Bobby Moranda has started up fall practice with his Western Carolina squad. He is entering his first season as the head coach of the Catamount program. He was with the Georgia Tech program for six seasons under Danny Hall. Asheville Citizen-Times writer Tyler Norris Goode checked in on Fall practice recently where he recognized a change in philosophy. The full article is available here.
FROM VALLEY BASEBALL LEAGUE
Baseball website PGcrosschecker.com recently compiled its list of the top 20 players in the Valley Baseball League. The list was compiled by Allan Simpson with input from the league's managers and scouts.
Similar to the recently released Baseball America list, PG Crosschecker identified Winchester's Luke Greinke as the league's top prospect. He was also the league MVP. He was followed by Covington outfielder Jason Kipnis, but then six of the next seven players listed were pitchers.
Simpson noted that league officials felt that the 2007 season saw a jump in overall talent around the league, in particular in the pitching department. The numbers appear to support that assertion. In 2007, league pitchers as a whole had a 3.70 earned run average while hitters had a .247 batting average as a league. In 2006, hitters posted a .258 average while pitchers compiled a 3.88 ERA, and the year before saw a .257 batting average and 3.97 ERA as a league.
While Waynesboro finished first in the regular season and won the Jim Lineweaver Cup as league champions, the Generals placed just three players in the top 20 and none higher than #11. In fact, many of the top prospects come from the lower half of the standings. Simpson noted that was a sign of the league's improved depth.
PGCrosschecker.com Valley League Top 20 Prospects
1. Luke Greinke, UT, Winchester (Auburn)
2. Jason Kipnis, OF, Covington (Arizona State)
3. Zac Blakney, RHP, Fauquier (Montevallo)
4. Shayne Moody, SS, Woodstock (Charlotte)
5. Ashur Tolliver, LHP, Harrisonburg (Arkansas-Little Rock)
6. Donald Jordat, RHP, Luray (Miami-Dade C.C.)
7. Rob Gilliam, RHP, Luray (UNC Greensboro)
8. Tim Sexton, RHP, Staunton (Miami-Dade C.C.)
9. Josh Judy, RHP, Haymarket (Indiana Tech)
10. Tyler Kuhn, SS/2B, Luray (West Virginia)
11. Pat Irvine, C/OF, Waynesboro (Elon)
12. Garrett Parker, RHP, Harrisonburg (Oklahoma City)
13. Bobby Hernandez, RHP, Staunton (Barry)
14. Josh Eidell, RHP, Woodstock (Villanova)
15. Elih Villanueva, RHP, Luray (Florida State)
16. Jeremy Cruz, 1B, Luray (Stetson)
17. Chris Masters, LHP, New Market (Western Carolina)
18. Brandon Sizemore, 2B, Waynesboro (Charleston)
19. Kurt Davidson, C/1B, Waynesboro (Akron)
20. Dustin Umberger, RHP, Luray (Liberty)
Full scouting reports from the summer on each player are available here. A subscription is required to view the insider-level reports.
Nick Mingione and David Haverstick have recently been added to Bobby Moranda's staff at Western Carolina. Nick Mingione comes from Kentucky where he served as a volunteer assistant coach for two season. David Haverstick comes from Savannah College of Art and Design where he served as the pitching coach for five seasons. He will continue in the role with the Catamounts. The full release is available here.
Western Carolina has officially announced that Bobby Moranda will be the new head coach of the baseball program. He comes to the school from Georgia Tech where he was the associate head and pitching coach to Danny Hall for six seasons. He also spent time at Wake Forest in a similar position while starting his coaching career as an assistant with Virginia and Eastern Kentucky.
Full Release
Two more candidates, including a member of the Western Carolina baseball “family,” are getting a shot this week at becoming the Catamounts’ next head coach.
Jeff Sziksai, a Reynolds graduate and former WCU player, met with Western officials on Monday in Cullowhee. Georgia Tech associate head coach Bobby Moranda will also get an interview this week.
WCU assistant coach Eric Filipek, former N.C. State assistant Chris Roberts and Vanderbilt assistant Erik Bakich got their chances last week.
Complete story
According to multiple reports around the Internet including the Knoxville News, the University of Tennessee will name Todd Raleigh their next head coach. Raleigh is the current head coach of Western Carolina where he took the team to the NCAA Tournament on two separate occasions including the 2007 season. He compiled a record of 257-209 in eight seasons with the Catamounts.
Also, Tony Delmonico has decided to transfer to Florida State next season. This was expected as Delmonico's father Rod was an assistant under Mark Martin Sr. before heading to Tennessee.
