Torero Diaries

As the spring semester begins to unfold, baseball season rapidly approaches. In these next three weeks, many students are painfully attempting to focus on school after such a long break. However, for a certain group of 35 guys, break was not so long.
We reported back to USD on Jan. 5, immediately preparing and concentrating on our upcoming season. During the month of January we were on our own schedules, lifting, running, hitting, throwing and conditioning until last Friday.
Just this past Saturday we took on previous USD ballplayers in the annual Alumni game. The Alumni game is a fun and interesting day, for it is the first quick glimpse at how our team will look this year and how we will all come together on the field. After Saturday, I think many of us would agree on the fact that with just a little fine tuning in certain areas, we are heading towards a very promising and successful 2010 season.
We managed to pull out a victory over the alumni despite the appearance and play of over nine current professional players. Two former Toreros who have made it to the MLB were also present. Brian Matusz of the Balitmore Orioles and Mike McCoy of the Colorado Rockies both paid a visit to their old stomping grounds at Cunningham Stadium.
Although the alumni came to play, our bats and pitchers made a statement as well. We had 11 hits, three homeruns, eight runs and zero errors in the win.
Looking over our 2010 team, there are many areas in which we will be strong on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Our pitching staff looks very promising with juniors Kyle Blair and Sammy Solis, who after a successful two years thus far are not only a big asset to the team, but are also turning the heads of almost every Major League scout.
Seniors A.J. Griffin, Darrin Campbell, Casey Schmidt, Matt Hauser and Matt Thomson also add to the depth of the pitching staff, making for a dominant force on the mound.
On the offensive side of things, we have many returners ready to go, including seniors James Meador, Nick McCoy, Kevin Muno, Chris Engell, Steven Chatwood, Brian Farris and myself. Junior returners Zack Walters and Victor Sanchez
are also key elements to the team, joining Blair and Solis in the long list of 2010 Toreros who will be talking to many professional scouts as June slowly approaches.
With a veteran team, talented underclassman, and an excellent coaching staff, I can say that our 2010 USD baseball team is ready to get after it on the practice field until our first home game against a tough Indiana team on campus Feb. 19.