Ever wonder what a REAL good college coach does to
communicate with the alumni and fans?
I could describe it to you, but I’d rather do something a
lot better and just SHOW you what I’m talking about.
Here’s the latest email from our outstanding baseball coach
Brett Boretti:
The Columbia Baseball team split our first
weekend at the University of South Florida. We took the first two games of the
series 1-0 and 6-4 to go 2-0 for the first time since 1999, but that lasted
about 3 hours when USF beat us soundly in the night cap on Saturday 13-5
and followed it up by taking Sunday’s game 7-2.
On Friday night senior Dave Speer pitched a tremendous 8 innings and senior Zack Tax closed the door to record his first save of the year. It was a great pitcher’s duel as USF’s #1 starter had not been scored on in his previous two starts this year. We scored in the top of the first as junior Jordan Serena hit a hard single up the middle, stole second, and came around on senior Aaron Silbar’s RBI single. That early run stood up as Speer worked out of a second and third no out situation in the middle innings to continue to give us momentum. We ended up with zero errors on defense and issued 1 BB and had 8k’s. A very good win and real good start to the season.
Joe Donino took the hill on Saturday for the first game of a doubleheader. Joe struggled with his command a bit and we made a move to the bullpen early to bring in sophomore lefty Thomas Crispi. Crispi gave us 3 quality innings and a chance to regroup and settle in. We grabbed the lead back in the top of the 6th but it ended up tied going into the 7th. Sophomore George Thanopoulos came on and pitched one hit ball over the final three frames striking out two.
The offense grinded out a run in the 8th that started with Dave Vandercook getting hit by a pitch then Aaron Silbar sac bunting him over to 2nd followed by a walk (Falcone) and a single by Rob Paller and a sac fly by Logan Boyher. The offense scored two more in the 9th when freshmen second-baseman Will Savage led off with a single and was bunted over by Mike Fischer. Jordan Serena (who had a heck of a weekend- 9 for 16 w/ 3 doubles and 3SB’s) doubled him in and Aaron Silbar had a big 2-out RBI to add some insurance for a 6-4 win. It started a little sloppy but we ended up on the right side of the score in the end.
Game three did not end up that way. Adam Cline got the start and his command was not the best. A 1-1 game quickly got away from us when USF put up an 8 spot in the 4th to take a commanding lead. Freshman RHP Ty Wiest made his debut on the hill in relief. We played a solid game defensively, but we gave them too many chances to cash in some opportunities and they did in a big way in the 4th inning.
Logan Boyer did a real nice job behind the plate in game #2 after starting at 1b in game #1. Sophomore Nick Maguire had two hits including an RBI triple.
On Sunday sophomore RHP Kevin Roy took the hill, as we looked to take the series. We struck in the top of the first with Serena getting hit by a pitch and stealing second and Rob Paller driving him in, but that was all we could manage with the bases loaded and 1 out. We would end up leaving 14 guys on base for the day. Roy had some problems locating his fastball early and got into some trouble. We were able to limit the damage but still were tied 2-2 after three innings. In the 4th we went to the bullpen. Zack Tax and junior LHP Mike Weisman worked themselves out of some jams to keep it at 5-2 at the end of six. Sophomore RHP Matt Robinson made his debut in the seventh. Freshman Ty Wiest did a real nice job getting out of a second and third 1 out jam in the 8th to keep the score at 7-2. We had our chanceson Sunday to do a lot more offensively. We knocked their starter out after three innings and were unable to capitalize on plenty of opportunities. Defensively we did not commit an error.
I thought we could have done better/more on the weekend. A splits a split, but we did not show as well as we can. Our bullpen showed their depth and it was good to use the whole staff on the weekend. Defense was very good. Offensively the approach was solid for the first weekend and we took some healthy hacks. The two strike approach was pretty good too. Our bunting needs to improve and it will. USF is a solid team. Their top 3 starters pitched well, and we saw a few good arms out of the pen, so it was a good match up for us early. Their hitters have a great 2k-approach- which I think our guys recognized and learned from.
