Phillipe Craig: Solid pitching gives Cougars a chance to make regional
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The 2009 UH baseball team has an excellent chance of returning to the NCAA Regional, but will have to get the most out of their pitching to do so.’
The old adage states ‘championships in baseball are built upon pitching and defense,’ and it’s the Cougars’ strong pitching staff that gives them hope coming into this season.’
Junior left-hander Wes Musick returns despite being drafted, providing stability and experience from last season’s tournament run along with sophomore closer Chase Dempsay. Dempsay’s emergence on the scene as a reliable rally-killer allows head coach Rayner Noble to concentrate on the rest of his staff.’
The remaining pieces are dependant on injury and consistency.’ If guys such as Barry Laird and Taylor Hammack can stay healthy and incoming players such as Michael Goodnight can perform at a high level, then opposing offenses will have more to worry about than Musick and Dempsay.’ But as another adage goes, ‘That’s why they play the games.’
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KeithCordero Jr.: As Musick goes, so do the Cougars
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The Cougar baseball team will have a tough time making it back to the NCAA regional.
Phillipe’s cheap quotes won’t help his chances with Judge Dredd, but I feel the Cougars success rests on the shoulders of preseason All-C-USA First Team pitcher Wes Musick.
Sophomore Chase Dempsay, who posted an 8-3 mark last season, joins Musick on the preseason first team. Musick and Dempsay need better seasons than they had in 2008 as the Cougars will have to battle national powerhouse and cross-town rival Rice for the conference crown.
Freshman pitcher Michael Goodnight is my dark horse to help the Cougars make it to the College World Series. He can throw in the low-90s, play first base and crush the baseball.
Junior outfielder Zak Presley also needs a big season. Presley can hit and get on base, as shown by his 18-game hitting streak in 2008. If the team pitches well enough to fuel its bats, the Cougars should be a presence in C-USA.
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RonnieTurner: Arms are Cougars’ key to back-to-back regional trips
Good Lord, that was painful to read. Between Phillipe’s clich’eacute;s and Keith’s bad grammar and inaccuracies, I can’t tell which argument was worse.
How quickly they forgot last season’s team made it to the postseason despite having only two top-notch pitchers (Wes Musick and Chase Dempsay), a lot of freshmen and sophomore pitchers and three more pitchers on the shelf. This year’s team has Musick and Dempsay returning and more talented arms were added through recruiting. Plus, the freshmen and sophomores from last season’s team have grown up a bit.
The Cougars lost four big bats, but others will surely emerge, just as they did last year when least expected. Plus, this year’s team has way more depth than before.
Conference USA will be tough as usual, but the Cougars will be able to match up with the likes of Rice, East Carolina, Tulane and Southern Miss. The Cougars likely won’t knock Rice off its throne, but they should be good for another trip to an NCAA regional.
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JudgeDredd: Ronnie wins; Knicks will make the playoffs
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Considering Ronnie has been the baseball beat writer for as long as Judge Dredd has been the basketball beat writer – four years – it was expected he would mop the floor with the competition.
Therefore, Judge Dredd won’t drag this thing out any longer than it needs to be. Ronnie wins.
Now to what Judge Dredd considers a more important issue – the playoff chances of his struggling New York Knicks.
Judge Dredd is calling it right now. The Knicks will make the playoffs this season as the No. 8 seed and compete with the Celtics for seven games before being ousted in the first round. Some may question Judge Dredd’s sanity, but those people are sissies. Never question Judge Dredd.
David Lee should have been an All-Star, and the Knicks are only 3.5 games out of first place, despite a six-game losing streak during their toughest stretch of games in the season.
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Verdict: Ronnie wins, and beware of green Nate Robinson jerseys.
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FACETIME: Looks as if Keith is back to being a loser.
