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The Missouri Southern baseball team, led by coach Bryce Darnell, is coming off of a 28-26 season in which they made the MIAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
After a busy recruiting season in which Darnell and staff brought in 22 newcomers, including 11 new pitchers, the Lions were picked to finish fourth in the 12-team MIAA.
The Lions only return four starters from 2010. Among the departed seniors were offensive leaders Joe Lincoln (catcher), Jacob Taylor (shortstop) and Michael Zurmehly (DH).
“We have three newcomers at catcher,” Darnell said. “A Division I transfer from Iowa in Dallas Burke (Davenport, Iowa) who we expect to hit in the middle of our order and make an immediate impact. Another guy is Kevin Burgi (Jonesboro, Ark./Garden City CC) who is a coach on the field with a really high baseball IQ who will help out a lot defensively so, we obviously graduated a real good catcher last year and we feel like we brought in some guys that will give us help.”
Burke could also see time in the outfield and as the designated hitter throughout the season.
Junior Shayne Hoke returns to man first base after hitting .295 with a team leading 14 doubles in 2010.
“We need him to have a good year for us,” Darnell said of his first baseman. “We feel like he is poised to do that for us.”
Another player who could see time at first base and as a designated hitter is transfer Jesse Kinzey (Catoosa, Okla./Independence CC).
The Lions’ infield was decimated by departures from a year ago. Transfer Cullen Baxter (Overland Park, Kan./Park University) who sat out last season at Park with an injury is a player that the coaching staff is very high on.
“Cullen is a guy that has been really helpful for us and can play all three infield positions,” Darnell commented. “Most of his time will be spent at second base.”
Other players that will see time in the infield are freshmen Tee Helsel (Branson, Mo.), Rickey Vanderpool (Cassville, Mo.), and returning player Fernando Lugo.
Lugo has spent the last two years as a utility player for Southern.
“The biggest thing with Lugo is his consistency and that’s what we’ve said to him,” Darnell said. Lugo hit .347 with a pair of home runs in 22 games for Southern in 2010.
The Lions’ coaches are also expecting big things from the their youngsters in the infield as well.
The Missouri Southern baseball team, led by coach Bryce Darnell, is coming off of a 28-26 season in which they made the MIAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
After a busy recruiting season in which Darnell and staff brought in 22 newcomers, including 11 new pitchers, the Lions were picked to finish fourth in the 12-team MIAA.
The Lions only return four starters from 2010. Among the departed seniors were offensive leaders Joe Lincoln (catcher), Jacob Taylor (shortstop) and Michael Zurmehly (DH).
“We have three newcomers at catcher,” Darnell said. “A Division I transfer from Iowa in Dallas Burke (Davenport, Iowa) who we expect to hit in the middle of our order and make an immediate impact. Another guy is Kevin Burgi (Jonesboro, Ark./Garden City CC) who is a coach on the field with a really high baseball IQ who will help out a lot defensively so, we obviously graduated a real good catcher last year and we feel like we brought in some guys that will give us help.”
Burke could also see time in the outfield and as the designated hitter throughout the season.
Junior Shayne Hoke returns to man first base after hitting .295 with a team leading 14 doubles in 2010.
“We need him to have a good year for us,” Darnell said of his first baseman. “We feel like he is poised to do that for us.”
Another player who could see time at first base and as a designated hitter is transfer Jesse Kinzey (Catoosa, Okla./Independence CC).
The Lions’ infield was decimated by departures from a year ago. Transfer Cullen Baxter (Overland Park, Kan./Park University) who sat out last season at Park with an injury is a player that the coaching staff is very high on.
“Cullen is a guy that has been really helpful for us and can play all three infield positions,” Darnell commented. “Most of his time will be spent at second base.”
Other players that will see time in the infield are freshmen Tee Helsel (Branson, Mo.), Rickey Vanderpool (Cassville, Mo.), and returning player Fernando Lugo.
Lugo has spent the last two years as a utility player for Southern.
“The biggest thing with Lugo is his consistency and that’s what we’ve said to him,” Darnell said. Lugo hit .347 with a pair of home runs in 22 games for Southern in 2010.
The Lions’ coaches are also expecting big things from the their youngsters in the infield as well.
“Tee had an outstanding high school career in three sports at Branson High School and he’s had a really good fall with us here,” Darnell said. “We’ve got some flexibility in the infield with different guys being able to play different positions in there.”
The outfield is where Southern returns most of their experience as CJ Matthews (.289/2/15) and Patrick Deao (.297/3/31) were the team’s everyday center and right fielder in 2010. Joining those two in the outfield this season is Joplin native Dane Kolkmeyer.
Kolkmeyer played in 39 games as the team’s second baseman last year and hit .280 with 15 RBI.
“Dane is a returner for us that we decided to shift to the outfield, he will play left field for us this year,” Darnell confirmed. “He will also probably see a little time in the infield but we needed some help in the outfield and felt that Dane had the athleticism to make that move.”
Redshirt sophomore Cameron Beaver (Webb City, Mo.), freshman Zach Campbell (Blue Eye, Mo.), and juniors Ben Millard (Prairie Village, Kan./Johnson County CC), Jordan Kerbs (Nevada, Mo./Labette CC), and Harrison Gerber (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Johnson County CC) will also vie for playing time in the outfield.
Pitching was a major concern going into the off season as the Lions only returned three pitchers from the 2010 squad.
“We knew depth was an issue with our staff,” Darnell said. “Recruiting quality pitching depth at the division II level is hard to do because it takes time, you’ve got to recruit and develop guys but at the same time you will get guys that move to low or mid-level division I schools because everyone is hard up for pitching.”
The Lions addressed the depth concern with a blitz that concluded with 14 new pitchers joining the green and gold.
The starting rotation is projected to run as follows: Brett Abell (Miami, Okla./North Central (Texas) College), Austin Brown (Granby, /Crowder), Cody Griebling (Germantown, Wisc./Madison Tech CC), Ryan Wheat (Springfield, Mo./Jefferson College). There are several pitchers vying for the fifth starting spot in the rotation at this point.
“Brett (Abell) has been outstanding for us so far,” Darnell said. “Austin (Brown) is a top flight division II pitcher, he was recruited by some of the top division II programs in the country.”
Last season, Southern had only eight pitchers on the staff. This season, the Lions roster features 14 hurlers.
“We are happy with the depth of our pitching staff,” Darnell said. “It allows us to be more fluid with our rotation and kind of go with whoever has the hot hand.”
With the depth of their pitching staff and the athleticism in the lineup, the Lions seem poised for another good season. However, depending on who you ask, “a good season” is a relative term.
“For us to be 28-26, that’s bad, we’re disappointed in that, it’s not good enough,” Darnell insists. “…We have to play better against the teams that have finished ahead of us in the standings, Nebraska-Omaha, Central Missouri, and Emporia State. We’ve matched up pretty well with Emporia the last two years, Omaha wore us out last year, and so did Central even though we got to them a little bit the season before. If we want to make another jump, we’ve got to finish in there WITH them instead of finishing BELOW them. Our goal is not to be fourth in the MIAA, our goal is to finish in the top two of the league, finish in the top two of the conference tournament, and get to a regional and see what happens.”