After the games on Saturday, I found out our flight was cancelled (IMPENDING WEATHER). We quickly turned a negative into a BIG positive. Other than missing classes on a Monday I thought it was a blessing in disguise to get another day on the field in Florida. We had a great workout Monday morning at USF. Coach Prado at USF runs a class program. He's a great guy and very complimentary of our program and I appreciate him allowing us to practice on Monday at his place. It was great to get back on the field after the two losses and get in a real good practice in the Florida sun.
We head back on the road on Thursday. We are traveling down to Kennesaw State. They are 7-6 with wins over Georgia and Georgia Tech already. It should be another challenging match up for us.
Alumni Notes
Tim Giel SEAS ’13 was at our games. Tim is in Tampa for spring training with the Yankees for his second season. He looked great and is ready to go.
Dario Pizzano CC ’13 made his big league spring training debut yesterday for the Seattle Mariners. He got an OF assist- threw a guy out at third.
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Columbia Baseball Alumni Homecoming Day Saturday April 12th vs Princeton.
Also, I want to make sure everyone knows the giving link if you want to make your gift to the baseball program:
Thanks for all your support and talk to you soon.
On Friday night senior Dave Speer pitched a tremendous 8 innings and senior Zack Tax closed the door to record his first save of the year. It was a great pitcher’s duel as USF’s #1 starter had not been scored on in his previous two starts this year. We scored in the top of the first as junior Jordan Serena hit a hard single up the middle, stole second, and came around on senior Aaron Silbar’s RBI single. That early run stood up as Speer worked out of a second and third no out situation in the middle innings to continue to give us momentum. We ended up with zero errors on defense and issued 1 BB and had 8k’s. A very good win and real good start to the season.
Joe Donino took the hill on Saturday for the first game of a doubleheader. Joe struggled with his command a bit and we made a move to the bullpen early to bring in sophomore lefty Thomas Crispi. Crispi gave us 3 quality innings and a chance to regroup and settle in. We grabbed the lead back in the top of the 6th but it ended up tied going into the 7th. Sophomore George Thanopoulos came on and pitched one hit ball over the final three frames striking out two.
The offense grinded out a run in the 8th that started with Dave Vandercook getting hit by a pitch then Aaron Silbar sac bunting him over to 2nd followed by a walk (Falcone) and a single by Rob Paller and a sac fly by Logan Boyher. The offense scored two more in the 9th when freshmen second-baseman Will Savage led off with a single and was bunted over by Mike Fischer. Jordan Serena (who had a heck of a weekend- 9 for 16 w/ 3 doubles and 3SB’s) doubled him in and Aaron Silbar had a big 2-out RBI to add some insurance for a 6-4 win. It started a little sloppy but we ended up on the right side of the score in the end.
Game three did not end up that way. Adam Cline got the start and his command was not the best. A 1-1 game quickly got away from us when USF put up an 8 spot in the 4th to take a commanding lead. Freshman RHP Ty Wiest made his debut on the hill in relief. We played a solid game defensively, but we gave them too many chances to cash in some opportunities and they did in a big way in the 4th inning.
Logan Boyer did a real nice job behind the plate in game #2 after starting at 1b in game #1. Sophomore Nick Maguire had two hits including an RBI triple.
On Sunday sophomore RHP Kevin Roy took the hill, as we looked to take the series. We struck in the top of the first with Serena getting hit by a pitch and stealing second and Rob Paller driving him in, but that was all we could manage with the bases loaded and 1 out. We would end up leaving 14 guys on base for the day. Roy had some problems locating his fastball early and got into some trouble. We were able to limit the damage but still were tied 2-2 after three innings. In the 4th we went to the bullpen. Zack Tax and junior LHP Mike Weisman worked themselves out of some jams to keep it at 5-2 at the end of six. Sophomore RHP Matt Robinson made his debut in the seventh. Freshman Ty Wiest did a real nice job getting out of a second and third 1 out jam in the 8th to keep the score at 7-2. We had our chanceson Sunday to do a lot more offensively. We knocked their starter out after three innings and were unable to capitalize on plenty of opportunities. Defensively we did not commit an error.
