Hello all. Good Tuesday morning to you. We'll be having a virtual media day for UK Baseball and UK Softball today at 10:30 a.m. ET. I'll be posting all the news and notes in this thread as Nick Mingione and Rachel Lawson talk about their teams heading into the 2021 season. Stay tuned...
UK BASEBALL COACH NICK MINGIONE:
* The 2021 team is "high trust, low maintenance," Mingione on said. Had a 3.6 team GPA this fall, the highest of the male sports. That's been a big goal of theirs.
* SEC chose to keep the regular 56-game schedule. One midweek game left to be filled. Mingione says they love playing a tough schedule, and it will be no different this year, starting with North Carolina. They have 10 SEC series, and nine of them are against preseason ranked teams.
* Biggest thing they spent this fall was working on defense. "And we really needed it." They've changed their mindset and tried to create a whole new culture in that area. He thinks two new players, Ryan Ritter at SS and Alonzo Rubalcaba at C, can really help them in that area. He raves about both. Ritter could be the best SS with the glove he's had.
* Pitching has a lot of arms they're excited about. Freshman P Ryan Hagenow is highest-rated pitcher they've brought in since Alex Meyer. Had some struggles in the fall, but is a really hard worker, and recently had his best workout to date. "You can see it coming."
Top Returning Pitchers (2020 stats)
LHP Mason Hazelwood (Sr.) . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1, 1.64, 4 GS, 22.0 IP, 12 H, 27 K
RHP Jimmy Ramsey (Sr.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2, 3.26, 4 GS, 19.1 IP, 19 H, 20 K
RHP Alex Degen (Jr.) . . . . . . . 0-0, 2.51, 5 G (1 GS), 14.1 IP, 10 H, 19 K, 1 SV
LHP Cole Daniels (Jr.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0, 1.80, 7 G, 10.0 IP, 4 H, 11 K
* Three really good transfers joining the program, Mingione said:
RHP Sean Harney (Sr., UMass) . . . 6-10, 3.49, 27 G (21 GS), 136.2 IP, 100 K
RHP Holt Jones (Sr., Clemson) . . . . . . . . . 4-1, 3.98, 33 G, 54.1 IP, 39 H, 63 K
RHP Zach Kammin (Sr., Coe College) 12-1, 2.62, 25 G (15 GS), 99.2 IP, 107 K
* Cats are bringing back 8 of 9 guys from the lineup. John Rhodes is "the package," on everyone's All-American lists. His work ethic is extremely high.
Top Returning Position Players (2020 stats, 17-game season)
OF Oraj Anu (Sr.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..294, 12 R, 2 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, .917 OPS
1B T.J. Collett (Sr.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..290, 13 R, 5 2B, 5 HR, 17 RBI, .931 OPS
OF John Rhodes (So.) . . . . . . . . ..426, 11 R, 10 2B, 1 HR, 19 RBI, 1.157 OPS
IF Austin Schultz (Jr.) . . . . . ..393, 20 R, 5 2B, 5 HR, 20 RBI, 5 SB, 1.233 OPS
* Austin Schultz is moving from INF to OF this year, Mingione says.
* With TJ Collett and Zeke Lewis back, Mingione notes that the Cats have a pair of 24-year-old seniors out there. A ton of experience with those two.
* Cam Hill is a guy who has stood out in early spring workouts, both offensively and defensively.
* On what he expects to see in the first series vs. UNC... "We need wins," Mingione says. He wants to see if the things they've worked on in practice are paying off: defense and pitchers working fast, throwing strikes.
* Still trying to figure out 2B, 3B spots. Zeke Lewis probable at 2B. Chase Estep is a guy you could see at 2B or 3B. Jacob Plastiak could emerge at 3B.
UK OUTFIELDER JOHN RHODES:
* Winning is his top priority right now. Wants to go to Omaha. Says the MLB Draft stuff will all work itself out.
* Having to shut down was difficult last spring, Rhodes said. They were having a lot of fun. There was anger initially at having it taken away from them, "but it's a global pandemic and you see how many people have died from it."
* Rhodes said it has been a challenge to work on your defense during Covid, but mainly he just tried to get out in the outfield at both corner positions and field as many balls as possible while other guys took BP. There's not really many drills that can simulate the ball coming off a live bat.
UK PITCHER JIMMY RAMSEY:
* On moving back to the bullpen... He's not exactly being called a "closer," but a guy who can come into any high-leverage situation and get the big outs when the team needs them.
* On being a veteran of the SEC wars... Ramsey said it teaches you that you have to keep your head up and keep fighting. If you don't, you'll get your butt kicked.
* Ramsey says he's worked hard on his command and control. Only had three walks this fall. Trusts his stuff more, does not try to be "perfect," which got him in trouble at times in the past, just pounds the zone.
* Ramsey said he was really disappointed when the season shut down, that the Cats were better than people thought they were. They were about to play defending national champ Vanderbilt, and he said you could tell people were looking down on UK before that series. They were hoping to go out and make a statement.