Knoxville News
Western Carolina Release
Tennessee Release
North Carolina 6 Western Carolina 5
UNC scored two runs in the top of the ninth to grab the lead from Western Carolina and held on to win the NCAA Regional which gives them a spot in the Super Regionals. Josh Horton hit a two run single with two outs in the ninth to give the Tar Heels the lead. Andrew Carignan pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth to pick up his 14th save and send the Tar Heels back to a Super Regional where they will take on South Carolina. Western Carolina ends the season with a 42-20 overall record.
UNC Recap
Western Carolina Recap
Western Carolina 9 East Carolina 5
The Catamounts picked up a 9-5 victory over intrastate rivals East Carolina to stay alive in the NCAA Tournament. John Ingram went 3-4 with a homer and a triple while driving in three runs. Western Carolina advances to the Championship game of the regional which will take place on Monday against North Carolina. The game was originally scheduled to be played Sunday evening but was postponed until Monday. If WCU wins in the opener, they will play UNC in a second game. East Carolina finishes the season with a 40-23 record.
Western Carolina Recap
East Carolina Recap
Western Carolina 7 Jacksonville 0
The Catamounts picked up a 7-0 victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins. Drew Saberhagen pitched eight strong innings while allowing seven hits without allowing a run to up his record to 9-1. The offensive leader for the Catamounts was Steven Strasbaugh who went 3-5 with an RBI. Jacksonville ends the season with a 34-28 record while WCU will take on East Carolina in an elimination game.
Western Carolina Recap
Jacksonville Recap
UNC 11 East Carolina 10
North Carolina scored three runs in the bottom of ninth to get an 11-10 victory over intrastate rival East Carolina. Dustin Ackley hit a single up the middle with one out in the ninth to drive in Reid Fronk with the winning run. North Carolina reliever Rob Wooten pitched a scoreless top of the ninth as he picked up the win to up his record to 4-1. UNC will take on the winner of the elimination game between Western Carolina and East Carolina on Sunday.
UNC Recap
East Carolina Recap
East Carolina 9 Western Carolina 8
The East Carolina Pirates got a bases loaded single in the bottom of the eighth inning by Jamie Ray to drive home the winning run as the Pirates picked up a 9-8 victory over Western Carolina. East Carolina advances in the winning bracket to take on North Carolina on Saturday. Western Carolina will take on Jacksonville in an elimination game on Saturday.
ECU Recap
WCU Recap
North Carolina 6 Jacksonville 0
Robert Woodard threw eight shutout innings while scattering seven hits as he shutdown the Jacksonville offense in a 6-0 victory. The Carolina offense was led by Tim Federowicz who went 3-4 with 2 RBI. They advance in the winners bracket to take on East Carolina while Jacksonville will take on Western Carolina.
UNC Recap
Jacksonville Recap
The University of North Carolina is hosting the NCAA Regional this weekend at Boshamer Stadium. The three other schools who will be playing in the regional are Western Carolina, East Carolina, and Jacksonville.
North Carolina
The North Carolina Tar Heels (48-12) went undefeated at the ACC Tournament on their way to the ACC Tournament Championship. They are led by Freshman All-American Dustin Ackley who has a .437 average. Josh Horton also provides strong defense and a potent bat in the lineup as he has a .329 average in 60 games. Robert Woodard with a 9-2 record and a 3.29 average. The CBB did check out the Tar Heels this season which can be read by clicking here. They open the tournament on Friday when they play Jacksonville at 6:00 pm.
UNC Tourney Notes
East Carolina
The East Carolina Pirates (39-21) head up the road to Chapel Hill to open up their NCAA Tournament against Western Carolina on Friday at 2 pm. ECU went to the Conference USA championship game but lost to Rice 16-8. They are led by Dale Mollenhauer who leads the team with a .329 average. Josh Dowdy is the top starting pitcher with a 5-1 record in twelve starts.
East Carolina Tourney Notes
Western Carolina
The Western Carolina Catamounts (40-18) enter this weekend coming off the Southern Conference Tournament in which they were eliminated after two games after losing to Georgia Southern and The Citadel. Western Carolina's top hitter is Kenny Smith who is hitting .396 on the season in 58 games. Drew Saberhagen leads the team with an 8-1 record and a 3.10 ERA. He is the son of former MLB pitcher Brett Saberhagen. They open the tournament against East Carolina on Friday at 2 pm.
Western Carolina Tourney Notes
Jacksonville
The Jacksonville Dolphins enter this weekend with a 34-26 overall record after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament to get into the NCAA Regional. The Dolphins are led by Pete Clifford who leads the team with a .359 average and in homers with 14. Justin Young has the lowest ERA of the starters at 3.33 but only has a record of 5-5. They will open up against North Carolina at 6 pm on Friday.
