2009 Baseball Season Outlook

ENCORE! ENCORE!

Encore! That will be the theme of the 2009 Pirates as they try to defend their Conference Championship and NJCAA Final Regular Season Poll #1 Ranking.

Last season’s Player of the Year, Robert Beary (South Carolina signee) and Fireman of the Year, Joey Delgado (Troy) will lead a team that returns pitchers  Matt Kaplan and Josh Reed along with line-up mainstays Bear Comer (Nichols State), Kevin Vasquez (UCF) and Matt Taliercio.

The biggest question is how to replace Panhandle Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, David Poutier (Maryland), All-American Ryan Ditthardt (Troy) and all three members of the “Starting Rotation”; Blaine Howell (Cincinnati Reds), Miguel Mejia (FIU), and Chris Sorce (Troy).

The answer is, “With newcomers  Tyson Workman, Charles Basford, Saxon Butler, Grant Edwards, and Steven Groves, who played his high school ball at Pensacola Catholic. Add in a pair from Niceville, Josh McDorman and Matt Herndon, talented right-hander Paul Davis and redshirt returnees Etienne Farquharson and Derek Jeter (the one from Gulf Breeze!) and hopefully you pick up where 2008’s team left off.

Coach Hamilton, who begins his 19th year at the Helm of the Pirates, says this about 2009’s team: “We return a strong line-up and added a couple of players at the break that will help us. If we can pitch as well as last year, with the depth we now have on the mound, 2009 should be another good year for the Pirates.”

2009 Pirate Baseball Spring Showcase Brochure (.pdf)

2009 Pirate Baseball Senior Combine Brochure (.pdf)