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The 2011 season was a dreamlike experience for Oklahoma Baptist. A trip to the NAIA World Series and 1,000 coaching wins for newly-minted NAIA Hall of Fame Coach Bobby Cox made Bison Field at Ford Park a fun place to be.
Now comes the follow-up.
“Baseball, as much as any sport, is built on momentum,” said associate head coach Chris Klimas. “We hope we can carry over some from last year. We’ve got a good core returning.”
While many of the stars of 2011 are gone, the lessons were learned by the returning players.
“This group learned a lot from the leadership of last year’s team,” said Klimas. “Over a 60-game schedule, they’ve seen what it takes to sustain success. I’m impressed with how together our guys are.”
The Bison will open their 2012 season — originally scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Friday at OBU — at 1 p.m. Saturday because of a chance of rain. The Bison will host Peru State for a doubleheader.
The pitching staff will be without All-Americans and major league draftees Kyle Brule and Richie Mirowski, but the cupboard isn’t bare. Chad Hardison, who threw with multiple injuries at the end of last season, heads the staff.
“Losing pitchers like Brule and Mirowski is hard to overcome,” Klimas said. “But Chad Hardison was 1-A in the rotation last year. He had the best ERA and seven wins, which could easily have been double-digit wins if we could give him some offensive support.”
Newcomers will fill out the rest of the rotation.
“John Christensen, Steve Messner, Chris Rogers, Chris Witschi and Julio Davila all have the ability to be conference starters,” said Klimas. “The fall semester sets the pecking order, but we’ll see how it shakes out.”
Jesus Carlos, who joined the team late, also has a chance to be in the starting rotation.
The bullpen also has a very new look.
“Daniel Marti is the only one returning in the bullpen and he pitched some big games for us,” said Klimas. “Sean Simonz, Tony Ricci, Chris Antariksa and Michael Fisher; we’re as deep as we’ve ever been.”
Handling the overwhelmingly new staff will be the tandem of returning starter Mitchell Prophet and incoming senior Dillon Usiak.
“Part of our pitching success last year was the way Mitchell handled the staff and called the game,” said Klimas. “We tried to get Dillon Usiak out of junior college, but we’re glad to finally get him here. I think we’ll have as good a catcher tandem as anyone.”
The 2011 season was a dreamlike experience for Oklahoma Baptist. A trip to the NAIA World Series and 1,000 coaching wins for newly-minted NAIA Hall of Fame Coach Bobby Cox made Bison Field at Ford Park a fun place to be.
Now comes the follow-up.
“Baseball, as much as any sport, is built on momentum,” said associate head coach Chris Klimas. “We hope we can carry over some from last year. We’ve got a good core returning.”
While many of the stars of 2011 are gone, the lessons were learned by the returning players.
“This group learned a lot from the leadership of last year’s team,” said Klimas. “Over a 60-game schedule, they’ve seen what it takes to sustain success. I’m impressed with how together our guys are.”
The Bison will open their 2012 season — originally scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Friday at OBU — at 1 p.m. Saturday because of a chance of rain. The Bison will host Peru State for a doubleheader.
The pitching staff will be without All-Americans and major league draftees Kyle Brule and Richie Mirowski, but the cupboard isn’t bare. Chad Hardison, who threw with multiple injuries at the end of last season, heads the staff.
“Losing pitchers like Brule and Mirowski is hard to overcome,” Klimas said. “But Chad Hardison was 1-A in the rotation last year. He had the best ERA and seven wins, which could easily have been double-digit wins if we could give him some offensive support.”
Newcomers will fill out the rest of the rotation.
“John Christensen, Steve Messner, Chris Rogers, Chris Witschi and Julio Davila all have the ability to be conference starters,” said Klimas. “The fall semester sets the pecking order, but we’ll see how it shakes out.”
Jesus Carlos, who joined the team late, also has a chance to be in the starting rotation.
The bullpen also has a very new look.
“Daniel Marti is the only one returning in the bullpen and he pitched some big games for us,” said Klimas. “Sean Simonz, Tony Ricci, Chris Antariksa and Michael Fisher; we’re as deep as we’ve ever been.”
Handling the overwhelmingly new staff will be the tandem of returning starter Mitchell Prophet and incoming senior Dillon Usiak.
“Part of our pitching success last year was the way Mitchell handled the staff and called the game,” said Klimas. “We tried to get Dillon Usiak out of junior college, but we’re glad to finally get him here. I think we’ll have as good a catcher tandem as anyone.”
Usiak may also see time in the outfield in order to keep his bat in the lineup.
The infield will see several new faces.
Sluggers will be at first base with Daniel Baptista and Daniel Howell filling that spot.
“Baptista is going to play a little more first base this year,” said Klimas. “He had 14 home runs in 40 starts last year. Daniel Howell has big-time power. Both of those guys will be big RBI guys in the middle of the order.”
The middle infield has a chance to be among the program’s most exciting with Greg Nelson at second and Yael Colon at shortstop.
“Greg Nelson is a high on-base guy that can set the table for us. He’s really quick on the turn,” Klimas said. “Yael was probably the best overall player in junior college last year. He’s electric, both offensively and defensively. He’s a true shortstop. With him and Nelson, we have one of our best middle infield duos.”
Michael Cerda, a late addition to the team, and Skyler Ellis will battle for third base.
“They’re both solid players,” Klimas said. “Cerda is true third baseman and was drafted out of high school. Ellis, along with Josiah Custar, are utility guys with a lot of versatility.”
Michael Sliger returns to the Bison outfield.
“In the outfield we return Sliger, who led the team in hitting last year as a part-time player after offseason surgery,” said Klimas. “He’s in the best shape of his life. Jorden Newton has moved from infield to outfield and is as good an athlete as we’ve got. Kenny Wall gives us opportunities to take advantage of his speed.”
The newcomers should be quick fits as well.
“Frankie Rivera in center field is a spark-plug kind of guy we can put at the top of the order. He can steal a base and score from first on a double,” Klimas said. “Mitch Warne is a solid corner outfielder. He can handle the bat well.”
The Bison continue in the Sooner Athletic Conference, where they finished second in 2011 with a 23-7 conference record. The conference produced three NAIA World Series teams and a fourth NAIA First-Round Tournament entrant.