Jacksonville Tourney Notes
The CBB predicts UNC to win the regional with East Carolina being the sleeper team from Conference USA.
The Bulldogs held the Catamounts scoreless all the way until two outs in the bottom of the ninth when Blake Murphy drew a bases loaded walk. Senior hurler Link Saunders came in to record the final out and pick up his sixth save of the year as he caught Kenny Smith looking to end the game. Jones put the Bulldogs on the board first for the second consecutive night with a solo shot to right in the second inning. Jones has homered in the last three games, belting a round-tripper in his first at bat in the last two. Junior third baseman Matt Arnold was able to race home from third on a passed ball to give the Dogs a 2-0 advantage. The Citadel struck again in the fourth as senior center fielder Chance Smith ripped a run-scoring double to the gap in left center. Junior left fielder Chris Swauger followed that up with a base hit up the middle to make it 4-0 Bulldogs. Swauger earned his second RBI of the evening with a solo bomb off the batter’s eye in the ninth before sophomore Sonny Meade was awarded a free pass. Brown followed that up with a two-bagger off the top of the wall in right to plate freshman Matt Simonelli, who entered the game as a pinch-runner for Meade. Jones then sent Brown across the dish with a single to right, extending The Citadel lead to seven. After holding opponents to 22 consecutive scoreless innings, the Bulldogs surrendered two bases-loaded walks with two outs in the ninth. Crim (7-3) earned the victory for the Dogs as he tossed 7.0 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits while fanning eight and walking four. Western starter Tyler Sexton (8-3) suffered the loss as he lasted 3.2 frames, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits while striking out two and walking one. Swauger, Jones and Arnold each collected three-hits on the night as No. 7 The Citadel will now face No. 3 Elon in game 10 of the SoCon Tournament on Thursday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Riley Park. The Bulldogs were 1-2 versus the 
FROM THE CITADEL PRESS RELEASE
The Southern Conference has announced Alex Garabedian of College of Charleston was named the player of the week for the week ending on April 23rd. He hit .522 (12 for 23) with two homers while scoring five runs and driving six runs in.
College of Charleston Release
Southern Conference Release
The Southern Conference also has announced that Western Carolina's Greg Holland. He picked up three wins in four appearances last week.
Western Carolina Release
Southern Conference Release
The Western Carolina Catamounts completed a sweep over The Citadel with a 18-3 victory on Sunday. Corey Martin only let up one hit in his six innings of work to get his second win of the year in his first start. The Catamounts jumped on Bulldogs starter Justin Smith for seven runs in the first inning knocking Smith out of the game after recording only a single out. They continued to extend the lead throughout the game as the Bulldogs were not able to recover from the first inning. Western Carolina will return to action when they visit Kentucky on Tuesday before heading to Davidson in the next Southern Conference match-up. The Citadel will play College of Charleston at Riley Park in the annual "Turn Back the Century" game on Wednesday before hosting Wofford.
Western Carolina Recap
The Citadel Recap
The Western Carolina Catamounts scored nine runs in the seventh inning to rally from a 5-3 deficit and cruise to a 12-5 victory over The Citadel. Barrett Shaft for the second straight game went 3-4 to lead the Catamounts attack. Chris Masters picked up the victory by working on 1/3 of an inning to up his record to 4-2. Drew Saberhagen started for Western Carolina and allowed five runs in his 6.2 innings of work. (Anyone know if he is Bret's son?) Raymond Copenhaver picked up the loss by not recording an out and allowing three runs on two hits while facing only three batters. Western Carolina goes for the sweep on Sunday at 2:00 pm.
Western Carolina Recap
The Citadel Recap
The Western Carolina Catamounts picked up a 7-3 victory over The Citadel Bulldgos in a key Southern Conference showdown. Barrett Shaft got the Catamounts offense going by giving them a 3-4 game with 3 runs scored from his lead-off role in the lineup. Tyler Sexton pitched 8.0 excellent innings to get his fifth victory of the season against no losses. Wes Wrenn got the loss from The Citadel and drops to 3-3 on the season. The teams continue their series with a first pitch scheduled at 4:00 pm.
