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May 2, 2007

Baseball

Mavs to begin reconstruction with recruiting

With the end of the season looming, UTA looks for answers through recruiting.

Story by: Sean McNamara

Contributor to The Shorthorn

The Mavericks baseball team’s 2007 season has not turned out the way the coaches, players or fans could have imagined.

The team sits in last place in the Southland Conference West Division — a division it was expected to sweep at the start of the season — with a 3-18 record and 12-31 in overall season play.

UTA’s ballclub has incurred hardships this year including injuries and three players walking off before the season even hit the midway point. Head coach Jeff Curtis and associate head coach Darin Thomas have struggled to find a balance within the team and push the players to play their best and not give in, even though they continue to struggle.

“It makes it hard to have a season like ours,” Curtis said. “People seem to forget previous seasons where we’ve made it to nationals.”

Players and coaches know they won’t be playoff-bound this year. The coaches are trying to rebuild the team and get back to the level of seasons past. This is harder to do than it sounds, especially at the beginning of May.

“We already signed players before we entered the season,” Thomas said. “The three guys who left, left positions that need to be filled.”

The team had already signed seven key players in November. These were done before the team lost depth over the course of the season. Curtis and Thomas signed players for positions they knew they would need next year, gaps that the seven seniors will leave.

UTA’s infield players will graduate this semester as first baseman Ben Burum, Leo Radkowski at second, John Mark Cleaveland who bounces from third to catcher, and shortstop Kyle Rudy move on with degrees. Thomas said the coaches will fill the positions with veterans from a junior college or freshmen who have proven themselves.

“We try to get in-state players,” Thomas said. “We sought and will be seeking guys who are strong or fast to balance out the batting order.”

Center fielder David Newby will also leave, and Thomas said a team always needs pitchers. That makes eight key spots needing to be filled along with strong pitchers to back-up junior Dillon Gee.

Thomas said the team needs to add six or seven more players to the roster over the summer so it can get the depth it needs and keep the team’s numbers around 30-32. Curtis and Thomas said adding quality players can be troublesome in several aspects but is worth it when they find the right person.

The losing season adds to the decision in players scouted now or over the summer. It becomes hard to pursue a quality shortstop and sell an organization with a 12-31 overall record.

“You’re trying to sell a program,” Thomas said. “To talk people into spending money to come here and play.”

UTA is widely viewed as a commuter college and the coaches are unable to offer a full ride for playing baseball, which means a player has to want to play here and pay for a big part of his tuition and other expenses out of pocket.

The schedule appears to be the team’s biggest selling point along with playing time. If a player comes in and proves himself capable, he can become a starter early on. The Mavericks also play some big-name colleges, including Baylor, Oklahoma State and Nebraska.

Curtis wants to bring in players that are gifted both athletically and academically. Well-rounded players not only help put the team back into the playoffs and maybe nationals but also assure that they will succeed as individuals after they leave UTA and start a career.

“Our goal is to become a program that is respected year after year,” Curtis said.