What thoughts are out there for Cooper this season. Has the new coach completed his coaching staff.? What players are going to lead the way for the Jags?

It should be interesting. I have no feeling on the new coach so have no idea who is on his staff etc.

They do have a lot of good players returning. Very senior heavy on this squad, with that said it doesn't mean there aren't good underclassmen. The freshman teams the last 2 years have done very well so they should have good teams for years to come.

 

As far as this year, they have one of the best pitching staffs I think in the region with Hunter Dunn and the best pitcher the team had last year was Jake Lawhorn. Unfortunatley Collin Smith who would of been the #3 in the rotation isn't playing this year as he is concentrating on golf. That doesn't mean there isn't anyone to fill that spot, Colin Hathorn will fit in the #3 spot very nicely and there are some Juniors that will be battling out for the other starters spot if they go with 4 or 5 man rotation, and they still have some pretty good relievers on the staff. Basically their entire pitching staff from last year is returning. In the past Coach Bieger never had his catchers pitch, yet in summer ball last year for his 17U team Fussinger had the lowest era on that staff with an era of 1.33 yet has never been used as a pitcher in High School. Not sure how the new coach will use his pitchers.

 

As far as position players, they should be just fine. They will have a really nice OF corp and their infielders should be just fine. They lost Jared Blank from last years squad which is a big loss at the plate but should have enough to choose from to fill that spot the best they can. The biggest loss will be trying to replace Nick Carr's bat in the lineup. He was unstoppable last year and there is no replacing his bat, but Colin Hathorn has some pop at the plate and should be fun to watch him develop as the year goes on.

 

I think this team may have around 14-16 seniors so it will be interesting how the coach fills out the squad.

I had heard Jeremy Collins was their new coach. He had coached the Ryle freshman for years and I believe they were always pretty solid. With him having coached under Pat and then both of them having graduated from CCH, under Krumplebeck, I would think he will bring a wealth of knowledge to the team.

 

Will be an exciting year for them.

Not going to knock the coach, but just because he played at CCH and coached in a program with another CCH coach and it was Freshman, doesn't really mean anything IMO. Don't forget the previous coach was from CCH. Hopefully he will be able to do what you say, but I wouldn't base my judgement based off of what you mentioned. JMO!

 

I hope your right in regards to basically getting the team to achieve as they should have for the last few years. They have underachieved the last few years and it would be nice to see this team do what they should have been doing.

 

I had heard Jeremy Collins was their new coach. He had coached the Ryle freshman for years and I believe they were always pretty solid. With him having coached under Pat and then both of them having graduated from CCH, under Krumplebeck, I would think he will bring a wealth of knowledge to the team.

 

Will be an exciting year for them.

First thing will be if Coach Collins will be able to push the right buttons on the kids and realize they are individuals with individual buttons. I coached for many years and I believe in knowing what is each kids button, since they are not all the same. If that can be done, I would think that would get the ship sailing in the right direction. In regards to the players they did lose 3 very good players from last year in Blank, Carr and Collins. Burgous, Lawhorn, Dunn, Hawthorn, Holland and Fussinger I think would be the first 6 in their line-up. 7,8 & 9 I can't really think of who would fill those spots in the line-up. In regards to the pitching I would think Dunn, Lawhorn, Turner and McMahon would be their top 4. Hawthorn over the years has proven not to have the tank and is better served as a closer. The loss of Smith to golf is a huge loss IMO, but they do have some youth that can come in and fill that gap. Hellbird, I don't like the idea of a catcher/pitcher either. I think Fuss will have to make a decision to do one or the other. If he pitched that well in the summer then I would say, "Your on the BUMP Kid".

 

Bottom line to me, is that the jury is out until we see what the coach will do with the boys. They can be one of two things. One....Very Good or two Average.

Collins will be fair and Cooper's players will compete from the 1st day of practice until the last game for their position, spot in the rotation, and their spot in the batting order. He will let the cream rise to the top. Coach Collins will not cuttle anyone, players have had 8 months to fill in the voids in their game and now is the time to compete. He will expect players to approach him with any concerns, its part of becoming a man and a skill he will use with other coaches and bosses the rest of his life, its fair warning to Cooper parents. A player who keeps his head up, is a good teammate, takes direction, and takes responsibility will be successful.

