College Baseball Daily continues our preview of the 2018 season with interviews with coaches throughout the country. Today, we feature second year Stetson head coach Steve Trimper who leads a talented squad in the Atlantic Sun this year. You can check out the full interview below.
- Stetson enters this season as the favorite in the Atlantic Sun coming off a 27-29 campaign while 15-6 in conference play. What are your expectations for this season?
Steve Trimper: Our expectations will be high, as they are each season. Although, we feel our team is much improved in all three areas of pitching, defense and at the plate, the ASUN conference is a very strong baseball conference which means you better bring your “A” game each weekend.
We will rely on the depth of our pitching staff, with our weekend rotation returning, coupled with JUCO transfer Jeremy Orbik, Vlad Nunez and freshman Austin Wood to add depth. Sophomore left-hander Mitch Senger has been our biggest surprise this fall and will compete for a weekend spot if we decide to move last season’s Friday night guy Brooks Wilson to the closer role.
Stetson baseball has a long tradition of success, set by our alums and former coach Pete Dunn, so we are setting our sights on building off that foundation and competing on a national stage as we continue to move forward.
2. The Hatters return one of the top pitchers in the country with junior Logan Gilbert who went 10-0 and had a 2.02 ERA last year. What makes him such a strong number 1 starter?
ST: Logan certainly has great stuff with a fastball that can run in the upper 90’s and quality secondary pitches with his slurve and change up. Pitching Coach Dave Thereneau worked hard with Logan on a power slider which he has added to his repertoire. I think his summer in the Cape allowed him to work on this and certainly will help as his career develops.
The key factor Logan has is his ability to quietly compete and work hard. A player with his recent success could easily slip into a “comfortable” position but this is certainly not the case with Logan. He has worked harder than ever by putting on 20 pounds over the off-season and is about as humble as a person you can have. Not a day goes by and I see Logan still doing his work, picking up after practice, and leading by example. This is what completes Logan as a “Friday night guy” in my opinion.
- Joining Gilbert returning to the pitching staff are Brooks Wilson who went 4-7 and 3.01 ERA and Jack Perkins as he went 7-5 with a 2.71 ERA. Do you see any newcomers or returnees knocking them out of the weekend rotation?
ST: As I stated a bit earlier, we have a few new pitchers to our program that will certainly help. Brooks and Jack continue to lead our team with Logan on the mound, but Senger, Orbik, Nune and Wood all will get quality innings. Sophomore RHP Ryan Stark had a great freshman year and will also play a big role this season. Senior LHP Ben Onyshko has the ability to jump into either a starting role or a big time lefty on the back-end depending on our needs and brings a very good curveball from the left side to our pitching staff.
- Leading the returnees on offense is junior Jacob Koos who led the team in hitting with a .317 batting average while leading the team with 23 stolen bases. How important is he to the offense?
ST: Jacob is our spark plug. When he goes, our offense goes. I feel strongly the 2018 team has a bit more firepower to help him out this season, so I look for him to build off his 2017 successes. He can disrupt a defense with his speed and ability to run the bases, so it is key to get him on.
Sophomore Andrew MacNeil and JUCO transfer Baylen Sparks who will also hit right behind him, will add speed and the ability to handle the bat in key two strike situations. Juniors Mike Spooner and Jack Gonzalez, along with Sophomore shortstop Jorgie Arenas will give the middle of the line up a bit more punch. Senior Austin Hale is not only a great defender, but brings a steady bat that does a great job getting key hits for us. There are a few other newcomers in Jon Meola (Univ of Virgina/Seminole St) and Bruce Martin (Miami Dade) that will also add depth to the lineup.
- Do you see any newcomers making an impact in the starting lineup?
Offensively, we did go the JUCO route with Meola, Sparks and Martin. However, freshman catcher Nick Cardieri will be much needed help behind the plate with the senior Hale. We had very little depth there last season and Hale did most of the catching. Cardieri has a plus arm and certainly does not play mentally like a freshman. He will help this season and will take over after Hale graduates.
Kyle Ball out of New Hampshire has made serious strides at the plate since the fall, and gives us a quality back up at both third base and shortstop. Deandre Shelton has been very good offensively and as a switch hitter can help out. Our biggest projection guy is Eric Foggo, who has great athleticism for a big guy with power but needs to get some experience with college pitching and he could really take off.
- As you enter your second season in charge of the Hatters program, what has been the biggest difference from coaching at Maine and Manhattan?
ST: Wow..great question. Well, lets see……the biggest change is the Snow and not having to shovel the field! Seriously, my entire career has been in the Northeast and as we all would agree, there are some bigtime baseball being played in the North. Look at the success in recent years of programs like UCONN, Bryant, BC and of course America East teams like Binghamton, 2012 Stony Brook and some Maine teams along with many others have had. I think back to a few really quality Maine teams in 2006, 2011, 2012 and 2013, and how many times those players dealt with the adversity of dealing with the weather to put together a great season.
However, I have 2 things that really stand out to answer that. First, the obvious is the ability to get on the field every day and work on game like situations. Being on dirt mounds and infields, seeing fly balls for our outfielders, running the bases, etc. allow our team to progress quicker. Second, one that most would not expect is the motivation to practice the little things to get better. What I mean by this is when our Maine club would be working hard in the dome to prepare, they would look forward to getting on the plane and compete outside. As a weekend would progress against a southern team, those teams would certainly be a bit rusty. But after a long trip back Sunday evening with the weekend wrapping up, the coaching staff has a list of things to work on. I found it difficult to go back inside and keep the guys at 110% focus in those Tuesday and Wednesday practices. The guys, rightfully so, would be looking forward to getting back down to warmer weather and sometimes overlook those important practices. I always felt this led to the reason a program like Maine was a different team in May then in Feb. Here at Stetson, we can get out every day to work on the little things you can’t always get done when weather inhibits a program, like relays, cut off offs, fly balls, etc.
Lastly, and very obvious, is the travel. It can wear down the players having to come to warmer weather each weekend, only to get back for classes each Monday. We play 36 home games, which allows us to not have the wear and tear on the guys that traveling can have.
So, there are some really great programs with outstanding coaching staffs to build off the challenges weather can deal to a program. With that said, I am now spoiled and do not miss wearing long johns under my game pants!