UK SOFTBALL COACH RACHEL LAWSON:
* Early games will be really important for Cats, Lawson says. There's a lot of unknowns this year, so you need to be ready to play well coming out of the gates.
* Cats return only one infielder to natural infield position, Mallory Payton at 1B. Have to get a lot of young people up to speed at the other spots.
* Mallory Peyton was off to a great start (.379 AVG, 11 HR) when they had to shut things down last season. Thinks she'll be highly motivated to pick up where she left off. Tough break for everyone across the country to shut things down when they did. It makes you appreciate things even more.
* TOP STATISTICAL RETURNERS
Kayla Kowalik (UTL) ........................ .373, 31R, 31 H, 8 2B, 13 RBI
Mallory Peyton (1B)......................379, 11 HR, 35 RBI, 24 R, 25 H
Rylea Smith (OF).....................420, 30 RBI, 29 R, 37 H, 2 2B, 1 3B
Meghan Schorman (P).......................... 7-1, 1.30 ERA, 8 BB, 45 K
Autumn Humes (P)............................. 5-0, 3.19 ERA, 11 BB, 21 K
Grace Baalman (P).............................. 3-2, 3.54 ERA, 23 BB, 31 K
* SEC is always amazing, Lawson said. Will be incredible again this season. She pointed out that All-Americans are being left off the preseason poll because there just aren't enough spots due to the "super seniors" coming back. The league is loaded.
UK FIRST BASEMAN MALLORY PEYTON:
* Mallory Peyton (Senior, 1B, Madisonville, Ky.)
* It's been a roller coaster of emotions from the Covid shutdown, Peyton said. Teaches you that you can't control what life throws at you. It's the way you choose to respond to it. She thinks the team really responded to it with their individual workouts.
* Peyton says it was difficult to have the season end prematurely with her swinging the bat so well, but she is looking at it from the perspective of that being better than maybe falling into a slump at the end of the year. She feels like she'll be able to pick right up where she left off.
UK UTILITY PLAYER KAYLA KOWALIK:
* Kayla Kowalik (Junior, C, New Braunfels, Texas)
* Kowalik is known for her speed, but she notes that they had a ton of speed on this UK team. Should be a great baserunning team.
UK BASEBALL COACH NICK MINGIONE:
- Entering fifth year at Kentucky
- Led Kentucky to the 2017 NCAA Super Regional
- 2017 National and SEC Coach of the Year
* The 2021 team is "high trust, low maintenance," Mingione on said. Had a 3.6 team GPA this fall, the highest of the male sports. That's been a big goal of theirs.
* SEC chose to keep the regular 56-game schedule. One midweek game left to be filled. Mingione says they love playing a tough schedule, and it will be no different this year, starting with North Carolina. They have 10 SEC series, and nine of them are against preseason ranked teams.
* Biggest thing they spent this fall was working on defense. "And we really needed it." They've changed their mindset and tried to create a whole new culture in that area. He thinks two new players, Ryan Ritter at SS and Alonzo Rubalcaba at C, can really help them in that area. He raves about both. Ritter could be the best SS with the glove he's had.
* Pitching has a lot of arms they're excited about. Freshman P Ryan Hagenow is highest-rated pitcher they've brought in since Alex Meyer. Had some struggles in the fall, but is a really hard worker, and recently had his best workout to date. "You can see it coming."
Top Returning Pitchers (2020 stats)
LHP Mason Hazelwood (Sr.) . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1, 1.64, 4 GS, 22.0 IP, 12 H, 27 K
RHP Jimmy Ramsey (Sr.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2, 3.26, 4 GS, 19.1 IP, 19 H, 20 K
RHP Alex Degen (Jr.) . . . . . . . 0-0, 2.51, 5 G (1 GS), 14.1 IP, 10 H, 19 K, 1 SV
LHP Cole Daniels (Jr.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0, 1.80, 7 G, 10.0 IP, 4 H, 11 K
* Three really good transfers joining the program, Mingione said:
RHP Sean Harney (Sr., UMass) . . . 6-10, 3.49, 27 G (21 GS), 136.2 IP, 100 K
RHP Holt Jones (Sr., Clemson) . . . . . . . . . 4-1, 3.98, 33 G, 54.1 IP, 39 H, 63 K
RHP Zach Kammin (Sr., Coe College) 12-1, 2.62, 25 G (15 GS), 99.2 IP, 107 K
* Cats are bringing back 8 of 9 guys from the lineup. John Rhodes is "the package," on everyone's All-American lists. His work ethic is extremely high.
