Greetings from Chantville!

Hi guys.

Yes I am the admin that had signed up for an account, but PLEASE, I come in peace. If you were the Lamecocks or another team that would be different. I have never heard anything but good things about your fan base. Before I moved to Myrtle, I drove from Chicago to Rosenblatt the last year the CWS was held there and I was wearing my CCU gear and an LSU fan stopped me and said he knew our strength coach and he was very polite. He invited me to his tailgate for food and beverages. The people were all very nice. Now that might have been because they were not in the CWS that year, but nonetheless, it was a pleasant experience.

Alex Box:
It has been on my bucket list to see a game there and knowing my Alma Mater ('03) is playing there for a trip to Omaha and I am deciding to not go is absolutely killing me, but I am putting all of my eggs in one basket so to speak and HOPING, PRAYING, maybe trying a voodoo doll on you guys, that we win the series and make it to Omaha instead.

I think one of your guys posted on our site (www.coastalfans.com) that your stadium is somewhat homer friendly. Is that correct? For some reason watching games on TV/ESPN3 it seemed more of a cavernous ballpark than "Wrigley field with the wind blowing out".

Our Team:

Offense:
Yea, as many of you have posted, we have hit 91 HRs this year. Our ballpark is not extremely small - I believe it's 320-330 down the lines, 360-370 in the gaps and 390 to CF with about a 30ft high wall. We also have 102 SB (10th in the nation) and rank 12th in the NCAA in sac bunts so yes we can play Gorilla Ball if we need to, or we can play get 'em on, over and in ball too.

My favorite player to watch is our CF Billy Cooke. He is a sophomore and has speed to burn, and he is in charge of the outfield and makes all the adjustment calls...oh yea and our corner outfielders are seniors and take instructions from him. Pretty crazy. He has a little power, but always hits the ball hard - I think he is batting in the high .340s or low .350s.

The rest of our offense is pretty evenly balanced. We will have 4 or 5 lefties in the lineup every game, our SS, Michael Paez, is a small guy but has power (14HRs I believe) and on the other side of the ball he can make plays that will leave your jaw on the floor, but then boot the easy 6-4-3 grounder from time to time.

Defense:
Our defense has been improving all year long. Our outfield has been consistent all year long. Our RF Connor Owings has an above average arm and so does Cooke. I thought our LF and leadoffman Anthony Marks had a subpar arm, but he threw a runner out at the plate in our conference tourney which shocked me. Let's see....3b Remillard has a great arm and can pick it, but he has the tendancy to airmail it sometimes. Already talked about Paez at SS. Our 2b Seth Lancaster (he had the 2rbi hit in the 9th with 2 out vs NC St) is a solid secondbaseman who will make all the plays he should. At 1st is Tyler Chadwick who is battling an oblique injury. The kid can flat out pick it. It seems like every game he is doing the splits and digging a ball out of the dirt. Late in games Gilley likes to sub in our 6'5" 240lb 1st baseman Kevin Woodall Jr. I am still not sure why other than he is obviously a larger target than the 5'9" Chadwick. Catcher has been a bone of contention for me all year (I'm a season ticket holder). David Parrett had 12hrs last year I think and has not come close to that this year and Matt Beaird has not impressed me at all, BUT in the conference tourney and in Raleigh, I have to give Beaird credit he was a solid backstop and had a few hits. With the rest of our lineup being pretty potent, we don't need much from our backstop.

Pitching:
I will try to wrap this up as I think I may be boring you guys and rambling.

Arm angles and speed. Andrew Beckwith will throw from just about any arm angle imaginable and has very good control.but will not blow up any radar guns. Alex Cunningham on the other hand can touch 94 and has shown really good off speed stuff his last few outings. We have a Freshman phenom named Jason Bilous. He turned down $600k from the Dodgers I believe it was to come to Conway. He has hit 98mph and has a ++ changeup. He is working on a 3rd pitch as well. Control is the name of his game. Against Liberty in the Big South Conference title game his control was great and he was unhittable for a while. Zack Hopeck is another guy who will probably start if this goes 3 games. He has pitched against UNC, UNCw, and the Lamecocks and he will not blow you away with speed but he has great control. In our bullpen we have Freshman All American Austin Kitchen - our only LHP. He has struggled lately after doing well to start the season. He was one of the few guys who wasn't afraid to throw inside and it worked for him. He can hit 91 and has a 12-6 curve. Our closer and All American is Mike Morrison. He can hit 90-91 but his 2 off speed pitches and the fact that he throws them all from the same slot and arm speed is what separates him.

Anyways, hope that helps!