Palmetto Proving Grounds

Holbrook. The players have a lot to do with that. We are one of two teams left standing and are not done yet. We have had a GREAT year regardless of what happens. It would be wise to not fire Holbrook as you are implying.

Two years ago our approach is great Greiner & LB would have had homeruns last night. Unfortunately that kind of "swing out of your shoes" approach just doesn't work with these bats. Look at the difference in the outs, Zona had I think 3 fly ball outs all night while we had I think 4 infield outs on the night. 11 outta 12 hits were singles for those guys. Slap it around and make the defense make plays.

While I think the Zona pitcher was good we were more bad than him good imo. He pounded the zone over and over, almost like here hit it as far as you can and of course we tried with no success. Their approach at the plate is very impressive and ours is just honestly not right now. But today is a new day and I still believe we are in good shape! GO COCKS!

I don't think we're as talented as you think we are. Most of the pure talent in our lineup is the freshman class, which I don't need to explain why they aren't all hitting .340.

Outside of the freshman, the obvious talent is Walker and Marzilli. Marzilli is the only one in the lineup I'll agree that confuses me why he isn't a .300 plus hitter this year.

Guys llike Dantzler, Matthews, Vergason, etc. I don't think were ever has any realistic expectations of being great hitters. They're decently talented guys, but not like some of those guys Arizona has.

I concur. But they won't since it might make his momma upset.

LOL at Dantzler not expected to be a great hitter for us. That is why he was recruited. He was expected to be a defensive liability, which has certainly not been the case, but he was recruited for his bat.

Whoever's telling our players to keep taking uppercut swings needs to stop. They're swinging for the fences, when the fences are out of reach. I just don't get it. People say that we haven't had good hitting all season, which we haven't, and then some say we've been like this the past two years when we've won two national championships, which is also true. The sad thing is, we could be much much much better if they'd swing at strikes, not ball, and if they'd hit liners, not fly balls. Holbrook either doesn't see this, or he just doesn't know how to fix it. I'm not saying get rid of the man, because that would be ridiculous, but he needs to get this team to hit. The pitching is going to be on the ropes tonight. I know its Roth, but he's on 3 days rest, after pitching on 3 days rest, and Kurt Heyer is no joke for Arizona. I have this feeling that those boys from Arizona are going to hit Roth better than most would, and I'm thinking we're going to need to score 6+ runs again tonight to win. And no errors too.

I agree that our batting average is much lower than it should be.

Why? I believe it is "the mix" of players (age wise) plus some older guys having a rough year.

Holbrook and Ray need to get after some people in the fall this year. Being Mr. Nice Guys has accomplished wonderful things, however, the approach some of our players have at the plate is really not very good.

I know in baseball the old saying is "good pitching" stops "good hitting" but that will not be the case with Zona.
Those kids can hit the baseball, take good approaches at the plate, and show they have been coached very well.

We have had a great run, our young guys are very talented. They just need some time and continued good coaching.

The voice of reason, well said.

He would be the guy in charge of instructing the team on the hitting aspect of the game. Game two tonight.

Support your team, win or lose.

Nothing else matters.

I knew I could get a Mettallica reference in there somewhere, someday.....

It's VERY simple. Zona plays in a very spacious field similar to TD in Omaha. They have had to learn how to play small bal in a spacious park...because that is how you must win in thier ball park. The Gamecocks have a park that is a hitters park. Three of those balls hit last night would have left the yard at Carolina Stadium. It's that simple.

Zona is throwing us good hitting pitches....knowing our style is to swing away. We can't get them out of that park. Hence, we have a bunch of deep fly ball outs.

Essentially, Pankake, Walker, Dantler, Matthews, Martin, Griener...all those guys are easy outs at TD. Because they hit a ton of deep fly balls that can't carry out of TD. Their outfielders are playing deep just waiting on the fly ball.

It's that simple.

If you think Ray Tanner is "Mr. Nice Guy", you have not paid attention to gamecock baseball very much. I guess you never heard of the story of him literally chasing Wingo off the field in practice. Unbelievable. Tanner is one of the toughest coaches in America to play for. I literally cannot believe what I just read, amazing.

Keep up the positive attitude, though. Sounds like you have already crowned the champs this year, so no need to watch tonight.

Obviously when recruiting we had a choice between players who could hit and players who could play defense. It appears we chose defense. Apparently, there is no such think as a recruit who can hit and play defense.

Also, this weakened bat BS to cut back on HRs is just total crap. I understand wanting to cut back on HRs some, but I think they went too far in cutting down the sweet spot on the bats. HRs have always been a part of the game and they have almost made the HR a non-factor. I would have rather seen them go to wooden bats.