UW Parkside Rangers

I had the opportunity to interview Joel Weaver, the head baseball coach at Division 2 UW Parkside.

BAW: Do you scout the traveling all star teams at all?

Joel:  From year to year we go through our needs as a program and look at the areas that we'll need to either improve or maintain.  Sometimes that means going with an older, more experienced, transfer and sometimes it's developing a high school player to have around for four years.  Either way, we'll take the time to evaluate players on both sides, and the traveling all star teams are nice since they typically carry a number of college caliber athletes.

BAW:  What do you think is the biggest adjustment a ballplayer has to make
coming into college ball?

Joel:   There are certainly a number of adjustments coming into college baseball that challenge freshmen.  Most often they come from a high school program where they were the best player on the team and when they get to college, they're one of many very talented players.  The competition to win a spot is an adjustment that some players have never had to face before.  Another big adjustment is the speed of the game.  Everything from the velocity of pitches, the athleticism and arm strength of the defenses, the speed of the base runners and how hard the ball comes of the bat makes the college game a lot different from what they've been used to.  Any details that be exposed in a player will and that's tough for a lot of freshmen to adjust to.  To me, the biggest adjustment is the size of the workload and the requirement to perform at a high level day in and day out within that workload.  The quickest way for an incoming freshmen to make an impact on our team is to learn time management skills that will allow him to focus when needed in the classroom and on the baseball field.  If a freshman struggles in his first year it's usually not being able to keep up with the overwhelming workload they're given.

BAW:   Do you have any players signed up to play in the Northwoods league this summer?

Joel:  We do not currently have anyone committed to the Northwoods league for this summer, but from my experience playing and coaching in collegiate summer leagues, I know that there is a lot of late roster movement that could open some doors for some of our them.  We do however have a number of players who will be playing comparative baseball out in the Coastal Plains League, the New York Collegiate League and the Western Major Baseball League.

BAW:  Are any of your players prospects for the MLB draft this June?

Joel:  I've had a number of players that I've recruited and coached play professionally, and lot of them tend to come on strong late.  We'll have a left handed pitcher who will get some strong attention this season with a couple of others that could jump on to the radar if they progress like some I've had in the past.

Thanks Joel for taking the time to answer some questions.