Baseball | 1/30/2020 4:54:00 PM
GOODWELL, Okla. – A new era in the life of Oklahoma Panhandle State University baseball will open on Friday, January 31 as the Aggies begin the 2020 season under new Head Coach
Shawn Joy. OPSU will travel to Cleburne, Texas to play in the Alpine Fresh 4-Him Classic on Friday through Sunday.
Panhandle State will get a stiff test in the tournament with at least three games versus NCAA Division II foes. The Aggies lift the lid on 2020 versus Southern Arkansas at 9 a.m. Friday at The Depot stadium. Later that day, they will face former Heartland Conference mate Newman University (7:30 p.m./Cleburne H.S. field). Saturday (Feb. 1) will pit Panhandle against Wayne State College (8 p.m.). Depending on the Aggies' record in the event, they will play at either 10 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. on Sunday versus an opponent to be determined.
"It's a really good group of guys," Joy said of his 2020 roster. "They want to learn; they want to get better. They're open to trying something new and be pushed, so that's been enjoyable. It's been a fun group to coach. I think there's a lot of potential for this program and it starts with the guys. As a coach, that's all you can ask for is a group of people who are willing to try what you've got."
Joy is blessed with not only several newcomers that exude potential, but with a strong nucleus of returning talent to not only insure continuity, but proved leadership in his inaugural season at the helm.
Heading the cast of the returning talent for Panhandle State is 2019 first team All-Sooner Athletic Conference catcher
Luis Rodriguez (Kissimmee, Fla.). Rodriguez, a junior, was the first-ever OPSU player to earn first team All-SAC accolades after a break-through sophomore season.
Last year, Rodriguez batted .372 and had an on-base average of .492, both team-leading numbers and ranked 11th and fifth in the Sooner Athletic Conference, respectively, in those categories. In 185 plate appearances, Rodriguez slugged eight home runs (11th in SAC), drove in 43 runs (18th). He had a fielding percentage of .979 and threw out 16 runners on the base paths giving him a caught stealing percentage of 47 percent.
Senior left-handed pitcher
Joseph Goetze (Coppell, Texas) heads Joy's returning pitching staff. In 61.1 innings pitched, Goetze was 4-5 overall and had a 4.84 earned run average, starting all 12 of his appearances. He struck out 64 batters and walked just 26, with opponents hitting just .264 against him.
Junior infielder
Chris Galvan – who played in 38 games with 33 starts in 2019 - batted .282 in 103 at-bats. He had an OBP of .439, driving in 17 runs and scoring 18. Galvan finished 20th in the Sooner Athletic Conference in OBP. He also drew 20 walks and led the Aggies in times hit by a pitch, with nine.
Sophomore shortstop
JJ Vaught (Fort Worth, Texas) – who at 6-foot-7 may be one of, if not the, tallest shortstops in the country – started 45 of 46 games as a freshman. In 176 at-bats, he hit .295 with an on-base average of .328. Vaught drove in 27 runs and scored 27 more. He cracked seven doubles and drew nine walks, while stealing nine bases in 11 tries.
A pair of returning senior right-handed hurlers –
Charlie Marini (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and
Blake Tucker (Fort Worth, Texas) also add depth to the pitching corps. Marini appeared in 19 games, finishing with a 3-3 record and one save Marini threw 24.0 innings, striking out 22. He finished 11th in the SAC in opponent batting average (.261).
Tucker appeared in 10 games for the Aggies, starting one and completing one save. He struck out 19 batters in 18.2 innings pitched.
One other returning "weapon" for OPSU is pinch-runner supreme,
Aaron Moreno. Moreno, a senior who transferred to after one year at a JUCO, has made a living for the Aggies on the base paths. In his previous two years in the Crimson and Blue, Moreno is an aggregate 37-for-39 in stolen bases (including a perfect 12-for-12 in 2018). In 2019, he appeared in 41 games for the Aggies, scored 35 runs and stole 25 bases on 27 attempts. Moreno finished second in the Sooner Athletic Conference in stolen bases and first in stolen bases per game.
"We did a lot of stuff in the fall for team building," Joy said of blending the veterans and newcomers. "We had this thing called the 'Aggie Boot Camp', where it's just a bunch of different competitions that we do. I think if you get the guys around each other a lot, they become close. They become a family."
As for how he will employ the talent he has Joy has a very simple model. "I just want them to focus on the little things that we as coaches talk about," Joy explained. "The things that get you to the end result. I'm not really a result-oriented guy; I'm more of a 'hey, if we do these things the result will go our way'.
"I just want to see them keep doing the things we've done (in the fall), but against another uniform."
As the 2020 season begins in earnest this weekend for all of the SAC teams, there are no less than four SAC teams in the radar of voters in the NAIA national pre-season poll. USAO was tabbed No. 3 and Oklahoma City No. 10. Texas Wesleyan was ranked No. 17 and Southwestern Christian received votes.
"We're playing real good teams early," Joy said of his 2020 slate. "It can go two ways: they guys can rise to the challenge, prepare every day and get ready, or they can feel sorry for themselves and say 'well, we're playing a tough schedule'.
"But I think our guys will accept the challenge."