I thought we could have done better/more on the weekend. A splits a split, but we did not show as well as we can. Our bullpen showed their depth and it was good to use the whole staff on the weekend. Defense was very good. Offensively the approach was solid for the first weekend and we took some healthy hacks. The two strike approach was pretty good too. Our bunting needs to improve and it will. USF is a solid team. Their top 3 starters pitched well, and we saw a few good arms out of the pen, so it was a good match up for us early. Their hitters have a great 2k-approach- which I think our guys recognized and learned from.
After the games on Saturday, I found out our flight was cancelled (IMPENDING WEATHER). We quickly turned a negative into a BIG positive. Other than missing classes on a Monday I thought it was a blessing in disguise to get another day on the field in Florida. We had a great workout Monday morning at USF. Coach Prado at USF runs a class program. He's a great guy and very complimentary of our program and I appreciate him allowing us to practice on Monday at his place. It was great to get back on the field after the two losses and get in a real good practice in the Florida sun.
We head back on the road on Thursday. We are traveling down to Kennesaw State. They are 7-6 with wins over Georgia and Georgia Tech already. It should be another challenging match up for us.
Alumni Notes
Tim Giel SEAS ’13 was at our games. Tim is in Tampa for spring training with the Yankees for his second season. He looked great and is ready to go.
Dario Pizzano CC ’13 made his big league spring training debut yesterday for the Seattle Mariners. He got an OF assist- threw a guy out at third.
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Columbia Baseball Alumni Homecoming Day Saturday April 12th vs Princeton.
Also, I want to make sure everyone knows the giving link if you want to make your gift to the baseball program:
Thanks for all your support and talk to you soon.
Brett
23 comments:
Notice how Boretti singles out actual pros and cons and not in generalities. He talks about bunting and hitting and pitching, as opposed to the comments we get from Mangurian that don't even sound like he's talking about football players. This guy gets it. And yes, I am aware that Dianne Murphy hired him too. And that's actually an indictment of her because she clearly can do a better job and she just won't when it comes to football.
I want to throw Murphy under the bus but it is perfectly clear Pete was a political hire that backfired on her. She thought he was a safe hire based on working with him before; someone who could handle the job and bring the team to a respectable record. She did not factor in the intangibles which escaped her yet are obvious to everyone else. By now, ways to extricate from Pete must have crossed her mind. I'll give her credit for assuming that is the case. If she is sold on the cupboard is bare excuse then she must also recognize Pete was successful at Cornell because he inherited a decent cupboard from Jim Hohfer - not because Pete was a great coach. Hohfer won a rare Ivy championship in 1990 and held the Big Red in respectable standing throughout his tenure there.
Ironically, Hohfer is now available and would probably do a much better job than Elizondo as OC (as well as HC).
I think you guys are too hard on the Lady Murph. Take a look around, lots of improvements, basketball with outstanding players coming in for both the men and the women and a real good ladies' coach (did you read the bios for the Lady Lions' recruits? The men should be so lucky!;) Too many other good things happening to mention here. Sure, football has still been a morass but that will change, too, maybe even under PM's watch. Mark my words ye of little faith!
Has Columbia baseball done anything as hilarious as Harvard baseball?
alawicius, I like Diane too, but we need more of a sense of urgency!!
WOF, I suspect Dianne has a similar sense of urgency at this point. Her job requires attention to all the sports, but she no doubt knows what's at stake with Lion football.
WOF, I suspect Dianne has a similar sense of urgency at this point. Her job requires attention to all the sports, but she no doubt knows what's at stake with Lion football.
By the way, wingman, I for one was neither amused nor impressed by the Harvard baseball hi-jinks...stodgy and repetitive...anyone else have an opinion?
alawicius
How long have you followed CU football? just curious. I have been part of it since the ealry 80's and it seems there has never been a sense of urgency...
Spring practice photos have just been posted on twitter.
2014 roster is up (minus recruits). Coaches roster up, too, but no changes yet (maybe today?).
