Not a whole lot of sunshine in this post, so you've been warned if you read on.
We are very well looking at losing out with possibly two shots at a W left this season (some home field advantage), so I'm going positive and turning toward next year, where we should be vastly improved. Here's what I hope to see next season:
- Actual emphasis on offense, not home run swings. If I ever hear Mazey say "we haven't really worked on that" regarding anything to do with offense, ever again, I may need surgery after I jump from the bandwagon. It's completely inexcusable to ignore ANY facet of offense, because we have utterly stunk at getting runs across this year.
- Improved control by the pitcher and blocking by the catcher. Wild pitches have been killing us, and hasn't been a major problem for us until this season under Mazey.
- Easier schedule early on to build confidence...this team had some confidence after the opening series against Clemson but then never had much of a reason to have any the rest of the way, and it shows with the way we have lost almost every game it seems the past few weeks. Playing good teams so much only works if you can actually beat a few of them, and I'm not saying we should schedule the Van Bunts cupcake slate. I know that Mazey will want us to play a tough schedule, so our guys are going to have to man up and take the lumps.
- PLAY LIKE YOU HAVE A HOME FIELD - The fans have shown up and done their part, yet we have continually underperformed at home. Part of that had to do with Mazey's (lack of) hitting philosophy and part of it had to do with the lack of discipline by the team. Both of those can be fixed. They have to be, or you can expect no one wanting to show up at MCB next March-May like they have this year. A losing record at home is unacceptable, but being dominated at home is a freaking joke, especially after how this team had played early on.
We have a huge opportunity next season to progress to the next echelon, which should be a regional appearance. We have the talent, the pitching, and (I still think) the coaching. Now if we can correct our glaring deficiencies, we will be a very good team the next two years. I hope to never see this "checked out" attitude from the coach or team again.
We are very well looking at losing out with possibly two shots at a W left this season (some home field advantage), so I'm going positive and turning toward next year, where we should be vastly improved. Here's what I hope to see next season:
- Actual emphasis on offense, not home run swings. If I ever hear Mazey say "we haven't really worked on that" regarding anything to do with offense, ever again, I may need surgery after I jump from the bandwagon. It's completely inexcusable to ignore ANY facet of offense, because we have utterly stunk at getting runs across this year.
- Improved control by the pitcher and blocking by the catcher. Wild pitches have been killing us, and hasn't been a major problem for us until this season under Mazey.
- Easier schedule early on to build confidence...this team had some confidence after the opening series against Clemson but then never had much of a reason to have any the rest of the way, and it shows with the way we have lost almost every game it seems the past few weeks. Playing good teams so much only works if you can actually beat a few of them, and I'm not saying we should schedule the Van Bunts cupcake slate. I know that Mazey will want us to play a tough schedule, so our guys are going to have to man up and take the lumps.
- PLAY LIKE YOU HAVE A HOME FIELD - The fans have shown up and done their part, yet we have continually underperformed at home. Part of that had to do with Mazey's (lack of) hitting philosophy and part of it had to do with the lack of discipline by the team. Both of those can be fixed. They have to be, or you can expect no one wanting to show up at MCB next March-May like they have this year. A losing record at home is unacceptable, but being dominated at home is a freaking joke, especially after how this team had played early on.
We have a huge opportunity next season to progress to the next echelon, which should be a regional appearance. We have the talent, the pitching, and (I still think) the coaching. Now if we can correct our glaring deficiencies, we will be a very good team the next two years. I hope to never see this "checked out" attitude from the coach or team again.
