Season Opener Saturday
By Jeff Malmgren
Season opener Saturday
The Fauquier Gators will open their 2008 season in the Valley Baseball League with a Saturday game against the Haymarket Senators at Fauquier High's Athey Memorial Ballpark.
-2:30-3 p.m.: Registration for youth baseball clinic, conducted by Gators players and coaches.
-3-4:45 p.m.: Free admission to clinic for children in grades kindergarten-eight.
-5 p.m.: Gators batting practice.
-7:30 p.m.: Mayor George B. Fitch throws the first pitch prior to the game.
-The festivities: "It's to get some people out to the ballpark on opening day and see what I think is a really good thing here," coach Paul Koch said. "These are good players. It's high-level baseball."
Newcomers to watch
-Craig Brisson, OF, North Georgia College: .356 average, 8 HR, 45 RBI, 24 SB as sophomore; Peach Belt Conference Freshman Player of the Year.
-Greg DeSantis, SS/P, Long Island University: .284 average, 30 RBI and 17 SB as sophomore.
-Corey Shaylor, 2B, UNC-Charlotte:: .372 average and 40 RBI as freshman.
-Jon Luke Jacobs, P, Auburn: 2007 Alabama high school 4A Pitcher of the Year.
-Jack VanLeur, P, Creighton: 2.35 ERA in 23 innings as redshirt freshman.
-Shawn Griffith, P, George Mason: 2-1 and 33 K in 35.2 innings as junior.
-Dan Petitti, C, North Georgia), catcher: .283 average, 7 HR, 53 RBI as sophomore.
-Matthew Gaudet, 1B-OF, LSU:.240 average as college junior; 2005 draft pick of Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
-Anders Oster, SS, North Georgia: Division II South Atlantic Region Golden Glove Award winner.
-Eric Alessio, P, Marist: 27 K, 4.13 ERA in 32.2 innings as a sophomore.
-A catcher's assessment: "I caught a couple [bullpen sessions] and everybody looked pretty sharp. The [pitchers] are going to be very successful in a wood bat league," Dan Petitti said. "And there are a lot of good hitters. I can already tell."
New Gators pack a bite
By Jeff Malmgren
Times-Democrat Staff Writer
While much can be learned about a man through his handshake, it takes a little more to evaluate a ball player.
Watching a few batting practice swings, for example, is helpful.
Fauquier Gators coaches and players did both Sunday during their first practice of the 2008 season. Outside the batting cage many of the college-aged players gripped the hand of a teammate in introduction while inside the cage they gripped a wood bat for the first time since last summer.
Those first impressions, made at Fauquier High's Athey Memorial Ballpark, were enough to inflate expectations for the Gators this summer.
“The talent is there. You can already tell on the first practice," said newcomer Dan Petitti, a catcher from North Georgia College. "I'm really excited about the season...We’ve got a lot of athletes out here."
The Gators will open their eighth season, second in the wood-bat Valley Baseball League (VBL), Saturday with a 7:30 p.m. game against the Haymarket Senators.
But even that won't top the first day of practice for Fauquier coach Paul Koch.
“I love this day every year — meeting these guys," Koch said. "They’ve got that glimmer in their eye. They’re excited to be here."
The Gators also took fielding practice and conducted a bullpen session Sunday and then attended a Washington Nationals game on Monday as the five returning players and 23 newcomers continue to try to jell as a team.
With a 14-30 record last season, the Gators placed 10th in the 11-team VBL, finishing 16.5 games behind regular season champion Waynesboro. Fauquier also missed qualifying for the eight-team playoffs tournament, which Waynesboro also won.
"At times, the talent level just wasn’t up to par [with] some of the other teams," said returning pitcher Kyle Clayton of Kennesaw State. "But without a doubt, seeing the first day, we’ll compete with other teams in the Valley and we’ll compete well. You can just tell the level of talent is above par."
And Clayton's analysis was given without having seen the Gators who are still playing for top-level college baseball teams either waiting or hoping to play in the NCAA regional tournament. Among the 10 players yet to report are LSU first baseman/outfielder Matthew Gaudet, pitcher Jon Luke Jacobs and outfielder Justin Jones of Auburn and players from Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Creighton.
With the help of Koch and assistant coach Ted Currle, Brian Athey, one of the team owners, led the Gators' recruiting efforts. Koch said Fauquier considered about 50 players before putting 28 under contract.
In addition to Clayton, who went 2-5 for the Gators last season with a 5.33 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 54 innings, also returning are Kurt Lipton (Marshall), Scott Lambert (Shenandoah), Daniel Ottone (Western Carolina) and Chris Love (South Carolina).
“I love it up here," Love said. "I love the coaches, love the atmosphere and we just love playing the game."
Love, a third baseman/pitcher, had a .243 average for the Gators last season and tied Lipton, a first baseman/outfielder, for the team-lead in home runs with five. Lambert finished with a .303 average while Ottone led Fauquier with two saves, striking out 25 over 17.2 innings and posting a 2.04 ERA.
Fauquier lost some key players too, most notably pitcher Zac Blakney, who had more than a fourth of the Gators' wins in 2007. He went 5-1 with a 1.78 ERA and 62 strikeouts over 55.2 innings, but graduated college and is no longer eligible in the VBL.
Fauquier coaches feel confident in their new crop of pitchers, though. "To win in any league you’ve got to have pitching and I think we’ve upgraded there," Currle said.
Ottone will start opening day, while newcomers like Eric Alessio (Marist), B.J. Martin (Marist), Greg DeSantis (Long Island University) Jack VanLeur (Creighton) and Jacobs will help round out the staff of starters and relievers. Koch hopes to develop a four-man rotation, but a demanding schedule — like nine consecutive games to open the season — may expand it.
With only one week of practice prior to opening day, Fauquier's pitching rotation and lineup will likely remain fluid for the first eight games of the season. That doesn't lower expectations, though, and Koch said he sees no reason why the Gators can't contend in the VBL.
The players agree.
“I hope we win the championship," Petitti said. "That’s my goal on every team I play on."