There's big room for improvement in men's basketball as well as women's. Men's bb starts a sort of combo g/f who is a nice floor player but rarely tries to score, and I mean rarely. He contributes, and I don't like gunners who miss a lot, but you're not going to get any titles with that setup unless you have four aces, or at least three, and we don't.
But the team is 18-11, and I'm sure Smith wants to take it to a higher level. Still basically a young team, and next season should be very interesting.
Women's bb frosh Binder scored 28 or 29 in her first game, sometimes scores zero or barely makes an appearance. May be growing pains, but again it's up to the coach to get her players going, individually and teamwise. It'll be interesting also to see what Glance can produce next season with her young team plus recruits. Hopefully all sports will advance including the big boy.
I wonder if they re-posted the coaches page as a placeholder. Is it possible there is a direct reaction to what is posted here? Does this blog hold that much sway over the AD?
For killing time creatively travelling in a van, it's a pretty funny video to watch ONCE. Can't watch it more than that. Stodgy would be Harvard students discussing the latest in The Weekly Standard or National Review Online.
Re men's basketball, we have two of the top ten players in the league in Lo and Rosie. We have been playing without Mullins, our PG, who is an excellent outside shooter. We need one more strong inside player, which will likely be Petrasek and or Coby. The swing,an being referenced, Cohen, could score more if he wanted to.
The Clippers are playing without Crawford and Redick, two terrific 2-guards but they keep winning. I hate to repeat the old saw that injuries are part of the game.
I didn't name Cohen because I didn't want to single him out. What he does is valuable but a bb player who can score but won't shoot is costing you points. As if Babe Ruth were to have a fetish for bunting.
Look who else the Clippers have. PS, why is Spring football so early this year?
Old Lion, all I'm saying is that you can't afford to have only four players, instead of five, who will shoot the gall...unless that one one grabs 10 rebounds or makes 10
Assists. I appreciate Cohem but he doesn't do that. Maybe he's starting because Mullins is injured, but I think he started before that too. Whatever, I expect Smith will figure it out.
To respond to a couple of questions here;
I don't believe this blog has any sway over the AD. If anything, it's probably interpreted as an evil force.
I also believe that the AD truly has a sense of urgency, at least now, and in great part thanks to this blog. After all, a well-paid job is on the line.
"Liking" the AD is moot. Opinion one way or the other has no place here. The only legitimate issue is performance. In that respect the AD has failed. However, replacing the current AD with another talking head makes no sense unless we understand why they consistently fail.
To wit; it has taken the AD 10 years to get to a place where we may actually achieve more than 4-5 team championships, or a statistically AVERAGE share of annual Ivy crowns. Does anyone believe that is a laudable accomplishment? Or might it just be a coincidence, such as in once in a while even CU wins a few.
There is no evidence of a coordinated plan for improvement, just a merry-go-round of coaching changes. There is no evidence of a cohesive strategy, just expensive facilities built in extremely inconvenient locations. There is absolutely no intelligent communication with the most caring and concerned members of the alumni in terms of future direction, with the exception of (for example) the baseball coach.
Forget PM; where is the AD's regular and detailed and informative newsletter?
Our issues with CU athletics begin at the very top of the food chain, and until the President's office stops its benevolent despotism re sports, we will have no solution.
great post bigdawg
Every now and then a blind squirrel finds a chestnut. Boretti is that chestnut, so is Smith.
Where would convenient locations be for sports facilities in NYC? That's a challenge I would not blame on the AD. I have not been to NYC in decades but growing up, I do remember the hassle getting to baker field. You have to be a "real" new yorker to appreciate the experience. No way around it.
Brings to mind a proposal (shot down) to build a stadium in NYC. Was it Trump who proposed an ice skating rink on top of some building? Limited options facilities. Not having been there but seen photos and video of the playing field, I do find Kraft/Wien stadium an impressive upgrade.
Nothing wrong with Wien except that it's always empty. I liked the original, much larger wooden Baker Field because it was often packed, and it was packed because we won games in those days.
That's what attracts crowds, fun, enthusiasm: winning.
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