University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Baseball Looks Forward to 2010 Season
12.07.2009 | Baseball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville baseball team is looking forward to the 2010 season under new coach Tom Smith.
Smith and his team worked hard in the fall season in every area. The Bulldogs came out of the fall with improvement in all areas.
"We saw a great deal of improvement with our returning players, and I thought our new players showed that they could fill some holes for this year's club," declared Smith recently.
"What we tried to do in the fall was to improve our fundamentals and become a hustling team that plays hard all the time," Smith added. "We know we have challenges, but we're going to be focused for every pitch in every game."
One area Smith was pleased with was the Bulldogs pitching. Asheville scrimmaged Mars Hill and allowed just one walk during the October scrimmage.
"I was really pleased with the way our pitchers responded to Coach Rembert (Aaron Rember, Asheville's first-year pitching coach)," stated Smith. "We emphasized getting the ball over the plate and not walking people, and it was nice to see our pitchers do that in the scrimmage. We still have plenty of work to do in the pitching area, but we saw some real improvement in that over the fall."
Smith is pleased with the way the Bulldogs have accepted him and the new coaching staff.
"This is a new start for everyone," admitted Smith. "We're all starting from scratch, and everyone was ready to get to work from the start. I think our guys have accepted our staff and are just trying to get better every day.
"Overall, our pitchers had success. Our hitters had success and the work ethic has gotten much better,' added Smith.
The Bulldogs are finishing up the semester with their exams and will then go home for winter break.
"We want to end the semester by getting the job done in the classroom," said Smith. "Hopefully, everyone will come back to ready to go in January. Our first game - Feb. 19th - will get here in a hurry.
UNC Asheville hopes to release its schedule shortly as a few dates are still being worked out. The Bulldogs will open the season at Campbell on Feb. 19.
