Batting practice going on now. Just witnessed the Bruise Brothers put on a show for the audience. Brody Donay just hit three out of four swings out of the park with the fourth hitting the bottom of the 400 foot sign. Not to be outdone Cags raced back to the cage and hit two balls completely over the centerfield green monster that drew gasps from the crowd! Donay got another swing and hit one into the parking lot that bounced high into the street behind right center. Cags finished it with a couple more monster shots. Guys having fun!
Maybe not as earth shattering as a big foot sighting but I see Pierce Coppola shagging flies out in right field! Moving around well looks good physically.
Had to leave early but will post my thoughts on the first three innings after I finish my pizza at Leonardo’s Millhopper.
The pitching is starting to catch up to the hitters. Neely looked sharp today throwing two shutout innings only allowing one hit to Heyman while striking out Robertson, Shelton and Russell. I tell ya, Heyman looks like money, primed to have a big year. He had two singles before I left and is hitting hard line drives. Cags threw two innings for the Orange squad and gave up one run in the first after walking Kurland followed by a double in the right center gap by Thomas. Thomas is doing a lot of talking and seems to be filling one of the leadership roles. Donay played catcher for the blue squad and for a 6’6” 215 pounder he did not look out of place. Kid is really athletic for that size and moved around the plate blocking several low pitches. Looks like we’ve got three good catchers in Heyman, Garrison and Donay and May have to move them around to 1B, OF and DH. At the last scrimmage I praised second baseman Armando Albert as a smooth fielder. Well today was not his day. He was completely overmatched at the plate on one at bat by a 101mph fast ball from Cags and then struck out watching a 98 mph offering. He then made two throwing errors playing third base, one to first and then one to second base in the same inning. An inning later he short hopped another throw to second that Kurland bailed him out on. Maybe he prefers second base over third. Menendez had a nice first inning striking out Cags which drew a lot of hoots and hollers from the blue dugout. But things went a little south for him as he put a couple on base and then balked followed by a wild pitch which scored two and I had to leave. Fisher Jameson also threw a nice inning.
Nice report from Legend. We got to see a bunch of pitchers today. Other than Neely, Cags and Jameson, it was all frosh. All of them looked good most of the time, but none was dominant. Smith (32) gave up a single and walked a couple to load the bases, then had to face Cags, who hit it out for a slam. Yost had a HR and I believe Shelnut, too, but I didn't take notes and my memory is grayer than my hair (Nope, just one HR by Yost). The other frosh pitchers were Satin (33), Rodriguez (8), Menendez (31), McDonald (21) and Jones (48), plus redshirt frosh Clemente (20). Until the slam in a late inning, the score was 2-2 over 6.5 innings. Albert (44) at 3B had an error on a throw for a force at 2B and gave up an infield hit when he couldn't get the ball out of his glove, but IF play- in fact, all defense- was pretty clean. There was enough offense for there to be a lot of LOB, but that was from pitchers falling short of perfection. They weren't perfect, but scattered most the hits. I have begun to consider Martinez (23) a favorite. I ragged him a little when he whiffed at a ground ball playing the first at bat of the first scrimmage, but he has won me over with solid D ever since, plus some hits and speed on the base paths. Other newcomer position players have looked good in the field, but none has hit well enough to stand out and win a position. I do expect that one or two will pull away by February, but no one has yet. Sitting at the ballpark continues to be heaven.
“The Boss”, I agree with your assessment of our freshmen infielders and outfielders. While they have been impressive I’m afraid there is no where to put them due to our depth of returnees and transfers. Transfers, Shelton and Thomas (prior year), will probably nail down short and third while there are several transfer outfielders that are challenging for a position. Brody Donay may need to play a corner outfield spot if not C, or DH. I haven’t seen him at 1B yet in practice. Landon Russell from Gulf Coast State has been impressive as has Ashton Wilson of Charleston Southern, on the corners. In center field, Jalen Guy of Liberty, is in a battle to start with Mikey Robertson. With that being said, we’ve still got Ty Evans and Tyler Shelnut as veterans almost sure to start on the corners. Some of the freshmen outfielders I’ve been impressed with are Blake Brookins from Palmetto Senior, who at 6’6” and 218 can be mistaken for Donay and has been hitting line shots in practice. Hayden Yost had a homerun today as Boss reported and has been impressive. Around the diamond freshman first baseman/pitcher Caden McDonald has spent a lot of time at first base in practice and may have a future there. I would be amiss if I forgot to mention that “defensive catcher” Tanner Garrison, who has been tearing the cover off the ball, played first base for the blue squad today. Freshman John Martinez of Montverde has looked solid at third as has Sammie Mummaw at second. As a matter of fact Mummaw had the defensive gem of today’s practice, roaming towards shortstop from second base for a ball in the hole, jumping in the air ala Derek Jeter and then firing a very accurate bullet to first. It drew the loudest applause from the onlookers through the first four innings.
After having watched two scrimmages I’m going to give it my best shot at our lineup for the practice game with Georgia in Jacksonville next Friday. I’m going to assume Ty Evans is held out but that is just a guess. CF Robertson, still in a battle with Guy 2B Kurland SS or 3rd Shelton 1B Caglianone DH Heyman LF Shelnut RF Donay C Garrison SS or 3rd Thomas Not sure if Donay is ready to move up in the order but the veterans look awfully good. Thomas has looked very good and could move up but gives you two lead off men the second time through order. Let me know what y’all think.
I don’t recall any through the first four innings. Neely looked outstanding. Cags was throwing in the high ninety’s with a few over 100 so you would expect him to maybe be a little wild, but he looked good. Only bounced one pitch about five feet in front of home plate!
That's about right. Only questions will be does Heyman start at catcher and then move to DH and does Sully go with Shelnut, Guy, and Robertson in the OF because of the big area in center in Jax? If Guy starts he might end up 9th in the order to set him up in front of the top of the order. I do think Heyman, Garrison, and Donay will all bat in the game but unsure where they lineup. Its hard for me to think even Sully would start 3 would be catchers. Cags should start on the mound so that might indicate Heyman behind the plate.
I REALLY like that lineup and I feel certain that will not be the group to take the field on opening day. Cags and Kurland seem safe and this afternoon I thought about Shelton and Thomas and was ready to split them between 3B and SS, but the competition is too good to decide that now. Hot bats will be the critical factor that can change everything we see today. I hate to add injuries as an issue. That was a whisper.
Damning with faint praise. There is no great pizza in Gainesville except what my friends make on their grill. I am from Chicago and I am not going to sing the praises of deep dish pies. For the most part I think they are horrible but there are some places that make thin crust pies that are really good. For my money the best deep dish pie from Illinois is from Champaign at Papa Dells and not from Chicago. New York and especially New Haven in Connecticut make awesome pies.
We spent the night in South Bend, IN a few years ago on our way to Lake Michigan and got an all meat, Xtra large deep dish pizza at Roccos. It was fabulous and we ate on it for 3 days. 1 slice literally made a meal. Great sauce, excellent cheeses, 3" thick full of 4 or 5 meats. I've never seen anything like that in Florida.
