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ASU has baseball revival
By Josh Moon
Montgomery Advertiser
Alabama State pitcher Tresmend Smith works at Thursday?s practice.
The Hornets have SWAC title hopes for the first time in several seasons.
Alabama State baseball coach Larry Watkins knew this year?s team was going to be a little different when he saw the list they had taped to his door a few days before the season started.
It was a list of goals that the team had for the upcoming season. And the Hornets didn?t go easy on themselves.
The list included making the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament, winning the conference tournament, making the NCAA tournament and winning it as well.
So far, the Hornets have been on a mission to accomplish many of those goals. ?I don?t think that I?ve ever had a team that wanted to succeed as much as this team does,? said Watkins. ?I truly believe that these guys just won?t give up until they?ve accomplished their goals.?
The top three teams from each division make the conference SWAC tournament and the winner of the tournament gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. So, with a 17-17 overall record and a 11-9 mark in conference play, the Hornets have placed themselves in second place in the SWAC?s East Division with 12 games remaining and still have a shot at achieving their goals.
?The closer these guys get to achieving those goals, the hungrier they are,? Watkins said. ?You can tell just by watching them how bad they want it.?
Whether the Hornets accomplish their goals or not this year, they?ve already showed a marked improvement from last season, when they went 14-28. Part of that turnaround is due to good pitching, according to Watkins.
?Sometimes, before ball games, I just get a hat and put all the names in it, shake it up and see who I pull out,? he said. ?We?ve got better pitching this year than in a long time.?
The pitching staff?s top starter is freshman Brian Nichols. So far this season, Nichols has posted a 2.76 earned run average, struck out 36 batters in 42 innings of work, while going 4-3 in seven starts.
Nichols said the pitching staff has taken upon themselves to raise the intensity level in each game.
?We?re the ones that go out there and make sure everybody is up for the game or for practice or for whatever we?re doing,? Nichols said. ?We?ve got a lot of unity on this team this year. Playing as a team was one of the things we most wanted to do this season and we have. You won?t find a team that?s any closer than this team.?
The high intensity of the pitching staff has earned them the nickname ?maniacs? from Watkins and assistant coach Quinton Jones.
?Those boys will do whatever we ask them to do for however long we ask them to do it,? Jones said. ?They?d run until dusk if we didn?t make them stop. They just work so hard.?
While the pitching staff has been raising the intensity level, sophomore pitcher Tresmond Smith said it was the leadership of the older players that?s made the difference this season.
?Last year, we only had a few upperclassmen on the team,? he said. ?This year, we?ve got quite a few. That really helps out to have someone with experience to kind of show you the way around.?
Smith said the team only needed a small push to turn things around.
?We just had to find out how to win,? he said. ?And that was easy. We definitely already knew how to lose, the only thing left was to learn how to win. All we needed was just a little spark to get things going.?
Now that they?ve got things going, Watkins said he doesn?t expect them to stop.
?We took all four games this past weekend from Alcorn (State),? Watkins said. ?These guys are hungry and only want more. They?re not going to stop until they accomplish their goals.?
By Josh Moon
Montgomery Advertiser
Alabama State pitcher Tresmend Smith works at Thursday?s practice.
The Hornets have SWAC title hopes for the first time in several seasons.
Alabama State baseball coach Larry Watkins knew this year?s team was going to be a little different when he saw the list they had taped to his door a few days before the season started.
It was a list of goals that the team had for the upcoming season. And the Hornets didn?t go easy on themselves.
The list included making the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament, winning the conference tournament, making the NCAA tournament and winning it as well.
So far, the Hornets have been on a mission to accomplish many of those goals. ?I don?t think that I?ve ever had a team that wanted to succeed as much as this team does,? said Watkins. ?I truly believe that these guys just won?t give up until they?ve accomplished their goals.?
The top three teams from each division make the conference SWAC tournament and the winner of the tournament gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. So, with a 17-17 overall record and a 11-9 mark in conference play, the Hornets have placed themselves in second place in the SWAC?s East Division with 12 games remaining and still have a shot at achieving their goals.
?The closer these guys get to achieving those goals, the hungrier they are,? Watkins said. ?You can tell just by watching them how bad they want it.?
Whether the Hornets accomplish their goals or not this year, they?ve already showed a marked improvement from last season, when they went 14-28. Part of that turnaround is due to good pitching, according to Watkins.
?Sometimes, before ball games, I just get a hat and put all the names in it, shake it up and see who I pull out,? he said. ?We?ve got better pitching this year than in a long time.?
The pitching staff?s top starter is freshman Brian Nichols. So far this season, Nichols has posted a 2.76 earned run average, struck out 36 batters in 42 innings of work, while going 4-3 in seven starts.
Nichols said the pitching staff has taken upon themselves to raise the intensity level in each game.
?We?re the ones that go out there and make sure everybody is up for the game or for practice or for whatever we?re doing,? Nichols said. ?We?ve got a lot of unity on this team this year. Playing as a team was one of the things we most wanted to do this season and we have. You won?t find a team that?s any closer than this team.?
The high intensity of the pitching staff has earned them the nickname ?maniacs? from Watkins and assistant coach Quinton Jones.
?Those boys will do whatever we ask them to do for however long we ask them to do it,? Jones said. ?They?d run until dusk if we didn?t make them stop. They just work so hard.?
While the pitching staff has been raising the intensity level, sophomore pitcher Tresmond Smith said it was the leadership of the older players that?s made the difference this season.
?Last year, we only had a few upperclassmen on the team,? he said. ?This year, we?ve got quite a few. That really helps out to have someone with experience to kind of show you the way around.?
Smith said the team only needed a small push to turn things around.
?We just had to find out how to win,? he said. ?And that was easy. We definitely already knew how to lose, the only thing left was to learn how to win. All we needed was just a little spark to get things going.?
Now that they?ve got things going, Watkins said he doesn?t expect them to stop.
?We took all four games this past weekend from Alcorn (State),? Watkins said. ?These guys are hungry and only want more. They?re not going to stop until they accomplish their goals.?
