The U baseball team has plenty of reasons to sulk.
The Utes could be focusing on the subpar 24-31 record they accumulated earlier this year, or how the 2007 season ended prematurely.
They could also gripe about the fact that their best hitter (Jay Brossman), and arguably their best pitcher (Eric King), both graduated and are no longer with the team. They could even brood over the fact that they have only four starters returning.
But instead of feeling sorry for themselves, the Utes are going back to the drawing board and readying themselves for the 2008 season.
And while their first game is still more than six months away, many Utes are fine-tuning their skills on the diamond.
“Everybody has been working really hard in different summer leagues across the country, and we have a good core lineup coming back,” said junior middle infielder Corey Shimada. “We just need to find some guys to fill in the gaps.”
Utah struggled to find a rhythm early last season, losing 12 of its first 14 games — all on the road — before collecting itself for the conference season. The Utes opened their league-play by winning 10 of their first 14 games, but went into a downward spiral shortly thereafter.
The team finished the season with consecutive losses to UNLV and San Diego State on the first day of the MWC Tournament. Both losses came after the Utes built leads in the early innings.
“Overall, we took third in the conference and I think we were pretty happy with that,” Shimada said. “But we felt we could’ve done much better in the conference tournament.”
Utah began last season much like it will start this one, with half the starters on the roster suiting up as Utes for the first time. The starters that are returning, however, bring plenty of talent back.
Shimada will likely return at second base, but may see time in the outfield as well. The junior was selected as a second-team All-MWC player last season after leading the team in hitting with a .346 average.
“Corey really matured at the plate this past season,” said Utah assistant coach Bryan Conger. “He really started to utilize his skill set and relax himself into a specific role.”
Also returning to the field for Utah this year is centerfielder Nate Burnham, leftfielder Dustin Hennis and catcher Jesse Shriner. All three players hit over .300 for the Utes last year.
Hoping to fill the rest of the gaps, Utah coaches have recruited a number of athletes, including blue-chip shortstops Michael Beltran and Scott Cashman.
Beltran went to school in the Los Angeles-Irvine area and was recently drafted by the Seattle Mariners. Cashman is an all-around talent that actually hails from Seattle.
Returning aces on the mound for the Utes will be gun-slinging juniors Stephen Fife and Brad DeVore. Fife had the best record of any pitcher, ending the season at 6-2. Devore struggled through injuries for much of last season but is expected to be ready to play in 2008. Also returning on the mound is junior Geoff Wolfgramm and sophomores Greg Krause and Bennett Askew.
“As a whole, we were really young last year,” Conger said. “We’re going to be young again this year, especially in the infield, but a lot of them now have experience under their belt. We’re expecting great things.”
Lennie MahlerCorey Shimada, who led the U baseball team in hitting last year, is one of only four starters returning this season.