Baseball Completes First Week of Fall Practice
9/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Sept. 26, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama baseball team took the field for the first time this fall on Sept. 22, with the first of two intrasquad games on Thursday and Friday. The first week of fall practice included 24 returners, three redshirt freshmen and 17 newcomers.
"Anytime you have the start of baseball, whether it's the fall or spring, it's always an exciting time," head coach Mitch Gaspard said. "Thursday was a really good day for us. We got an opportunity to see a lot of new faces compete and scrimmage. Both days our guys did a nice job and they are falling into the routine we want. Our experienced players did a good job of coordinating things and helped the new guys understand what it means to play baseball at Alabama."
Offensively, Alabama's lineup looks improved with the return of Taylor Dugas and Andrew Miller in the outfield, Brett Booth at catcher, Jared Reaves at shortstop and Austen Smith at first base. The additions of Kenny Roberts, Cameron Carlisle, AJ Cole and Ben Moore will create competition throughout the Crimson Tide lineup.
"It was an exciting two days and we're encouraged after both scrimmages," Gaspard said. "The pitching was solid on both days and we're going to be improved, both offensively and defensively. There's a good combination of some new players that can make an immediate impact, on the mound, offensively and defensively, and some improved players from last year."
The bright spot of the two scrimmages were the additions to the pitching staff. Freshmen lefties Taylor Guilbeau and Justin Kamplain, freshman right-hander Jake Hubbard and junior Ian Gardeck showed early signs of what they will provide on the mound.
"We're looking forward to this week and getting into our practice routine and teaching," Gaspard added. "We want to put in more of our offensive and defensive schemes as we move into the second week of scrimmages on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Alabama continues practice with its second week of fall workouts this week. The week will consist of three practices on Monday through Wednesday, followed by three intrasquad games running Thursday through Saturday.
Fall Practice Week Two Schedule
Monday, Sept. 26 Practice - 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 27 Practice - 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 28 Practice - 2:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 29 Stretch - 2:30 p.m. Scrimmage, First Pitch at 3:45 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 30 Stretch - 2:30 p.m. Scrimmage, First Pitch at 3:45 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 1 Stretch - 10 a.m. Scrimmage, First Pitch at 11:30 a.m.
