Baseball Set To Open 2005 Slate Friday
February 15, 2005 | Baseball
Feb. 15, 2005
LOUISVILLE, KY - The University of Louisville baseball team is set to open the 2005 season on Friday, February 18th at 2:00 p.m. against Kent State at Cardinal Stadium in the first of three over the weekend against the Golden Flashes, which will also be playing its first game of the year.
Louisville will play its first 16 games at home this season, making the transition from Cardinal Stadium to newly built Jim Patterson Stadium during that home stand. The ballpark, located at the corner of 3rd and Central, is part of what will be a $20 million facility when completed.
The 2005 slate will mark a milestone for U of L Head Coach Lelo Prado as he opens his 10th season at the helm of the Cardinal nine.
Prado is already the second winningest coach in the history of Louisville baseball with 257 wins(Dr. John Heldman posted 309 in 28 seasons with the Cards), and the only other coach to amass over 200 wins. He will oversee the return of 20 letterwinners and seven starters, needing to fill the void left by departing starters Ron Braun at catcher and All-American Mark Jurich in right field.
Behind the plate, the Cards will look to three newcomers; a pair of JUCO catchers; Kyle Carden and Michael Urti and freshman Derrick Alfonso.
Carden caught for perennial power Sacramento City College the past two seasons, hitting .275 with six doubles as a sophomore, while Urti hails from Monroe CC in New York.
Alfonso was the 2004 Gatorade Player of the Year in Kentucky and hold 13 high school records.
Fifth-year senior J.T. LaFountain will also be given a shot to catch much like his All-American father Jim did at U of L. Senior Logan Snyder also can catch.
When LaFountain isn't behind the plate, he will find a spot back in the infield where the switch hitter flourished in his first three seasons of college baseball, hitting .306 with 13 home runs and 94 RBI. Exactly where depends on the health of his teammates.
LaFountain is a natural fit at third, as is fellow senior Ryan McKinnon, who is recovering from off-season surgery. The coaching staff may shift Mac across the diamond to first base to keep his bat in the lineup. The hard-swinging Canadian hit .283 with 13 doubles, three triples and nine home runs in 48 games last year.
Redshirt Jon Townsend may also see innings at third base for U of L.
Chris Cates played started 55 of the 56 games in the middle infield as a freshman, hitting .279 with nine doubles, six steals and a .944 fielding percentage. The diminutive sophomore is expected to be a fixture at short in 2005.
Cates will be turning double plays with junior Nick Haley, who battled through injury to start 42 games in the infield, hitting .340 with 38 runs, 34 walks and a .457 OBA. Haley sported a .961 fielding percentage and stole five bases in seven attempts. Haley will be the everyday second baseman, but is capable of stepping in on the left side if the need arises.
Sophomore Logan Johnson hit .290 with six doubles, five home runs and 21 RBI in just 33 starts, and may see time on the right side of the infield or in the outfield. The lefty from Owensboro will also pick up some at bats as the DH, but count on the Cardinal coaches to get his bat in the lineup. He hit three ninth-inning home runs and all five he hit tied the game or gave the Cards the lead.
In addition to McKinnon at first, the Cards hope junior Curt Stewart is healthy enough to return to the lineup after back problems. Freshman Jorge Castillo, from Miami's Gulliver Prep is a viable candidate at first as well.
Senior Greg Taylor is a player, who if healthy, may play at first, second, third or in the outfield as well as DH. The Illinois native was only able to see action in 10 games last year, earning a medical redshirt.
The outfield will feature a new face in right field for the first time in four seasons with the graduation of Jurich.
Last season Daniel Burton, a centerfielder by trade, filled in at first due to the injuries that hit the Cards and earned All-Freshman Team Honors, hitting .294 with 13 doubles, five home runs and 28 RBI in 48 games. He will most likely be the everyday starter in right, but can play all three spots.
Fellow sophomore Isaiah Howes showed flashes of his ability, gathering 17 extra-base hits as the starter in left. He will again occupy that spot for the Cards, but the area he will be required to cover will be greatly reduced when the move to Patterson Stadium is made.
Junior Boomer Whiting will be in center to open the season. The fleet-footed Whiting lead the team with 10 sac bunts and was 5-6 on steals.
Junior Danny Plasencia had 27 starts last season, mostly in the outfield and will compete for playing time there once again. Freshman Tyler Christensen as well as Johnson and Taylor will also patrol the garden spots for the Cards.
In 2004, freshmen started 30 of the Cardinals' 56 games, with sophomores taking the hill for eight more.
Sophomores Justin Valdes and B.J. Rosenberg made up two-thirds of the weekend rotation and U of L was 13-14 when they started. The pair will again anchor the weekend rotation with redshirt Mike Lynn, who is coming off of Tommy John surgery and freshman Jake Smith(L) vying for the third spot.
Senior Chase Cruse has struggled to get back to 100% after his Tommy John surgery but was 3-0 last year with a pair of saves and should see a lot of innings.
Junior Brian Halford stepped into the closer role and had an outstanding year, going 6-6 with six saves, twirling 61.2 innings, mostly out of the pen. He will most likely be back as the closer, but could start, as he did last year three times.
Juniors Griffin Bailey (3-3, 4.62), Jon Harbridge, Jason Keck and Skylar Meade (L) will see innings as will sophomores Scott Jenkins and Trystan Magnuson as setup men, in special situations and in midweek starts.
Brian Hangbers (L), Gavin Logsdon (L), Chris Lopez, Ryne Mantooth, Matt Moser and Zack Pitts are all freshman that will compete for innings in their first college campaign.
The 2005 season will mark the final season for U of L in Conference USA before heading to the BIG EAST.
The Cardinal schedule will feature seven teams that advanced to the NCAA Regionals in 2004, six of which will be in the Derby City, including Kent, and a home series against the Georgia Bulldogs, which played in the 2004 College World Series. Baseball America's preseason #1 Tulane will visit the Ville for the C-USA home opener in March.
Admission to all home games is free.
