Baseball 2019 Preview: Outfield
2/12/2019 6:14:00 PM | Baseball
Season Tickets Available For 2019
The 2019 Sam Houston State baseball season is nearly upon us, with Matt Deggs' team to open up the season on Feb. 15 in in DeLand, Fla. vs Manhattan.
This is the fourth of a five-part preview, position by position, of this year's squad, leading up to the 2019 opener.
OUTFIELD NOTABLES
Returning: Mac Odom, Clayton Harp, Eric Bohnert, Jaxxon Grisham, Darien Simms, Jack Rogers
Newcomers: Colton Cowser
HUNTSVILLE – As the Sam Houston baseball team heads in to the 2019 season, lack of experience in the outfield will not be a concern for head coach Matt Deggs.
Six of the seven outfielders projected to play this season all have experience with the Kats, including a total of 500 games played from the seniors Clayton Harp (157), Jaxxon Grisham (145), Mac Odom (151) and Darien Simms (47).
“That senior class changed the face of this program, so we are all so thankful and blessed to be able to have coached those guys and be around those guys,” Deggs said. “They did something that had never been done and they are still hungry and still here. I'm just proud to take the field with them every night.”
Boosted by the return of Harp, who decided to return to SHSU for his senior year, Deggs gets a player who has been an all-Southland player the past two seasons, and is hitting .311 for his career. Not only that, Harp has played a key role on some of the biggest games in Bearkat baseball history.
“Clayton Harp has so many big games and big at bats since his time here and he is a guy that can play for a long time,” Deggs said of the senior from El Campo. “He's a left-handed hitter that can run and will hit in the middle of the order somewhere.”
Grisham has been a steady player for the Kats over the last three years, recording 70 starts in his career. During the 2017 run to the Super Regionals, in the seven NCAA Tournament games, he led the Bearkats with a .429 average (6-for-14) with four runs and three RBIs.
“Jaxxon Grisham is a guy that has been in on the ground floor of this thing and you know what you're going to get out him every day,” Deggs said. “He is a left-handed hitter that can run, play outfield, play first, DH, and he has come up with so many big at bats in his time here.”
Odom is another player similar to Grisham, who is asked to do a lot of different things for the team over his career. He made seven starts last season, but appeared in 50 games, mostly as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He hit .300 and either hit successfully or executed a sacrifice on 12 of 17 bunt attempts for the season.
“Mac Odom has been a super sub for us,” Deggs said. “He's a great defensive replacement spot starter, has made incredible plays, and laid down great bunts during his time here. He accepts and knows his role.”
Last year, Jack Rogers stepped into the lineup as a freshman and was a big contributor to the squad. He started 27 games while appearing in 14 more, hitting .262 for the season. He got better as the season progressed, and finished season as one of Kats' top bats, hitting .339 with four homers and 14 RBI with a .607 slugging percentage in his final 16 games of the year.
“Jack is a guy who has got as much potential as anybody here and has really got his body in shape,” Deggs said about the sophomore from Klein Collins High School. “He has come back as one of the better runners we have, a better thrower from the outfield and there is a chance that you could see him at center field. He has a chance to really bang the baseball and has as much power as anybody we have.”
Another sophomore who made an impact last season as a freshman was Eric Bohnert. He played in 41 games, making 22 starts, hitting .342, which was tops on the team. He drove in 10 runs with a homer and four doubles, scoring 16 runs. He also had nine walks and five sacrifice bunts.
“Bohnert is just a blue-collar hard-working kid that is a winner. He has won everywhere, he can run, swing the bat, and he understands who he is. Both of those guys are going to push and push to play a bunch.”
Darien Simms is a senior who is playing his second season with the Bearkats after transferring from Northeast Texas Community College last season. He started 15 times last season, playing in 47 games in all. The Kats had success when Simms started in the leadoff spot in the order going 10-1.
“He just does everything we ask of him, and has had a great fall and spring training,” Deggs said. “He can really run and defend, and his bat has come along very well.”
One of the freshmen expected to make an impact is Colton Cowser from Cy Ranch High School. Cowser was a Perfect Game/Rawlings Sports All-Texas region team who helped lead Cy Ranch to 32-9-2 record and a berth in the Class 6A state tournament. He was a member of the 2018 THSBCA Class 6A first team all-state and a 2018 first team all-District 17-6A selection and was recently named one of the top 100 impact freshmen in the nation by D1Baseball.com.
“If he continues to progress and work like he has worked he is going to be in the game,” Deggs said. “He is a guy that had a chance to go (to pro baseball) out of high school and he decided to go to school. He is a big physical kid who can run and throw, and he can bang. We need to get his feet wet and get him some at-bats quick.”
The season opens on Friday, February 15 against Manhattan, as part of a three-day tournament in DeLand, Fla., hosted by Stetson. The home opener will be Feb. 19 against Texas Southern. Tickets to the home opener are available now.
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