LAKE CHARLES - A hungry group of McNeese Cowboys ran onto the field at Joe Miller Ballpark Tuesday afternoon for the first official team practice of the 2019 baseball year. With just over two weeks to go before the season kicks off on Feb. 15, the baseball team showcased some of its stars and new faces.
McNeese competed in three intrasquad scrimmages this past weekend to lead into Tuesday's first full team practice as it begins preparation for it season-opening series at UTSA Feb. 15-17.
Head Coach Justin Hill discussed the team's offseason progression, intrasquad practices, and how the team is coming together for the upcoming season.
"The main focus we've had is just to review everything that we went over in the fall, communicating, and just counting on them to come back in shape and I think the guys have done a great job with that," said Hill. "It's about reps right now, this game is played every single day, so this is about game reps and getting as many as possible.
"The most exciting thing is that it was really competitive. The guys went out and competed. They know that they are going against each other but that's all we can do right now."
When asked about some of the key players returning for the Cowboys, Hill stated,
"One of the guys we have coming back is (pitcher) Rhett Deaton who was out all last season with an injury. I really think he is going to help out our pitching staff. We lost Grant Anderson to the draft and I think he's (Deaton) going to be a guy to step in and fill that spot for us.
"Aidan Anderson is coming back for us and will be a strong arm for the back of our bullpen. He started for us last year and came out of the bullpen."
Last year Anderson lead the Cowboys pitchers in nearly every category, ERA (3.30), opposing batting average (.215), wins (5), saves (6), and earned runs allowed (23).
"Obviously, Shane Selman is the anchor of our lineup and will be the leader of a lineup full of guys that had a lot of at bats last season."
In 2018, Selman had a batting average of .273, slugging percentage of .473, 60 hits, scored 38 runs, had 32 RBI's, and hit a team leading 10 home runs. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 39th round but decided to come back for his senior season.
"What we saw is kind of what we were hoping to see out of the guys," said Hill about the scrimmages. "You want to kind of see how they are now, compared to what they looked like in the fall, and see if anyone has made any moves forward. Specifically, we are close, but we have three more weeks to get where we want to be."
