However, last season it was
the UC’s surprising freshmen at the top of the lineup leading things off for the
surprising ‘Cats all year.
The combination of speedy
middle infielders Adam Yeager and Josh Harrison helped to make a once
one-dimensional UC offense into a diverse and well-balanced attack. Along with speedy centerfielder LaFringe Hayes, the dynamic first-year standouts helped bring in era of “small ball” to
the campus at Clifton for the first time in the history of Cincinnati
baseball. Along with regulations
regarding hitting equipment, the construction of Marge Schott Stadium, a
ballpark noted as much for its massive power gaps and field turf as it is the
state-of-the-art nature of its design, left Cincinnati skipper Brian Cleary
little choice but to adopt the speed-based style of offense.
“You really need to have
speed if you want to be successful at [Marge Schott Field],” said Yeager, who
joined Harrison, Cory Hodskins, and pitchers Steve Blevins and Dan Osterbrock as
first-year players to make a major impact on last season’s Big East-qualifying
squad. “If you hit the ball into
the corner in this park it will probably go to the fence because of the size of
the park and the quickness of the turf, so with our speed we can turn a double
into a triple pretty easily.”
Much like those doubles
turned triples, Yeager, along with his fellow newcomers, made the adjustment to
the college game “pretty easily”.
After hitting .440 as a prep standout at Huntington High School (W. Va.),
the Bearcat shortstop hit .291 with 12 extra-base hits and six steals in 197
at-bats last season.
“I had a pretty good season
last year but we all did, which really helped me out with my confidence,” said
Yeager, speaking about the individual accomplishments of the Bearcat squad that
helped lead to their surprising overall team successes. “As a freshman I didn’t know what to
expect and it took some time to get adjusted so having the rest of the team have
the success they did really made me feel a lot more
comfortable.”
Yeager’s level of comfort
on the field received noticeable backing from his statistical output during his
season-long collegiate coming out party.
While the overall numbers are impressive, a deeper look at his
statistical output shows that the 6-foot middle infielder got stronger as the
season wore on. After struggling
mightily at times during early-season practice and the first few weeks of the
season, the West Virginia native caught fire, hitting well over .300 during the
crucial part of the conference season.
In fact, Yeager was one of the hottest hitters on his team down the
stretch run of the season, smacking out 34 hits (.337) en route to 21 runs, 13
RBI, and nine of his extra-base hits, including both of his home runs over the
course of the final 26 games of the season.
However, despite his
overall success, Yeager’s immediate arrival to Cincinnati ball field from
Huntington, W. Va. met shaky results.
While he thrived in the classroom, earning the finance major numerous
accolades for his academic progress, his efforts in the batting cage received
far less praise initially.
Due in par to both the
perceived weakness he had at the plate and the rest based on Coach Cleary’s
concern over shaking the youngster’s confidence, Yeager saw limited action early
on in the season. This included almost no play for the lefty against
southpaws. Coach Cleary’s hesitancy
derived from his desire to put his speedy weapon in situations that would
provide him the most chances at being successful early on in his career.
However, while that
relatively short duration of calendar time must have felt like one of the
longest in Yeager’s young baseball career, Yeager took it all on stride,
accepting the fact that he was a freshman on a team centered on a core of senior
ballplayers.
“Last year we had three seniors [Parker, DeLuca,
and Muscenti] that I looked up to in the infield and wanted to follow their
lead,” said Yeager, who embodies everything you’d want in a team player,
including a “whatever” the team needs attitude that helped keep him humble
during both his early struggles last season and achievements later one.
Last season, Yeager
parlayed the guidance and experience-learned lessons he received from his team
leaders, some of whom still hang around the batting cages on the UC campus at
times, into personal success. This season, Yeager is ready to adopt not only an
everyday spot in the lineup but also a role as a mentor on a young Bearcat team
- even though it might be more than a little odd at
first.
