All Things Gopher Baseball Season 2014

Very disappointed in the Gopher's showing in Omaha. Need an offense desperately. It has been a three year slide in production. Seems like there are Minnesota kids on several rosters that are producing, that used to happen rarely. Time to step up recruiting and the offense and time for the staff to stop bitching about being a northern school and start producing.
Definitely a disappointing end to the season after the Gophers had played some of their best baseball the last couple weekends heading into Omaha. I don't know if other schools are recruiting Minnesota harder or what it is but it definitely seems we have lost more players recently and I can understand the guys like Shore who decided to go to Florida last year or Hentges who picked Arkansas over the Gophers for next year because they get a chance to play in the SEC but its the guys like Boldt, Kelly, Knutson, etc. going to Nebraska and within conference that really make the difference. I did also see Nebraska has another Minnesota kid committed for 2015 in Lakeville junior infielder Angelo Altavilla. The Gophers last couple recruiting classes seem to have some nice potential and I have heard some good things about some guys that will be coming in next fall but you can never really be sure how they will translate to the college game. With the experience returning next year I think it would be a disappointing season if the Gophers don't find some way to reach the regionals next year. The biggest questions will be can they find some consistent offense which Coach Anderson talked about in the post game press conference and who will step into the weekend rotation and fill the void left by ace Alec Crawford.
 

The loss of in state recruits to Nebraska is the most concerning. With the renovation of Seibert, the biggest obstacle to recruiting has been eliminated, so that has to pick up. We cannot afford to lose the best players from our own state and be where we want to be.
 

Indiana and Nebraska locks for the NCAA. Illinois still has an outside chance for an at-large bid if it beats MSU and then beats Indiana at least once. Absent Iowa, Michigan, or Michigan State winning the tournament from the loser's bracket, that's the only chance the Big Ten has at getting a 3rd bid.
 

According to b1gbaseball.com the Big Ten has released future conference schedules through 2017 and here is the link: http://b1gbaseball.com/2014/05/17/future-big-ten-conference-schedules/
The Gophers 2015 conference schedule is:
March 20-22 @Maryland
March 27-29 NORTHWESTERN
April 3-5 @Rutgers
April 10-12 @Nebraska
April 17-19 PENN STATE
April 24-26 MICHIGAN
May 1-3 BYE
May 8-10 @Iowa
May 15-17 MICHIGAN STATE
 

Indiana and Nebraska locks for the NCAA. Illinois still has an outside chance for an at-large bid if it beats MSU and then beats Indiana at least once. Absent Iowa, Michigan, or Michigan State winning the tournament from the loser's bracket, that's the only chance the Big Ten has at getting a 3rd bid.
You think Illinois has to win 2 to have an outside chance? I've seen some that said Illinois may have a chance even with a loss today but if they win against Michigan State they should be pretty much locked in.
 


You think Illinois has to win 2 to have an outside chance? I've seen some that said Illinois may have a chance even with a loss today but if they win against Michigan State they should be pretty much locked in.

RPI is pretty iffy @ 53, though a couple wins over Florida and one over Indiana look nice. Just have a feeling they need to beat Indiana again to have a shot.
 

The Gophers have signed 8 players and 5 are native Minnesotans while the other 3 hail from Colorado, Wisconsin, and Illinois respectively. I'm not sure if it will end up happening or not but I had heard earlier this year about the possibility of former Hopkins and Michigan pitcher Tim Shannon maybe trying to join the team next fall as I believe he attended the University of Minnesota this year but did not tryout because I believe he was still recovering from a previous injury. Here is a list of the recruits that are scheduled to arrive this fall for the Gophers.

Alex Boxwell OF Coon Rapids,MN-Coon Rapids High School-Currently hitting .515 on the year with 3 HR, 3 3B, and 6 2B along with 12 RBI and 10 SB in 20 games.

Jeff Fasching LHP St.Cloud,MN-St.Cloud Cathedral High School-Currently 6-0 with 45 IP, 25 H, 3 ER, 0.47 ERA, 65 K, and 18 BB.

Reggie Meyer RHP New Brighton,MN-Totino-Grace High School-Brother of current Gopher Ben Meyer-Currently 2-1 with 12.1 IP, 8 H, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA, 5 K, and 3 BB.(Don't think his teams stats have been updated in a while.)

Toby Hanson C Delano,MN-Delano High School-Currently hitting .429 on the year with 7 HR and 7 2B along with 21 RBI in 18 games.

