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For those interested in UAB baseball, this is an update from Coach Casey Dunn that he sends out to former players and members of the Dugout Club.

Semester Review:
The fall semester is officially in the books and our players have left campus for the Christmas break. This fall was productive in a lot of ways and our guys put in quality work.

Academics:
We had a solid academic semester. Being the first time back to in person learning for a lot of our guys there was a readjustment to the classroom. Overall, I was pleased with their effort and thankful for the job Erin (our academic advisor) did working with our players.

Strength and Conditioning:
Coming in the weight room was a priority for me as a new head coach. Our strength coach, Derek Groomer has done a good job working our guys through the fall. It has been an adjustment for a lot of the guys with the new emphasis placed on strength development and the work ethic required. Many of our guys have to learn to get out of their comfort zone and work harder. The weight room is a great place for that to start. By the end of the semester our players showed solid gains in most areas and I hope we can get it to translate to the field come spring.

On the field:
The fall ended on a rough patch as we played 2 scrimmages against quality teams in Clemson and Georgia Tech. The end results were not good and our guys were able to see where we have to improve. Coming out of the fall we still have a lot of position up for grabs. Here is a brief positional breakdown:

Catcher:
Henry Hunter emerged as our starter coming out of the fall. There will be some ups and downs with Henry this spring being a freshman, but we believe he has a chance at a quality draft pick down the road. Joe Kiel will be our number 2 catcher and should see a good amount of playing time as Henry adjust to this level of baseball.

First Base:
Josh Sears will be our first baseman after a good fall. He has real power potential and has performed well prior to coming to campus this fall. He hit a grand slam at Clemson and doubled at Georgia Tech. We will need Josh to carry us offensively this spring.

Second Base:
John Marc Mullins had a solid fall transitioning to second and will be our everyday guy there. He provides some experience and toughness to our club.

Short Stop:
Mathew Golda should be our regular short stop going into the season. He has experience playing at a high level and provides stability at that spot. He missed a lot of time this fall which allowed David Harris to emerge as a solid option there as well. David has really progressed over the fall and will see time in the infield this season.

3rd Base:
Andrew Roberts and Branden Willoughby are two transfers that will battle for the spot at 3rd. Andrew came out of the fall slightly ahead, but I expect both to get opportunities there.

Outfield:
Our outfield situation is a wild card. We have a lot of options, but no one really claimed a spot this fall. The closet was Peyton Puckett, a transfer, who showed to be one of our better hitters this fall. We have some work to do to figure out who plays beside Peyton this spring.

DH:
Christian Hall came out of the fall as our DH. However, he could also see time in the outfield as well. Christian really worked on his body this fall and showed a passion to be good. The other options in this spot would probably be the odd man out at 3rd base.

Pitching:
This is the area of greatest concern as we move into the spring. I feel like we can develop some depth, but need some guys to emerge to take over roles. I’m a big believer in setting roles for our guys and very few earned those this fall. Some of the guys that stood out were:

Brady Greene- Brady emerged as the best option out of the bullpen as we enter the spring. He made good progress over the fall and has experience from last season in this league.

Brooks Walton was probably our most consistent guy over the fall. He will fill one of our weekend roles for us to open the season.

2 freshman that stood out were Carson Myers and Thomas Ballard. Both of these guys have bright futures in our program. I’m not sure where they will be to open the season, but could see both pitching in our rotation by the end of the year.

Recruiting:
Recruiting never ends, but I am encouraged by where we are at this point of the year. During the early signing class we added 14 guys for our roster next year. We still have needs to fill that will be addressed through the JUCO and transfer market. The ‘22 class currently ranks 69th in the country by Perfect Game. While we need to be higher, I am pleased with what we were able to put together coming in as a new staff. The ’23 class is off to a good start as well. We currently have 5 commitments including 3 guys ranked within the top 500 players in the country. We have 1 player committed in the ’24 class who is ranked in the top 200 players for his class.

Below is a brief rundown of the current signing class:

Blayze Berry – JUCO Transfer who started at Mississippi State out of high school. Blayze is a short stop/RHP who showed he can provide help in both areas for us next year.

Phillip Busby- JUCO Transfer that is a left handed sidearm pitcher. Busby adds a unique look and will provide a left on left match up guy for us out of the bull pen.

Jon Luke Marlin- I offered Jon Luke while at Samford and he chose to go the JUCO route instead. He is a right handed sidearm pitcher that should compete to be our closer when he arrives on campus.

Fabian Amaro- Ranked as the 304th player in the country, Fabian is a catcher that has the ability to change the game offensively. We believe both he and Henry will provide a high end catching tandem for our program moving forward.

Braxton Shelton - Ranked 306th in the country, Braxton is a talented RHP that also will add some depth to our infield. He was a late bloomer that burst onto the scene this fall. We are fired up we were able to land him here at UAB.

Colin Daniel- Colin is a RHP from here in town (Corner) that was originally committed to me at Samford. When I made the change, he was a priority to get here with us at UAB. He is ranked as a top 500 player and will be able to contribute on the mound starting on Day 1.

Jankel Ortiz: Jankel is one of 2 infielders from Puerto Rico in this class. He is a high level defender that with strength could turn into a high draft pick as a junior. We will have to work to keep him from signing in the draft the June, but if he ends up on campus he will wow you with his defensive ability.

Adrian Rodriguez- Adrian is also from Puerto Rico and should be a draft pick this spring. The question is how high. We truly believe that if we can get both Adrian and Jankel to campus we will have a middle infield that will compete with anyone in the country from a defensive standpoint.

Austin Stephenson- Austin is a great athlete that will play shortstop for his high school team. We believe Austin has a high upside on the mound. He came to our camps and showed a 90+ mph fastball with a firm slider.

Brendan Wall- Brendan was a part of a state championship team at Auburn High last season. He is relatively new to pitching and didn’t throw much on their team last year. However, he has a live arm and will add velocity to our team we don’t presently have.

Jae Williams- Jae is a left handed hitting outfielder that performed well all summer. He has good feel to hit and should grow into a quality option for us in the outfield.

Nicolas Hollifield- Nic is a really strong defensive catcher that will complete our catcher position along with Henry and Fabian. I feel that these 3 guys will make our catching spot the strength of our team.

Issac Warrick- Issac won the MVP of the state all-star event this summer. He is a left handed pitcher that wins! His toughness will be a great addition to our team.

Schedule:
We will play all but 2 of our home games this year on campus. We need to create a true home field and I feel that Young Memorial Field is that place. We obviously need to make some upgrades there, but bouncing back and forth between 2 fields has not been beneficial. Both the Alabama and Auburn home games will be played at Regions Field to accommodate hopefully a larger crowd. The full schedule should be released online soon.

Impressive!

Love the update.

The Blazers signed a player named Blayze. I like it. A lot.

Anyone heard anything recently about YMF upgrades?

He was not exaggerating when he said the the fall ball "end results were not very good".

(12-22-2021 10:48 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  Anyone heard anything recently about YMF upgrades?

Last i have heard was some cosmetic stuff as for right now with the main focus being getting the fieldhouse/coaches offices for the baseball and softball team done first. The field itself is in great shape but as we know the seating and dugouts etc... are less than ideal.

Field house/coaches offices for the baseball and softball team confirmed first.

Baseball is an uphill climb for a lot of reasons compared to other sports but I do believe the Blazers can be more nationally competitive with facilities upgrades.