“This season, I am going to
have to step up and take on the role they leave behind, which will be a little
weird,” said Yeager, who will be the only full-time player returning to the
infield this season (Harrison split time at several positions last season,
primarily right field).
With that being said,
Yeager’s confidence level is at an all-time high, headed into his second season
in Cincinnati “A lot more
confidant, especially in the field,” said Yeager, who even seemed more at ease
while conducting this interview then he did any of his numerous one-on-ones last
year. “I am a little more used to
it and I am a lot more comfortable with pretty much everything that is going
on.”
Nevertheless, despite the
confidence he has in his own abilities, he is unable to echo that sentiment
toward those of most of other members of the team. With a team comprised largely of
second-year players, sophomores, transfers or former JUCO standouts, along with
a whole host of incoming freshmen and incoming “veterans” from varying
collegiate backgrounds, there are few aspects of this squad considered “sure
things” heading into the campaign.
“It is going to be a little
bit different from last year because we have those a whole lot of guys that have
been here for more than a year so,” who will rely heavily upon his classmate and
wingman, Harrison, to bring some sense of normalcy to the infield. “I am pretty comfortable with each of
those guys that may play in the infield and I am confidant in their ability to
play their position…but having Josh [Harrison] will help me and us out a lot
because he’ll be in the infield full-time this year and he is a natural
leader.”
While Yeager is excited
about the potential of playing with Harrison for a second go-round, he is
equally enthusiastic about the proposition of playing with the countless droves
of talented newcomers UC brought in during the
off-season.
“We have a lot of really
talented guys on this year’s team and we all the new guys are capable of doing
great things as well,” said Yeager, who has paid particular notice to the influx
of speed the program has added seemingly over night. “We have a lot more speed this
year with Jamel [Scott] and Tony Campana at the top of the lineup, so we’ll have
like four or five guys that can really steal a base at any
time.”
The ‘Cats will not be void
of potential power threats in the middle of the lineup by any stretch of the
imagination, as they will feature the likes of Neall French, Brian Szarmach and
others who can potentially take the ball over the sizeable meshlink fences in
the outfield. However, as the
classic adage states, speed never slumps and the proper utilization of the
blazing speed UC will have at three or four spots in the lineup will help their
offensive cause dramatically, particularly early on as they cope from the loss
of their reliable seniors in the lineup.
“I think we’ll adopt a
small ball mentality to some degree, but mainly because that is something we can
be successful doing,” said Yeager, who utilized his running ability to finish
fourth on the team in steals (6) and five successful infield bunt attempts last
season. “We still have three or
four guys in the middle of the lineup so it isn’t like we are just going to be a
one-dimensional offense. I think our speed at the top of the lineup will help us
be that much more explosive offensively but it won’t be our entire
offense.”
However, even though the
running ability of the Bearcats may not go into a slump - unless, the team is
plagued with a series of unfortunately timed cramps, of course - that will not
necessarily prevent them from enduring sizeable 0-fors over the course of the
season.
“Teams may be better
prepared for us this year then they were last year but if we work hard on the
field and study for them we’ll be fine. I know that I need to take a few more
pitches to try to get on base more. In order to use my speed on base paths
similar to how I did last year but I have to get on base.
As Coach Cleary says,
baseball is the one sport where you can count on nothing from one day to the
next, let alone a full season.
Luckily, the Bearcat faithful can rest peacefully knowing that this one
aspect of the game to which Yeager and Co. have paid full attention.
Although, don’t go asking
Yeager about his feelings about the potential for the notorious “sophomore
slump” or he is likely to laugh (or at least give you a hardy chuckle) in your
face as he did mine - and deservedly so.
“I haven’t even heard or
thought about to be honest with you, said Yeager sheepishly. “We just need to do the things that made
us successful as freshmen and continue to work hard. Our goal is a Big East championship and
I think as a team that‘s what we expect and what we are striving for. If we work
hard and do what we need to do, it won’t matter how well they’ve prepared for
us.