FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Cullowhee, N.C. – Although official team practice will not begin until Sunday, Feb. 1, a pre-season buzz surrounding Western Carolina baseball has already begun. The Catamounts will hit the diamond to open practice in two weeks, but are continuing preparations for the 2009 season, which opens Feb. 20 with a three-game home stand against Bowling Green.
Off-season workouts include fall practice, as well as winter workouts leading into the opening of practice in February. Since the conclusion of the Catamount Fall World Series, the team endured individual instructional workouts through the end of the fall semester, through the start of the spring.
Also as a part of pre-season preparations, second-year head coach Bobby Moranda has named senior J.C. Lyons as his team captain.
“J.C. Lyons was a near unanimous selection by our players to be the team captain entering our 2009 season,” said second-year head coach Bobby Moranda. “He emerged as a leader last year. He is unselfish and puts the team first – he is a pure teammate. He is everything you want out of a Catamount baseball player.”
Moranda added, “I’ve never been a part of a team with only one captain. And just because he our only named team captain doesn’t mean we aren’t looking for the same leadership from our other upperclassmen and leaders.”
Lyons, who transferred to Western from Young Harris College in northern Georgia, hit .273 for the season with 13 home runs and 13 doubles in 38 games. He missed a month of the season – 19 games total – with a broken hand suffered during game two of the UNC Greensboro series in Cullowhee. Prior to the injury, Lyons was hitting .314 with nine homers and 10 two-baggers.
This year, Lyons will be reunited on the field with former YHC teammate, Trevor Collias, and former YHC coach – and current WCU assistant – Alan Beck, who played four years for the Catamounts from 2000-03.
In addition to his prowess on the field, Lyons is an accomplished student-athlete. He was one of nine Catamounts to make the WCU Dean’s List last fall, boasting a 3.595 cumulative grade point average while majoring in Sport Management. All told, the baseball team had 11 players post GPA’s of 3.0 or higher in the fall.
Also as a part of gearing up for 2009, the WCU Baseball team will hold a one-day camp on Saturday, Jan. 31 beginning at 10:00 am on-campus at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. The camp is geared towards players in grades 9-through-12. For more information, visit www.WCUBaseballCamps.com.
