Bulldogs assembling promising jigsaw
PERKINSTON — New Mississippi Gulf Coast baseball coach Bob Keller will be fitting puzzle pieces together in his first year in charge of the Bulldogs.
Gulf Coast is scheduled to open the 2022 season Saturday with a trip to Bay Minette, Ala., to play Southern Union and Coastal Alabama-South. The Bulldogs' first home games will be Feb. 15 when Baton Rouge visits.
"One of the challenges will be juggling our three two-way players," Keller said. "They are all everyday lineup guys, so we'll use the non-conference schedule to determine their best roles."
He's got a lot of great interchangeable parts to help shuffle around the defensive moves that will be required, and the Bulldogs also bolstered their lineup with key players added over the holiday break.
Keller brings an impressive resume to Perk as a Division I pitching coach. He led pitching staffs at four different schools to a total of nine regionals, where his teams won twice to advance to super regionals. He's had 51 players selected in the Major League Draft in 24 years of collegiate coaching.
Luke Reed (So., Louisville, Ky./Holy Cross) has a shot to be the No. 1 starter. He throws 88-92 mph with a four-pitch mix. Keller says he has the emotional makeup and stamina to be that guy.
Preston Ratliff (So., Slidell, La./Northshore) is the one of the two-way players, and he also tops out in the low 90s. He may wind up being the designated hitter on days he's on the mound.
Alex McWhorter (So., Semmes, Ala./Faith Academy), who led the team with four saves last year, is being converted to the starting role. He's also moving across the diamond to first base after making All-Region 23 and All-MACCC as a freshman when he in the top 10 in the league in average (.412), RBI (49), on-base percentage (.518) and slugging percentage (.718). McWhorter led the team with 10 homers.
Noah Nicholson (Fr., Vancleave/Vancleave), Adam May (Fr., Magee/Magee) and Breck Jones (So., Gulfport/Gulfport) will compete for the fourth starting spot. The others will join Matthew DeLano (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) in the bullpen which has started to show signs of depth. DeLano's dedication to the gym has led to a jump in velocity, and he's ultra-competitive.
Jacob Snell (Fr., Gulfport/Gulfport) is also rapidly developing on the mound after splitting time between basketball and baseball in high school.
Jesse Johnson (So., Purvis/Purvis) is another two-way guy. The transfer moved from short to third after Gulf Coast added Cade Crosby (Fr., Gulfport/Gulfport) to the roster at the break. He transferred in from Southern Miss at the break.
Brendan McCauley (So., Gulfport/Harrison Central) figures to return to his starting role at second base, with Ethan Alston (Fr., Hattiesburg/Presbyterian Christian) working to get time there, too. Alston was a mid-year transfer from Tulane who can also play the outfield.
Alec Hardy (So., Wiggins/Stone) returns for a third season, and his versatility will be one of the keys to assembling the jigsaw puzzle with the two-way players. He can play at third and second, as well as in the outfield and maybe even behind the plate.
"It was obvious he put his work in during the break," Keller said, "and that goes a long way with me."
Thomas Hollingsworth (Fr., Madison/Germantown) will be the starting catcher, and there are plenty of options in the outfield.
Sean Smith (Fr., Pascagoula/Pascagoula) is a highly-rated draft prospect who can play the corner outfield or first base.
"Sean Smith has an impact bat that will be able to hit at a high-Division I and professional level," Keller said. "He's super strong and has excellent strike-zone discipline."
Steve Sanderson (Fr., Chicago, Ill./St. Rita), Kade Carpenter (Fr., Vancleave/Vancleave) and Warren Garry (Fr., Pascagoula/Pascagoula) will also get at-bats while playing the outfield.
"I feel like we've got a pretty good chance of lengthening out our lineup to have some depth positionally," Keller said. "We return some upperclassmen who have some experience in this league, and I feel like offensively we'll be able to pressure some defenses and hopefully get into some bullpens early."
Keller has leaned on Zach Allen, who is in his second stint as an assistant coach at Perk. He added former Mississippi State pitcher Riley Self to his staff in December.
"Our two assistants have just done a tremendous job," Keller said. "Riley's had a lot thrown at him coming in at the break. Zach continues to do a great job off and on the field, with recruiting and everything else. These guys wear a lot of hats: field work, strength and conditioning, camps, recruiting. They're pulled in a lot of directions."
Pearl River is ranked fourth in the NJCAA Division II preseason poll, with Meridian eighth, East Central 14th and Itawamba 17th. That means the MACCC is as tough as ever, not to mention defending national champion LSU Eunice awaiting in the Region 23 Tournament.
Keller doesn't preach goals with his team. He'd rather focus on getting better one pitch, one game and one day at a time. Wins are the results of doing things the right way.
"We want to be making some noise in the postseason, playing our best baseball at the end," he said. "We talk about that, but we don't put numbers on it. I demand a good focused effort every day in practice, and I'm really happy with the effort the team puts in every day in practice."
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