Temperatures are warming up, birds are chirping and people are spending more time outside. With these changes comes another exciting prospect for some: baseball season is upon us.
Coming into the spring season as reigning champions of both the 2023 regular season and SoCon Tournament – for the first time ever – Samford Baseball has a reputation to uphold.
With a season-opening sweep at home this past weekend, beginning on Friday, Feb. 16 and concluding on Sunday, Feb. 18., the Bulldogs have started off strong. Queens University of Charlotte was sent home empty handed after losing all three games to Samford, while the Bulldogs protected their home turf.
Head Coach Tony David is in his third year at Samford and has taken the baseball program far during his time as coach. With the bar set high, he aims for consistent progression.
“In year three I am reminded almost daily of how much I love the on-the-field side of the job,” David said. “Getting the right kind of players here and developing talent, then competing as a group against another team. I feel like in a lot of ways things sort of slowed down a great deal for me in year two over year one, expecting more of the same this year.”
The performance this spring season will be a testament to the players and the effort they poured into the fall season.
“We have an older, veteran team for the most part, with some young guys mixed in that will play key roles,” David said “Our guys came into the fall as a mature group and focused on trying to accomplish something great. We have a number of guys with an opportunity to play in three NCAA Tournaments at a place that had only been to two in its history before they arrived. They have worked like crazy from the start of this fall.”
David made note of several key players to keep an eye out for this season.
“There are several returners coming off of great seasons,” said David. “John Anderson, Josh Rodriguez, Garrett Staton and Lucas Steele all hit at least 10 home runs a year ago. Garrett Howe has played every game as shortstop for us the last two seasons. Michael Ross returns after missing a season and will be one of our best arms again.”
Sophomore infielder Nico Noto shared his perspective as an underclassman on such a successful team.
“We’ve been scrimmaging all of January and February for over four hours a day… working out at least three times per week,” Noto said. “We’ve been doing a lot of speed work too, a lot of explosive workouts where we do a lot of lateral movement… going out to the field every day and practicing for four to six hours.”
The Bulldogs are entering this season with a different reputation than last year.
“Last year we were ranked fourth [in preseason rankings], so we had a bit of a chip on our shoulder to prove people wrong,” Noto said. “This year we were picked first to win the SoCon. Our coach told us that… this year we should have the same mindset. [Coach David said] ‘Don’t be overconfident, keep that chip on your shoulder, we still want to prove everyone wrong.’”
Samford Baseball has high hopes of making it to the super regionals this year, but they’ll have to win regionals first to get there.
“Our coach always says we are a super-regional team” Noto said. “We have the pitching; we have the hitters to be a super-regional team. We have accumulated several more arms than we had last year, so I think we have a really good chance of making a regional.”
If that happens, this year’s team would make Samford history.
“A super regional is the final 16 teams in the country; Samford’s never done that before” Noto said. “I think this would be a good year to do that.”
Samford will resume action on Tuesday, Feb. 20, when they will face in-state rival Jacksonville State at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Staff Writer