Luke Pettersen IF Minnetonka,MN-Minnetonka High School-Brother of former Gopher and current Twins minor leaguer AJ Pettersen. Stats only put in for 1 game so far had a single in 3 AB's as well as 1 run and 1 SB.

Lucas Gilbreath LHP Westminster,CO-Legacy High School-6-2 with 62.2 IP, 50 H, 13 ER, 1.45 ERA, 111 K, and 22 BB.

Fred Manke RHP Lodi,WI-Lodi High School-Couldn't find current stats on him but did find a scouting report. 6'2 190, fastball 85-87, changeup 77-78, curveball 69-72, and slider 76-78. 6/14/12 Manke is a 6-foot, 180-pound two-way player who impressed on the mound with his easy delivery. Manke’s arm works with little effort, as he showed command of an 83-84 mph fastball, a 66-68 mph curveball with solid bite and depth, and a 73-78 mph changeup, which has a chance to be a legit out pitch showing solid two plane action. Defensively, Manke moved well in the outfield and got momentum behind his accurate throws (85 mph). Additionally, Manke ran a 7.19 60. From prep baseball report Wisconsin.

Micah Coffey IF Batavia,IL-Batvia High School-Couldn't find current stats on him but did find a scouting report. 6.13.13 Coffey is an athletically built left-handed hitting third-baseman, 6-foot-2, 185-pounds. Showed athletic abilities in all areas of his game. He has a solid approach at the plate, setting up with a slightly open stance and short stride. He showed an advanced bat path, short and quick to the ball with extension through contact, maintaining balance throughout the swing. Flashed some pull-side power, recorded an 81 mph exit velocity. Coffey displayed solid defensive actions showing natural third-base instincts. He plays through the ball well and showed a 78 mph arm across the diamond with accuracy and some carry. 60 Time: 7.28 Position Velocity- Infield: 76 Exit Velocity: 87. At the plate, the left-handed hitting Coffey displayed a level swing with gap power. In the field, the lean prospect exhibited solid actions and soft hands while playing through the baseball, primary position 3B and secondary position 1B. From prep baseball report Illinois.
 

Shannon would be a great addition if he is healthy. Didn't he injure his arm?
 




Anderson is not a recruiter, and I don't think anyone on his staff is either. I do think they're good baseball coaches.
I've met Anderson a couple of times, and he doesn't exactly light up a room. Would like to see Anderson hit the Community colleges down in Florida and recruit a couple of JC players for offense. Other northern schools are doing
It. Gulf Coast Community College has.some real talent, as do other JC programs in the Southeast. If you're losing the top kids in Minnesota, you need to branch out. We do it for football.
 

Anderson is not a recruiter, and I don't think anyone on his staff is either. I do think they're good baseball coaches.
I've met Anderson a couple of times, and he doesn't exactly light up a room. Would like to see Anderson hit the Community colleges down in Florida and recruit a couple of JC players for offense. Other northern schools are doing
It. Gulf Coast Community College has.some real talent, as do other JC programs in the Southeast. If you're losing the top kids in Minnesota, you need to branch out. We do it for football.
I've noticed they really don't target JUCO kids much at all and have wondered why they don't use them more. I know you don't want to build most of your roster on JUCO guys but I think they could be used more situationally by the Gophers than they have been. They could even stay local if they wanted as there are a number of very good JUCO programs in Iowa such as DMACC where Gopher ace Alec Crawford played 2 years at before heading to Minnesota. There are a number of Minnesota kids who go down and play for those schools in Iowa and end up at some pretty decent schools like I know a couple are at Maryland and Kansas State. I believe next season the Gophers will have just 1 JUCO player on their roster. Either way I do like the potential of these last couple recruiting classes and think the staff has done a nice job on them despite losing some great players to Nebraska last year.
 

Congratulations to Friday night starter Alec Crawford who was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 25th round. Also congratulations to Gopher signee LHP Lucas Gilbreath who was drafted by his home state team the Colorado Rockies in the 36th round.

Other players drafted listed with Minnesota high school or college connections were:
4th Sam Hentges Mounds View HS-Cleveland
9th Max Murphy Bradley University-Twins
10th Paul Voelker Dallas Baptist-Detroit
12th Pat Kelly Nebraska-Twins
21st Onas Farfan Ridgewater CC-Twins
24th Lucas Long San Diego-Baltimore
26th Blake Schmit Maryland-Twins
27th Jason Hoppe Mankato State-Texas
30th Kyle Fischer St.Cloud State-Miami
34th Mike Bauman Mahtomedi HS-Twins
35th Brad Mathiowetz Rochester Mayo HS-Twins
 




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