First thing will be if Coach Collins will be able to push the right buttons on the kids and realize they are individuals with individual buttons. I coached for many years and I believe in knowing what is each kids button, since they are not all the same. If that can be done, I would think that would get the ship sailing in the right direction. In regards to the players they did lose 3 very good players from last year in Blank, Carr and Collins. Burgous, Lawhorn, Dunn, Hawthorn, Holland and Fussinger I think would be the first 6 in their line-up. 7,8 & 9 I can't really think of who would fill those spots in the line-up. In regards to the pitching I would think Dunn, Lawhorn, Turner and McMahon would be their top 4. Hawthorn over the years has proven not to have the tank and is better served as a closer. The loss of Smith to golf is a huge loss IMO, but they do have some youth that can come in and fill that gap. Hellbird, I don't like the idea of a catcher/pitcher either. I think Fuss will have to make a decision to do one or the other. If he pitched that well in the summer then I would say, "Your on the BUMP Kid".

 

Bottom line to me, is that the jury is out until we see what the coach will do with the boys. They can be one of two things. One....Very Good or two Average.

I don't think Fuss will choose pitching over catching soley because of recovering from a shoulder injury from football. It was just an option (not as a starter but in relief) if they ever ran low on pitching due to many factors. Just something that is available if needed.

I will agree last years team underachived but it had a lot to do with Jared Blank playing the whole season with a broken wrist on his throwing arm that required surgery that he is still healing from and AJ Collins playing with a torn shoulder from football that required surgery after the season and prevented him from pitching or playing the OF the last few games. Nick Carr who was hotter than heck missed three weeks with a shoulder strain.

 

I would of loved to have had AJ on the mound as one of the pitchers versus Ryle in the district game in which Cooper lost 12-8. The year before Ryle won 1-0 when AJ pitched. You never know how the game would turn out but I would bet a lot that AJ would not give up 8 runs.

 

I hear the new coach didn't have Fall workouts or conditioning which Coach Beiger put a ton of time and effort in to strengthen the kids. If this is true, that is a shame. I hope the kids had the motivation to get better and work in their own.

 

Good luck to the Jag's and I look forward to seeing some games!!

I would think Blake McMahon and Patrick Dragan would find themselves somewhere in the 7-9 spots in the order.

I would think Blake McMahon and Patrick Dragan would find themselves somewhere in the 7-9 spots in the order.

I would too, there is also Alex Holland who plays a real nice 1b and Eric Estenfelder who has nice pop in his bat (both who played varsity last year along with Blake McMahon) Also there is Jake Craile (sp) who the last couple years was just left off varsity not due to ability but simply because of the numbers game. Blake can play infield and is a pretty good pitcher when he is on.

I would think Blake McMahon and Patrick Dragan would find themselves somewhere in the 7-9 spots in the order.

 

I think you meant Blake Dickerson, no McMahon. Pat didn't pitch but an inning or 2 last year on JV. Dickerson pitched in the 2 spot.

I think you meant Blake Dickerson, no McMahon. Pat didn't pitch but an inning or 2 last year on JV. Dickerson pitched in the 2 spot.

I think he meant McMahon who played on varsity last year and also pitched.

I was referring to pitching sorry got to looking at the post again, and your talking batting line up...Ooops my bad.

I was actually talking about 7-9 in the batting order in regards to Big Cats earlier post. I agree Blake Dickerson and JT Wise will add some pitching depth.

Just to make sure this is understood, I can tell you that coddling NEVER took place under Coach Bieger. Coach Bieger expected the players to approach him over the parents also. So....this should be nothing new to the Cooper boys. The thing that has to be remembered is a great coach is also a great teacher. Coach/Teacher go hand in hand IMO.

 

Collins will be fair and Cooper's players will compete from the 1st day of practice until the last game for their position, spot in the rotation, and their spot in the batting order. He will let the cream rise to the top. Coach Collins will not cuttle anyone, players have had 8 months to fill in the voids in their game and now is the time to compete. He will expect players to approach him with any concerns, its part of becoming a man and a skill he will use with other coaches and bosses the rest of his life, its fair warning to Cooper parents. A player who keeps his head up, is a good teammate, takes direction, and takes responsibility will be successful.