Top Returning Position Players (2020 stats, 17-game season)
OF Oraj Anu (Sr.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..294, 12 R, 2 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, .917 OPS
1B T.J. Collett (Sr.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..290, 13 R, 5 2B, 5 HR, 17 RBI, .931 OPS
OF John Rhodes (So.) . . . . . . . . ..426, 11 R, 10 2B, 1 HR, 19 RBI, 1.157 OPS
IF Austin Schultz (Jr.) . . . . . ..393, 20 R, 5 2B, 5 HR, 20 RBI, 5 SB, 1.233 OPS
* Austin Schultz is moving from INF to OF this year, Mingione says.
* With TJ Collett and Zeke Lewis back, Mingione notes that the Cats have a pair of 24-year-old seniors out there. A ton of experience with those two.
* Cam Hill is a guy who has stood out in early spring workouts, both offensively and defensively.
* On what he expects to see in the first series vs. UNC... "We need wins," Mingione says. He wants to see if the things they've worked on in practice are paying off: defense and pitchers working fast, throwing strikes.
* Still trying to figure out 2B, 3B spots. Zeke Lewis probable at 2B. Chase Estep is a guy you could see at 2B or 3B. Jacob Plastiak could emerge at 3B.
UK OUTFIELDER JOHN RHODES:
* Winning is his top priority right now. Wants to go to Omaha. Says the MLB Draft stuff will all work itself out.
* Having to shut down was difficult last spring, Rhodes said. They were having a lot of fun. There was anger initially at having it taken away from them, "but it's a global pandemic and you see how many people have died from it."
* Rhodes said it has been a challenge to work on your defense during Covid, but mainly he just tried to get out in the outfield at both corner positions and field as many balls as possible while other guys took BP. There's not really many drills that can simulate the ball coming off a live bat.
UK PITCHER JIMMY RAMSEY:
* On moving back to the bullpen... He's not exactly being called a "closer," but a guy who can come into any high-leverage situation and get the big outs when the team needs them.
* On being a veteran of the SEC wars... Ramsey said it teaches you that you have to keep your head up and keep fighting. If you don't, you'll get your butt kicked.
* Ramsey says he's worked hard on his command and control. Only had three walks this fall. Trusts his stuff more, does not try to be "perfect," which got him in trouble at times in the past, just pounds the zone.
* Ramsey said he was really disappointed when the season shut down, that the Cats were better than people thought they were. They were about to play defending national champ Vanderbilt, and he said you could tell people were looking down on UK before that series. They were hoping to go out and make a statement.
UK SOFTBALL COACH RACHEL LAWSON:
- Entering 14th year at Kentucky
- Has led UK to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, seven Super Regionals and the 2014 World Series
- 2016 SEC Coach of the Year
* Early games will be really important for Cats, Lawson says. There's a lot of unknowns this year, so you need to be ready to play well coming out of the gates.
* Cats return only one infielder to natural infield position, Mallory Payton at 1B. Have to get a lot of young people up to speed at the other spots.
* Mallory Peyton was off to a great start (.379 AVG, 11 HR) when they had to shut things down last season. Thinks she'll be highly motivated to pick up where she left off. Tough break for everyone across the country to shut things down when they did. It makes you appreciate things even more.
* TOP STATISTICAL RETURNERS
Kayla Kowalik (UTL) ........................ .373, 31R, 31 H, 8 2B, 13 RBI
Mallory Peyton (1B)......................379, 11 HR, 35 RBI, 24 R, 25 H
Rylea Smith (OF).....................420, 30 RBI, 29 R, 37 H, 2 2B, 1 3B
Meghan Schorman (P).......................... 7-1, 1.30 ERA, 8 BB, 45 K
Autumn Humes (P)............................. 5-0, 3.19 ERA, 11 BB, 21 K
Grace Baalman (P).............................. 3-2, 3.54 ERA, 23 BB, 31 K
* SEC is always amazing, Lawson said. Will be incredible again this season. She pointed out that All-Americans are being left off the preseason poll because there just aren't enough spots due to the "super seniors" coming back. The league is loaded.
UK FIRST BASEMAN MALLORY PEYTON:
* Mallory Peyton (Senior, 1B, Madisonville, Ky.)
- Second in NCAA and first in the SEC in 2020 in home runs (11)
- Had a .517 on-base percentage in 2020 with a .379 batting average
- Optometry major
* It's been a roller coaster of emotions from the Covid shutdown, Peyton said. Teaches you that you can't control what life throws at you. It's the way you choose to respond to it. She thinks the team really responded to it with their individual workouts.
* Peyton says it was difficult to have the season end prematurely with her swinging the bat so well, but she is looking at it from the perspective of that being better than maybe falling into a slump at the end of the year. She feels like she'll be able to pick right up where she left off.
UK UTILITY PLAYER KAYLA KOWALIK:
* Kayla Kowalik (Junior, C, New Braunfels, Texas)
- 2019 SEC All-Freshman Team
- Set the record for on-base percentage for any freshman at UK in 2019
- Lead-off batter, who last year hit .373 with 31 hits and 8 triples
* Kowalik is known for her speed, but she notes that they had a ton of speed on this UK team. Should be a great baserunning team.
