Kats build foundation during fall practices
9/23/2015 5:02:00 PM | Baseball
In the midst of its fourth week of practice, Sam Houston State baseball presses forward, with second-year head coach Matt Deggs pushing team-unity while comparing the diamond and hard-nosed work at Don Sanders Stadium to that of a construction zone.
“We might as well wear a hard hat to practice every day,” Deggs said. “The most important thing we're doing is building a durable foundation with deep roots. I like the way these guys are working. They're working with a purpose every day but we're a ways away from seeing the finished product.”
The practice schedule, which includes three intrasquad scrimmages a week, divides the 38-man roster into three teams, with each having a designated leader who serves and guides his squad.
“Everything that we do is designed around team,” Deggs said. “Our way of doing things, especially in the fall, goes much deeper than baseball. It's preparing them for not only great baseball careers but being rock-solid husbands and dads and guys who are ready to rise through the ranks of corporate America or whatever it is they choose to go on and do.”
Sam Houston welcomes 16 true freshmen and 11 transfers to a program that returns nine players from last year's squad. Despite the abundance of new faces, Deggs says this team has the necessary trait that helped his system thrive at Louisiana-Lafayette and Texas A&M.
“One thing you want to do is recruit to your personality,” Deggs said. “This coaching staff is one of blue-collar guys who have all come from humble backgrounds and have had to work for everything we've ever gotten. You want to recruit guys that have high character, can play and that are OKG's – our kind of guys. This group fits our personality and desired skillsets.”
When the squad is not scrimmaging, they turn the attention to team defense and fundamentals, with Deggs drilling into his teams head the phrase, “dominate the routine play,” and the idea of managing the simple parts of the game first.
“We want guys who will attack hitters and throw at the strike zone and guys that can field their position and hold runners,” Deggs said. “We're looking to overwhelm our opponent on the bases through smart, aggressive base running and we want to get big hits and bust gaps open. Our practices are geared around learning those phases of our game.”
The practice session, which allows teams an NCAA-mandated 45-day window to conduct fall drills, has helped the team prepare for an upcoming 56-game fall slate that includes 12 matchups against 2015 NCAA Regional teams, although the squad remains focused on the here and now.
“I am pleased with where we're at,” Deggs said. “We're a long way from where we'll be but it's all a part of the process. We've got to stay focused on each and every moment and not fast forward to where we want to be.”
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