THE LHSAA HAS SOME SOUL-SEARCHING TO DO
February 22, 2018
It’s time TO PLANT FRUIT TREES & bushes
February 22, 2018
Last year, Nicholls finished just short of the Southland Conference Tournament – losing two-straight one-run games in the final day of the season.
Two years ago, it was a same song and different dance. Nicholls swept UNO to end the season, but didn’t get the help they needed around the rest of the Southland – missing the postseason by one game.
This year, the Colonels say that all of their chips are on the table and it’s time to compete in some of those late-season, high-stakes games.
Expectations are high around Nicholls baseball this spring as the Colonels return key players and add talented first-year guys into a mix that coach Seth Thibodeaux believes can win big.
Nicholls lost their first three games of the season against Stony Brook – an annual contender from the Northeast.
All three games were close and a fourth game was played Monday, but no score was available at press-time.
Regardless of that outcome, it doesn’t change the coach’s expectations of a big year.
“We like our club,” Thibodeaux said in the offseason. “We think this is a scrappy, hard-nosed bunch of guys who will work hard and who take a lot of pride in what they do. We remember last year and how it ended and I think that’s given us all a little bit of extra motivation throughout the offseason that we will carry on the field this year.”
These Colonels have some talented ball players.
In the infield, Nicholls is deep and experienced with several returnees back from last year’s team, which improve its defensive percentage.
All four starters – Kyle Kn-auth, Joey Morales, Gage Teer and Ethan Valdez – are returnees and each has a shot at earning All-Conference honors this season.
Morales and Valdez are the middle of the infield – each slick with their gloves.
Knauth and Teer are likely the best hitters of the bunch. Knauth hit .291 with four homers last season and Teer hit for a .315 average.
Knauth is likely to be the team’s primary pitcher, which will place Teer at first base. Thibodeaux said freshmen Waylon LeBlanc, Ivan Prejean, Nathan Tribble and junior Brady Bell are among a deep pool of players who can compete for time at third base or along the rest of the infield.
On opening night this past weekend, Bell got the start at third.
“We have a chance to really defend on the infield,” Thibo-deaux said. “Joey and Ethan may be two of the better defenders in our league. If someone can step up at third, we will be really good on the infield.”
In the outfield, Nicholls has is inexperienced, but athletic with Chet Niehaus back and several inexperienced players filling in spots around him.
Niehaus started 45 of 51 games last season – 40 of those starts coming in left field. This year, he will play centerfield.
Niehaus is a quality worker with the glove, but he’s also a polished hitter, stroking for a .303 average last year.
On the corners, it will be a mixed bag early in the season with Norry Galjour, Lee Clark, Xane Washington, Dane Simon, Kade Sonnier and Champ Davidson all competing for time.
On opening night, Washington started in right field and hit leadoff, while Davidson played left.
Clark and Galjour both pinch hit.
“The Colonel outfielders have great depth with a combination of both athleticism and phys-icality,” assistant coach Walt Jones said. “Niehaus has transitioned well from left field to center field and he looks to be the leading candidate there – the veteran in the outfield.”
But as it always is in baseball – wins and losses will be decided by what happens on the mound.
Nicholls lost several pitchers off last year’s team, including starters Cole Stapler and Mike Hanchar – guys who ate innings and combined to win 11 games with a sub-4 ERA.
But they do return quality arms, including Alex Ernestine, Bryan Taylor, Parker White, Jacob Bedevian, Christian Bahlinger, Cayden Hatcher and others.
On opening night, Ernestine took the ball, but struggled, but the Colonels stayed in the game by showing their bullpen depth – getting big outs from Austin Bollinger, Cyle Clayton and Hatcher, who was a starter in 2017, but will be a back-end of the bullpen guy in 2018.
Nicholls has an advantage in that their ballpark is big and the winds often blow in, which keeps balls in the park.
Pitching coach Zach Butler said he thinks this year’s group can be as good as some of the others in recent years, but all of the roles have to fall into place.
“This group has created an identity and a culture with how they prepare each day that embodies what it means to be a pitcher at Nicholls State University,” Butler said.
With the four-gamer with Stony Brook out of the way, Nicholls will now play in the Whataburger Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas.
They will face Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, Mississippi State and UC-Santa Barbara in their three days at the event.
The Nicholls baseball team has some new faces in some new places, but the Colonels are confident that they have the ability to chase the top of the standings in the Southland Conference.
