University of Mount Olive infielder Jack Casbarro and his teammates open the season this afternoon at in-state rival Catawba. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Once the hunted, the University of Mount Olive baseball team plans to embrace the hunter role on the diamond this spring.
A tradition-rich program that set the bar among its Conference Carolinas peers, the nationally-ranked Trojans are picked third in the preseason coaches poll behind reigning Division II national champ North Greenville and UNC Pembroke.
UMO did not receive a first-place vote for the first time in more than a decade.
Sure, it’s just paper.
The exclusion didn’t get overlooked.
“I think that we improved in spots that we needed to [in the offseason],” UMO head coach Rob Watt said. “We’ve got a good group, ton of guys returning who were high contributors last year and we’re going to get some guys back who got injured part of the year … difference makers.
One key returnee is Hunter Stevens.
An injury shelved the right-hander barely one-quarter through the 2022 season. The former first-team All-American posted a 2-0 record with two saves and logged 34 strikeouts in 18 innings.
“Huge,” Watt said of Stevens’ return.
The Raleigh native shores up a bullpen that, at times, used the “pitch by committee” mentality last spring. A total of 18 throwers combined to record an uncharacteristic 5.25 earned run average (ERA) in 454-plus innings of work. Returners Justin Koehler and Caleb Irwin notched seven and six wins, respectively, a year ago.
Daunted by the high injury rate last spring, Watt concentrated on improving the players’ health during the offseason. He shut down the pitching staff for three weeks in the fall.
Meanwhile, the offense continued to mature.
Watt thinks his starting nine is going to be pretty good.
Back are lead-off man and co-captain Jack Casbarro, Aiden Cottle and Vito Patierno. The trio were named preseason All-Southeast Region team selected by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) less than a week ago.
Casbarro batted .345, cranked out a team-leading 15 home runs and collected 60 RBI. Cottle hit .344 at the plate with 19 doubles and 48 RBI. The designated hitter last season, Patierno averaged .344 in the batter’s box and drove in a team-best 61 runs.
They’ll hit 1-2-3 in the lineup again this year.
“Jack is going to have a bullseye [on his back],” Watt said.
One of four returnees who started all 54 games last season, senior shortstop Josh Jones hit .297 with 16 extra-base knocks and recorded 135 assists defensively.
Watt is excited that senior infielder JT Stone returns after a two-year hiatus. The Fayetteville native batted .409 before covid cancelled the remainder of the 2020 season.
An intangible Watt hopes to see this season is “toughness.”
“We’ve always prided ourselves, and it’s cliche, as a blue-collar team, hard working … get dirty and play the game Pete Rose style,” Watt said. “We have those guys, no question about it. Those are the teams that in close games don’t crumble, do the little things right and take the extra base … engaged.
“That’s the team I want to see.”
Now in his fifth season, Watt gets a first-hand look at his team in action this afternoon. Weather permitting, the Trojans visit in-state nemesis Catawba, which took two of three from Shippensburg University over the weekend.
The all-time series is knotted at 32-all, but UMO has prevailed in the last three meetings.
First pitch is 3 p.m.