Western Carolina Recap
The Citadel Recap
The Citadel Bulldogs will head to Cullowhee NC to take on Western Carolina in a big Southern Conference showdown. This will be the first time all season that the Bulldogs will leave the state of South Carolina. They were originally scheduled to head to Minnesota earlier in the season but couldn't get there because of a major blizzard. The Citadel is led by Zach Brown who is hitting .337 with seven homers and 22 RBI on the season.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: Wes Wrenn (3-2, 4.64 ERA) vs Tyler Sexton (4-0, 4.64 ERA)
Saturday: Matt Crim (2-2, 4.89 ERA) vs Drew Saberhagen (2-1, 2.68 ERA)
Sunday: Justin Smith (4-1, 5.31 ERA) vs TBA
UNC 28 Davidson 3
North Carolina hit six homers including two from Benji Johnson to give the Tar Heels the 28-3 victory over Davidson. UNC scored eleven runs in the second inning and then twelve in the third to take full control of the game. UNC will be back in action on Friday when they host Wake Forest.
UNC Recap
Davidson Recap
Maryland 12 Coppin State 0
The Maryland Terrapins held Coppin State hitless and used a balanced attack by scoring in seven out of their eight at bats to continue the Coppin State losing streak to 20 games. Mike Murphy went 2-4 with 3 RBIs to lead the Maryland offensive attack. Brett Curll, Tim Kearney, Brett Jones, and Nick Pearce all went two innings without allowing a hit while Brian Shellhamer pitched a perfect ninth to complete the no-hitter. Maryland will visit Georgia Tech this weekend for a big ACC series.
Maryland Recap
Coppin State Recap
Virginia 4 Longwood 3
Brandon Marsh hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Cavaliers to a 4-3 come from behind victory over Longwood. Casey Lambert struck out 2 batters in the top of the ninth to pick up the victory for the Cavs. Virginia will travel across the state to Virginia Tech for a weekend series.
UVA Recap
Longwood Recap
Clemson 15 Western Carolina 6
The Clemson Tigers blew out Western Carolina 15-6 in non-conference action on Wednesday in Clemson SC. Taylor Harbin and Doug Hogan led the offense with three hits a piece. Clemson will return to action on Friday when they host the Hurricanes.
Clemson Recap
Western Carolina Recap
NC State 6 UNC-Greensboro 0
The NC State Wolfpack received a stellar pitching performance from Nate Karns, Jeff Stallings, and Sam Brown who combined on a three hit shutout. Caleb Mangum and Pat Ferguson each picked up two RBIs to lead the offense. NC State heads to Chestnut Hill to open the BC home schedule this weekend and The College Baseball Blog should be there on Saturday and Sunday.
NC State Recap
UNC-Greensboro Recap
Georgia Tech 6 Georgia Southern 2
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets used nine pitchers and were able to limit the Georgia Southern Eagles to two runs. Danny Payne and Michael Fisher were the only two Yellow Jackets with two hits on the day. Georgia Tech will host Maryland this weekend for a big ACC series.
GA Tech Recap
Georgia Southern Recap
Winthrop 15 Wake Forest 9
The Winthrop Eagles used a ten run fifth inning to pick up a 15-9 slugfest victory over Wake Forest on Wednesday. Winthrop will visit UNC-Asheville while Wake Forest heads to UNC for a big ACC weekend series.
Winthrop Recap
Wake Forest Recap
Boston College and Holy Cross were postponed until Thursday when they will try again to play their big non-conference game in a battle of Massachusetts.
BC Release
HC Release
UNC 10
Towson 2
The UNC Tar Heels picked up a 10-2 victory over the Towson Tigers behind a three hit game from Tim Fedroff. Adam Warren picked up his fourth victory of the season by going five innings while only giving up a run.
UNC Recap
Towson Recap
Western Carolina 6
Clemson 3
Western Carolina used a five run sixth inning to upset the Clemson Tigers by a score of 6-3. The Catamounts were led by catcher Blake Murphy who went 2-4 with two RBI. D.J. Mitchell hit a two run homer to lead the Tigers.
Western Carolina Recap
Clemson Recap
Virginia 11
Richmond 1
The Virginia Cavaliers used a 13 hit attack to pick up their 20th victory of the season over the Richmond Spiders. Brandon Guyer went 4-6 with 4 RBI to lead the Cavs to the victory. Pat McAnaney picked up the victory by going five strong innings while giving up only one unearned run.
Virginia Recap
Richmond Recap
Wake Forest 6
Ohio University 4
Willy Fox hit his fourth homer on the year and Dustin Hood went 3 for 4 to lead the Deacons to the 6-4 victory. This win broke a five game losing streak for the Deacons and gave them their 12th win on the season.
Wake Forest Recap
Ohio University Recap
Boston College and Central Connecticut State had their game canceled due to the unplayable field conditions throughout the Northeast. They will try to make up the series later this year on a date yet to be determined.
BC Release
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