Team’s sights set on title
The Liberty University baseball team’s season has just begun and the players, who have been practicing since last fall, are ready to stop scrimmaging one another and start on their journey towards the team’s goal of getting to an NCAA regional tournament.
Head coach Jim Toman and team captains Tyler Bream and Steven Evans are all in agreement that this will be the most important thing to accomplish during the 2011 spring season.
According to Toman, this was a goal that the team came just short of last season, despite the record-setting number of wins Liberty garnered.
Leader of the pack — Tyler Bream, one of the two team captains, has high hopes for the Flames baseball team’s 2011 season. Photo provided
“The guys kind of have that understanding that this program needs to get into an NCAA regional,” Toman said.
“It was nice (last year) to set a school record for conference wins … but we’re not going to be happy until we win a regional,” he said. “If we get to a regional we’ll have a better platform to carry out our mission here at Liberty and spread the gospel. It’ll be on TV and it’ll be a lot more publicity for our school.”
According to senior pitcher Evans, the team has already been more focused on bringing energy to the field and being ready to practice every day.
“As a team, I think we have a lot more speed this year, which is really going to help us move runners on the bases,” junior third baseman Bream said.
“Our pitching staff is a lot deeper in the bullpen and we have a couple of better starters,” he said. “I think those are both really big key improvements to the team as a whole that will allow us to go further this year.”
Not only has the work ethic been good, according to Toman, but there is also a productive chemistry on the team.
“I think the biggest thing about this team is we’re like a family,” Evans said. “Everybody gets along.
We all enjoy being around each other and you definitely need that to play this game,” he said.
The “family” has expanded this year. After nine players left last season, the team has acquired 15 news players to create the 35-player roster. According to Toman, they have meshed well and have playmakers that are stepping up.
Toman said that there have also been some changes in the NCAA rules in an effort to shorten games and increase safety. One rule requires manufacturers to develop a new aluminum bat that acts as wood, which will lead to less home runs in college baseball.
“They were worried about games being too high-scoring and too long,” Toman said.
To adapt to this change, the team has been working on “small game,” according to Toman. This includes things like bunting, stealing and hitting and running.
“It seems like we’ve got a bunch of guys that are loose,” Toman said. “They seem to have a lot of fun but until you start playing the games, you can’t know what kind of character your team is going to take on. Right now they’re loose, having fun, they work hard. They’re good kids.”
Along with Bream and Evans, senior pitcher Mark Swanson and senior outfielder and catcher Jeff Jefferson were named captains.
Liberty lost three and won one in its weekend series at Mercer University and travels to Jacksonville, Fla., on Feb. 25 for a four-game series against North Florida.