprised the Gulf South Conference by winning the East Division, after being picked in the preseason to finish fifth out of seven teams. Last year, the Blazers went one step further, finishing second in the GSC tournament and advancing to the South regional tournament, where they knocked out national power Tampa before being eliminated by Southern Arkansas, which was the No. 1 team in the nation at that time.
The Blazers hope their program will continue to progress. They’ll open the season as the 26th-ranked team in the country in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll and the No. 10 team in the Ping Baseball poll.
“I think our players would be pretty disappointed if our season ends in the same spot, or anything less than that,” Guilliams said. “Our region is so tough, but I think we have the type of club that can compete in that region. Hopefully we’re playing our best baseball at that time, and if we are, we’ll have a shot.”
Senior shortstop Jon Koenigsfeld is the only player on VSU’s roster who has started all three years under the Guilliams regime. He said this year’s squad has the potential to be the best one since he arrived at VSU in 2008.
“We want to win a national championship. That’s our goal,” Koenigsfeld said. “We want to win our conference tournament, win the regional, and when you win the regional, you get a bid to that national tournament. That’s what we want to win. We want to be the best. We have the talent to do it. Hopefully we can come together and put it all together.”
Guilliams’ first VSU team was built around defense and pitching. Last year, the Blazers were the ultimate offensive machine, clobbering a team-record 113 home runs.
In the offseason, the Blazers lost star designated hitter/pitcher Matt Costello to the Major League Baseball draft, where he was picked in the 35th round by the Milwaukee Brewers. Costello led the GSC in batting average and hits. At one point, he tied the Division II record by hitting safely in 13 consecutive at-bats. Not surprisingly, he was named an All-American, and was the GSC East Player of the Year.
VSU also lost senior catcher Chase Blackwood, a two-year starter who belted a team-high 22 home runs, including five in the GSC tournament.
Despite the lost production, the Blazers still return key cogs to their lineup. All-American Brandon Decker is back for his senior season. Last season, Decker was first in the GSC in homers (22), runs (75) and total bases (172), and was second in the GSC in RBIs (84) and hits (94). He hit .402 and walked 36 times.
First baseman Clayton Cain and third baseman Austin Smith also return. Cain batted .367 with 12 home runs and 57 RBIs, while Smith hit .342 with 16 homers and 53 RBIs.
Joining the lineup is West Virginia transfer Jed Yost, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 240 pounds. Koenigsfeld said Yost “swings out of his shoes,” and there is a growing legend that Yost hit a home run in practice at Billy Grant Field that cleared the scoreboard and carried the softball field house.
“If you had asked me last year at this time if Matt Costello was going to have the type of offensive season he had, and Chase Blackwood and some of those guys, I would have said, ‘I hope for that, but I’d be surprised,’” Guilliams said. “Having said that, I think we have some guys that can swing it. Now they might swing and miss, but they’re coming up to bat with some beef, and I think they have some juice in their bats. I hope we can have a similar type of club.”
With the Blazers clubbing the ball at will last year, it was pitching depth that ended up costing them a shot at the College World Series. The Blazers ran short on pitchers in their fourth game of the South region, where they were eliminated by Southern Arkansas, 12-5.
Still, the top of their rotation was good, with Costello and Brandon Graves, who was also picked in the 35th round of the MLB draft. With both of those players gone, new pitchers will have to fill the rotation.
Ross Gusky struggled early in 2009, after having a good fall, but he came on late, with good performances in the GSC and South regional tournaments. He’ll be an option in the rotation, along with former Lowndes product Tanner Fudge, who worked mostly out of the bullpen last year.
Guilliams also expects to get a boost from right-hander Brett Kennedy, a junior transfer from Florida Community College-Jacksonville. Kennedy is listed as one of the top newcomers to the GSC.
“Probably the key to whole thing is going to be some freshmen,” Guilliams said. “I think we have some good freshmen arms. We’re going to count on those guys right away, so if those guys can step up, I think we’ll be all right.”
The list of freshman pitchers includes Kyle Rowe, the former Valdosta High ace, who helped lead the Wildcats to the state semifinals as a junior in 2008. Guilliams said Rowe will probably be used as a starter and a reliever.
“Kyle had a good fall for us,” Guilliams said. “He’s worked hard on developing his change-up, and he looked really good (last Saturday) in the inter-squad game. He’s going to pitch for us, and he’s going to throw some key innings.”
Defensively, the Blazers will try to revert back to their 2008 form, when they had one of the better defensive seasons in school history. The Blazers only made 55 errors over the course of 62 games, and finished the season with a .968 fielding percentage. Last season, with a lot of the same players, VSU struggled on defense. In 64 games, they committed 99 errors.
Koenigsfeld and Smith make up a solid left side of the infield at short and third. But the Blazers are still slow in the corners of the outfield, and have to replace Blackwood, who, as a junior, was recognized as the nation’s top defensive catcher by being named to the Rawlings Gold Glove team.
“Behind the plate, that’s always a tough role to fill,” Koenigsfeld said. “We’ve got three guys who are all working hard at that position.”
Candidates to fill Blackwood’s shoes are Middle Georgia College transfer Josh Vining, Santa Fe Community College transfer Jordan Hollis and former Valdosta Wildcat Galen Smith, who transferred from Georgia College.
Guilliams said the Blazers’ corner outfielders, which include Decker, can make up for their defense at the plate, but VSU’s center fielder will get a lot of play. That position was manned last year by the speedy Logan Pierce and Robby Kuzdale. Both of those players are gone.
After their two-game series at Florida Tech, the Blazers return to Billy Grant Field to start a 12-game homestand, where they’ll face Augusta State three times and Nova Southeastern four times. Nova took three of four games from the Blazers last year.
Other tough opponents the Blazers will face this season are Florida Southern (preseason No. 2 in the country), Tampa (No. 7), West Alabama (No. 19) and Georgia College and State University (No. 27). They also travel to Ouachita Baptist over spring break.
“I would say this: If anybody is playing a tougher schedule in the country, I’d like to see it,” Guilliams said. “I know different coaches say that, but for us, it is true. It’s as tough as it can be. Having said that, our feeling is if you want to be the best, you have to play the best, and ultimately try to beat the best. That’s why our schedule is the way it is.”
