FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – University of North Florida Director of Athletics Lee Moon announced today that Raymond “Smoke” Laval will take over as the new head baseball coach for the Ospreys. Laval will replace current head baseball coach Dusty Rhodes, who announced his retirement today, effective at the end of the 2010 season.

“We’re excited to have Raymond joining the UNF family,” said UNF President John A. Delaney.  “He brings a wealth of experience to the plate and we look forward to him picking up where Dusty left off, continuing to build upon a strong baseball program here at the University.”

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Randy Rosetta of The Advocate has a good article looking at how LSU’s Paul Mainieri ended up losing two key recruits near the signing deadline in Slade Heathcott and Brody Colvin. Heathcott was expected to sign as he was the 28th overall selection by the Yankees but coach Mainieri expected Colvin to end up on the field at Alex Box Stadium. Colvin actually made it all the way to campus as he was taking part in freshman orientation but the Philadelphia Phillies sent a scout to see him and put in a last ditch effort which caused Colvin to sign. These two players join three other recruits who backed out of their commitments to the National Champions. We should see how these loses affect the program in the coming years.

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I reported on January 6th that West Virginia head coach Greg Van Zant made a proposal for a change to the RPI. (FULL STORY) It was discussed at the ABCA convention and recently was sent off to the NCAA Division 1 Baseball Committee where it will be reviewed again. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CCBL NEWS SOURCE

COCA COLA PITCHER OF THE WEEK 

Aaron Meade, Harwich LHP

The final Coca-Cola Pitcher of the Week of the 2009 Cape Cod Baseball League regular season is Harwich starter Aaron Meade (Missouri State). Meade won his only start of the week, a seven-inning gem against Chatham. Meade did not allow a run and struck out five over the course of the performance, while scattering only four hits.    

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The Daily Advertiser has an excellent article looking at the job Paul Mainieri is trying to do at keeping his top recruits on path to head to Baton Rouge over the minor leagues. The top two prospects that he needs to worry about are Zack Von Rosenberg of Zachary High and Brody Colvin of St. Thomas More High. Von Rosenberg was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the sixth round while the Phillies selected Colvin in the seventh round by the Phillies. Both of them are not expected to sign for “slot” money so both organizations need to step up their offers considerably. LSU has also revoked the letters of intent to two junior college players in Slade Heathcott and Brett Bruening. Heathcott is expected to sign with the New York Yankees in the next week as he was selected in the first round while Bruening did not fulfill academic commitments that he promised to Mainieri.

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LSU’s Austin Nola Hits for the Cycle in Summer League

DANVILLE, Ill. — When he arrived in Danville to join the Dans, Austin Nola brought with him plenty of memories from his school season at LSU.

Both he and Dans teammate Mikie Mahtook were late-comers after winning this year’s College World Series.

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Head Coach Scoot Googins Adds Nick Otte to Coaching Staff

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball head coach Scoot Googins has announced the addition of Nick Otte to the XU coaching staff. He will serve primarily as the pitching coach for the Musketeers after serving three years as an assistant at Miami (Ohio).

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DJ LeMahieu (LSU Media Relations Photo)

I found this very interesting article looking at LSU’s shortstop/second baseman D.J. LeMaheiu who helped led the Tigers to the 2009 CWS Championship. LeMaheiu had a two out two run double which tied Game 1 of the CWS Championship Series. He ended up scoring the winning run in the 11th inning of that game to give the Tigers the 1-0 lead. Two days later, the Tigers picked up the deciding game by a score of 11-4. Read the rest of this entry »

Blake Dean returns to LSU (Photo Courtesy of LSU Media Relations)

Blake Dean of LSU has made his decision to return next season to the squad. Dean was a 10th round selection by the Minnesota Twins this past season after hitting .328 with 17 homers and 71 RBI. He will be undergoing surgery next Wednesday on his left shoulder to correct instability in that arm. Dean is expected to be ready for Fall Workouts in late October. Read the rest of this entry »

Jared Mitchell signs with White Sox (Ted Kirk/AP)

Jared Mitchell has officially signed with the Chicago White Sox after being selected with the 23rd overall pick. He has been assigned to Kannapolis of the South Atlantic League.

Mitchell skyrocketed this season up the draft boards after focusing on baseball this spring after playing his first two seasons at the school splitting time between spring football and the baseball season. Read the rest of this entry »

Washington's Husky Ballpark (Photo Courtesy of Bryan Young)

The Washington Athletic Department announced on June 22nd that head coach Ken Knutson will no longer serve as the head baseball coach. As of right now, the Huskies have not been able to settle on a coach with several high profile head coaches and assistants pulling out of the running. The two most recent guys to pull out are Pepperdine’s Steve Rodriguez and LSU assistant coach David Grewe. The name everyone keeps bringing up is Nino Giarranto from San Francisco. Read the rest of this entry »

AJ Morris (Courtesy of K-State Media Relations)

Here are some of the best links from Around the Country for July 8th.

The first article comes from The Advocate in Baton Rouge which talks about LSU head coach Paul Mainieri’s future plans. Randy Rosetta states that LSU needs to relax on Mainieri if they want to keep him long term due to the short life span of Smoke Laval in the past. LSU fans are very fickle so you are expected to win national titles in a year in and year out basis. Read the rest of this entry »