All Things Gopher Baseball

I believe he is the son of Twins coach Joe Vavra

<blockquoteclass="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Excited to announce my commitment to play baseball and attend school at the University of Minnesota! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/futuregopher?src=hash">#futuregopher</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/GopherBaseball">@GopherBaseball</a></p>— TerrinVavra(@TerrinVavra2) <a href="https://twitter.com/TerrinVavra2/status/588757557579161600">April 16, 2015</a></blockquote> <script asyncsrc="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquoteclass="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>WI: SS <a href="https://twitter.com/TerrinVavra2">@TerrinVavra2</a> (Menomonie, 2015) commits to <a href="https://twitter.com/GopherBaseball">@GopherBaseball</a>. Vavrawas one of the top available seniors in WI. <a href="http://t.co/nGahSDp3QK">http://t.co/nGahSDp3QK</a></p>— PBR Wisconsin (@PBRWisconsin) <a href="https://twitter.com/PBRWisconsin/status/588754589312094209">April 16, 2015</a></blockquote> <script asyncsrc="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

http://www.elitesportsadvising.com/terrin-vavra.html
 

Looks like the Gophers added another recruit this Spring this one from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Smith is listed as a infielder/catcher on their roster.
 


UC-Irvine radio guy mentioned during his pregame today that the Gophers will make the return trip to Irvine next season for a 3 game series.
 




Looks like Glen Perkins is giving back to the program -

Current Twins closer and Minnesota alumni Glen Perkins gave the baseball program “a very nice gift” to start building an indoor hitting and pitching building, head coach John Anderson said.

http://www.mndaily.com/sports/2015/...foreign-travel-next-football-season-road-trip


Curious to the location in respect to the facilities project.
Good news there I know that Coach Anderson had been working hard on fundraising for phase 2 of the Siebert project and I believe this was part of it. I know they wanted it right at the stadium but there isn't exactly a great deal of space out there so like you said it will be interesting to see where exactly they would build this.
 

Good news there I know that Coach Anderson had been working hard on fundraising for phase 2 of the Siebert project and I believe this was part of it. I know they wanted it right at the stadium but there isn't exactly a great deal of space out there so like you said it will be interesting to see where exactly they would build this.

Glad to see that phase 2 is still in progress. I believe the lighting donated by Foundation for Minnesota Baseball was also part of phase 2 and a big deal. Hopefully we start to see an uptick in player development and recruiting with this indoor hitting/pitching building plus with the completion of the Vikings stadium giving the U the ability to train and have early spring home games (I assume this will start in 2017). Hopefully we see Gopher baseball in the hunt for the B1G and post season play again!

GG - Do you have any other insights into phase 2 of the project?
 

Glad to see that phase 2 is still in progress. I believe the lighting donated by Foundation for Minnesota Baseball was also part of phase 2 and a big deal. Hopefully we start to see an uptick in player development and recruiting with this indoor hitting/pitching building plus with the completion of the Vikings stadium giving the U the ability to train and have early spring home games (I assume this will start in 2017). Hopefully we see Gopher baseball in the hunt for the B1G and post season play again!

GG - Do you have any other insights into phase 2 of the project?
I've heard bits and pieces of it before but not sure what it all consists of. I believe the main part of it is the hitting/pitching building and locker room/clubhouse at Siebert. Not sure what else is part of it maybe an overhang over at least a portion of the seating area?

EDIT: Found it on http://www.gophersports.com/facilities/siebert-field.html Phase II (TBD) - Will include indoor training facility, lights, home and visitor locker rooms, offices, umpires locker room and canopy
 



Since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1999 these programs have advanced to a Super Regional as members of the B1G:

Illinois (2015)
Indiana (2013)
Maryland (2015)
Michigan (2007)
Ohio St. (1999, 2003)
Penn St. (2000)
Minnesota...

These teams have hosted as #1 seeds (a significant advantage compared to hosting as a #2 seed):

Illinois (2015-WON Regional)
Indiana (2013-WON Regional; 2014)
Ohio St. (1999-WON Regional)
Purdue (2012) *Played in Gary, IN so not exactly a home game but still technically a host.
Minnesota...

Hopefully Phase 2 gets completed and it leads to the Gophers being added to both lists in the near future!
 

At this exact moment I'd say the Gophers are at best the 8th best program in the Big Ten. Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, and Ohio State clearly are better programs than the U. If Iowa follows up with another great season in 2016, add them to the list.
 


Another Minnesota kid to the SEC


Anyone know if he's related to former Gopher basketball player Tim Hanson, who was a really good pitcher in his baseball days? Tim Hanson was from Prior Lake, not sure if he still lives there.
 




