Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

CCU baseball expects big draw at Pro Day

CONWAY -- Coastal Carolina baseball is expecting scouts from all 30 major league teams to attend the program's Pro Day on Friday.

Coastal's players will work out for scouts at 4 p.m. The first game of the Chanticleer World Series, an annual three-game event that caps fall practice, will follow at 5:30 p.m. and will feature all eight of the program's draft-eligible pitchers.

Many of the scouts will likely focus on three juniors, pitcher Cody Wheeler, infielder/outfielder Scott Woodward and outfielder/infielder Rico Noel, and senior pitcher Austin Fleet. The team also features several other draft-eligible underclassmen and a number of seniors who went undrafted last June.

"I would assume all 30 organizations will be here with multiple guys," associate head coach Kevin Schnall said.

Multiple scouts and even a national crosschecker have attended intrasquad scrimmages so far this fall, Schnall said, illustrating the interest that Wheeler and Woodward have created over the past two summers with Team U.S.A. and Noel created this summer in the Cape Cod League.

To showcase the pitching staff, Coastal's junior and senior hurlers - Wheeler, Fleet, Matt Rein, Keith Hessler, Caleb Cuevas, Jim Birmingham, Matt Laney and Dan Lombardozzi - will each pitch two innings in game No. 1 of the World Series. Saturday's second game and Sunday's third game, which both begin at 2:30 p.m., will go only seven innings after the team plays eight in the opener. Admission to all three games is free.

While Friday's Pro Day will be important, Schnall believes players' individual performances in the first few weekends of the year will play a big role in their draft placement. He expects a large number of scouts to attend Coastal's first two tournaments of 2010, which will feature several talented prospects in addition to the Chants' standouts.

Final touches

Schnall has been busy over the last several weeks as the Chants wrap up their 2009 fall signing class. Committed high school seniors wishing to go ahead and sign can do so during the early signing period from Nov. 11-18.

"I like grinders," Schnall said. "Sometimes grinders are undersized and underappreciated.

"I think we've got a great class. We've got 11 kids committed to come. We've filled a lot of needs, though there are a few holes we still need to fill. The 10 high school kids and the one junior college player we have coming in are very good. It's tough to replace a Woodward, a Wheeler or a Noel, but we have some players coming in that in time will be very good players."

Schnall cannot comment on unsigned prospects, but the Chants have known commitments from Timberland pitcher/infielder Cody Craig, who will also play football, North Hall (Ga.) infielder K.J. McCalister, Lakota West (Ohio) infielder Jacob May, Pelham (Ala.) pitcher/infielder Tripp Martin, Seneca (N.J.) pitcher Jimmy Coughlin, Ballard (Ky.) catcher/infielder John Fidanza, Portsmouth (R.I.) catcher Chris King, Salesianum (Del.) infielder Zachary Lopes, Lexington Catholic (Ky.) pitcher Patrick Maronde and Freeport (Pa.) pitcher/outfielder Ryan Siegel, according to mlbresource.com.

Impressing Dabo

Asked Wednesday morning what most impresses him about Coastal's football team, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney pointed to H-back/tailback Tommy Fraser.

"The guy I like is No. 39, the Fraser kid," Swinney said. "He's a really tough, hard-nosed football player."

Fraser is having a career year for the Chants (3-4), who visit Clemson on Saturday, but his production has dipped over the last couple weeks. He carried 45 times for 233 yards in Coastal's first four games, but has just 20 carries for 70 yards in the last three games.

Fraser was the only player Swinney named, though he did mention also being impressed with No. 18 (tight end David Duran), No. 43 (defensive end Phillip Oboh) and No. 22 (tailback Eric O'Neal).

"They've got good players over there [on defense], so we'll have to make sure we're well prepared," Swinney said. "Schematically they do an excellent job. There is no doubt about it. These guys know what they are doing."