FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Lumberjack baseball team opened up fall practice on Monday with approximately 60 players reporting for duty as Johnny Cardenas and his staff begin preparations for the 2010 season.
The `Jacks can work as a full team for 20 practices in the fall with a intrasquad world series scheduled for the final week of practice.
"It’s exciting to get going," Cardenas said. "It is a good group of kids that we have on campus this year and to finally get an extended look at our new guys with a bat and glove in action, it’s going to be nice to have a better idea of what we are working with."
Approximately 35 pitchers and 25 position players went to work at Jaycees Field on Monday as SFA gets ready to better a 2010 campaign that saw it go 23-32 and qualify for only its second ever Southland Conference Tournament.
All-conference shortstop Tanner Hines headlines the returning core of position players after hitting .353 last season with 17 stolen bases. Ryan Priest, Bo Coffman and Jarid Scarafiotti are all expected to play big roles offensively as well while newcomers Bobby Loveless, Darren Crabtree and Garrett Smith are all expected to make an immediate impact in the `Jacks lineup.
SFA lost a pair of all-conference pitchers from a year ago in Erich Lehmann and Richard Folmer, but returners Alex Moshier, Brett Rogers and Jared West each logged plenty of innings in 2009 and will likely see similar time in 2010. However, Cardenas has brought in a number of pitchers for next year including weekend rotation frontrunners Justin Braddock, Tyler Herriage and Brad Oates.