The first Gopher drafted this year in the MLB draft is RS JR Lance Thonvold. Thonvold was selected in the 24th round at pick 725 overall by the Seattle Mariners.
 

JR LHP Dalton Sawyer was selected in the 27th round at pick 800 overall by the Minnesota Twins.
SR RHP Ben Meyer goes in the 29th round to the Miami Marlins.
 




Jordan Joseph of St. Michael/Albertville who had committed to the Gophers earlier this year will instead go to Northwestern College in Roseville. Not sure what happened or what the reason was but heard this while listening to the AAA state tournament.
 


Over rated?



No offense, I hear Estrada is a really nice kid and can hit the ball. But the best player in the state? I'm not so sure. Who does Litchfield play against? Would love to see his batting average against the big metro schools. He's not exactly overwhelming in Willmar yet, but wish him the best of luck, and congrats on yet another award!
 

No offense, I hear Estrada is a really nice kid and can hit the ball. But the best player in the state? I'm not so sure. Who does Litchfield play against? Would love to see his batting average against the big metro schools. He's not exactly overwhelming in Willmar yet, but wish him the best of luck, and congrats on yet another award!
Litchfield is a AA school plays in the same section as Delano and I think Providence Academy won the section this year. He has performed well at some pretty good showcases and I believe played in some very competitive summer tournaments in the past. If I could take only 1 in-state recruit from the 2015 class he would probably be my 1st choice and I'd be very surprised if he isn't making a nice impact next year for the Gophers.
 

Litchfield is a AA school plays in the same section as Delano and I think Providence Academy won the section this year. He has performed well at some pretty good showcases and I believe played in some very competitive summer tournaments in the past. If I could take only 1 in-state recruit from the 2015 class he would probably be my 1st choice and I'd be very surprised if he isn't making a nice impact next year for the Gophers.

Saw him play over the weekend at the All Star Series. While he hit some out (5) to win the home run derby with a metal bat, he didn't do much in games with the bat against the D1 pitching recruits and they had him playing First Base most of the time. Currently batting ~.130 for Willmar.

Most impressive player there was Jake Irvin who was absolutely lights out on Friday night (sitting 91-93 on the gun), with Ty Buck a close second. Kid hits bombs. Both sadly not going the route of the Gophers.
 

Jordan Joseph of St. Michael/Albertville who had committed to the Gophers earlier this year will instead go to Northwestern College in Roseville. Not sure what happened or what the reason was but heard this while listening to the AAA state tournament.

Heard he was told he would be 3rd in line to play on the depth chart, which is too bad as he is high effort and a nice player.
 

Saw him play over the weekend at the All Star Series. While he hit some out (5) to win the home run derby with a metal bat, he didn't do much in games with the bat against the D1 pitching recruits and they had him playing First Base most of the time. Currently batting ~.130 for Willmar.

Most impressive player there was Jake Irvin who was absolutely lights out on Friday night (sitting 91-93 on the gun), with Ty Buck a close second. Kid hits bombs. Both sadly not going the route of the Gophers.
Wish both Irvin and Buck were Gophers as they both could have helped on the mound and I think that is more of a concern than the offense looking towards next year. Buck would have been a nice 2 way player and from what I heard him say in an interview it sounded like he was pretty serious about the Gophers and would have probably ended up here but his grades forced him to go JUCO. I think Estrada will be fine hard to find too much value in his avg. at Willmar right now as he hasn't really been there consistently being there for a couple games and then missing a week for the Mr. Baseball banquet and then the All Star Series. I think it says a lot about the kids potential that he gets to play in one of the top summer college baseball leagues before playing a college game. Really don't see him playing much 1st base for the Gophers though ideally he could play SS but I'm not sure if he would be capable of that or not may end up at 3B.
 



Not sure if the Gophers were recruiting him or not but another in-state kid to another power 5 school
 

• Construction will begin shortly on the Gophers baseball batting cage at a cost of $1 million, with $500,000 contributed by Twins star and former Gophers pitcher Glen Perkins and another $500,000 coming from Dick McCullough, who played for the 1964 NCAA champion Gophers. … Longtime Gophers pitching coach Todd Oakes, who had a setback in his bout with cancer, is now completely healthy and coaching again. … Patrick Casey, a grandson of former Twins public address announcer Bob Casey, joined the Gophers staff as a volunteer assistant.
http://www.startribune.com/vikings-rudolph-aims-to-put-his-injuries-behind-him/318549161/
 




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