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Brendon Hayden Interview

I recently was able to ask a few questions to Brendon Hayden, a senior at Wilmot Union High School and Virginia Tech recruit. 
BAW:  Do you consider yourself a pitcher or position player first?

Brendon:  Well I like both pitching and playing a position and I work really hard at both to become the best all around player I can be. So I really can not decide between them.

BAW:  Did you feel any pressure being the only Wisconsin player at the area code games?

Brendon:  I did not feel any pressure for being the only one from Wisconsin to be selected to play at the Area Code Games. It was a real honor and something I will always remember being a part of.

BAW:  Do you have any tips for youth baseball players hoping to get into a D1 program?

Brendon:  I would like to tell younger kids who have a desire to play college baseball, not only at the D1 level but all levels, to always work hard on the field, in the class room, and in the weight room. Once you do that and the season comes around have fun and play your game. There's always a place for you to play, you just have to find that right fit.

BAW:   Can you tell me the toughest Wisconsin hitter and pitcher you have faced so far?

Brendon:  The toughest hitter I have faced so far is hands down Joe Sturino from Waterford. He knows how to fight pitches off and take advantage of any mistakes you give him. As for the toughest pitcher that would be Sam Mahar of Tremper. He's not only a crafty lefty but he can bring the heat at will.

BAW:  Why did you choose Virginia Tech?

Brendon:  I chose Virginia Tech because it is a great academic school with a beautiful campus, and the coaches, facilities, and atmosphere  will help me succeed as a student and athlete.

Thanks Brendon for taking the time to do this interview with me.  

GameChanger

As you have probably noticed I have added scoreboards from GameChanger.  It wont let me add the whole state all at once, and I have to add some more zip codes to get the state covered.  In the mean time if you use GameChanger and want to be added then click on the appropriate scoreboard and add yourself.   I see they now have a beta out in the Android Marketplace. 

Todays Update

Butler may be one of the top dogs in the NCAA basketball tournament, but UWM took two out of three games against them this weekend on the baseball diamond.  Doug Dekoning is still leading them in most offensive categories and has yet to commit an error in the field.  Chad Pierce  has 35 strikeouts and only 9 walks in 7 starts this spring. 

UW La Crosse won three and lost one against UW Stout to improve their record to 11-4.  They face off against UW Oshkosh next weekend for a pair of doubleheaders.

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers kick off their season on April 7th.  They have announced their roster to start the season.  The Timber Rattlers always seem to be a step ahead of everyone when it comes to improving the experience for fans.  Now they have unveiled the Rattlers In Game mobile phone app.  It will do many things including letting you order food from your seat and helping pick what songs play at the stadium. 

Scorekeeping Apps

Has anyone used a smartphone app to keep score at a baseball game?  I would love to hear people's opinions on ones they have used before.  From what I can tell there are three major apps people use.

• iScore comes from ESPN and also comes in a basketball version.  It currently is available for the IPod touch, IPhone, and Android phones.  
• Pointstreak K-Force is another option for those with Ipod, Iphone, or Ipads.  They make a pc program also to sort through all the data you collect on the go. 

• GameChanger is currently only available for Iphone/Ipod and Ipad but is working on versions for Android and Blackberry phones.  They just added integration with the popular MaxPreps site and also will be used during the Cal Ripken World Series.   

I currently dont have a phone capable of using any of these programs.  I would love to hear in the comments from anyone that has used on of them.  I am putting together my GameChanger scoreboard to try and have on my blog so let me know if you use that so I can add your team.  

Friday's Links

Maryvale Baseball Park, spring home of the Brewers

• Will injuries prevent the Brewers from making a run to the playoffs this year?  I hope not but it is getting worrisome.  Corey Hart is worried he might not be ready for opening day now.  Shaun Marcum left Thursday's game with shoulder tightness.  
• Congratulations to Cody Hanke and the Marathon basketball team on making it to the state finals. 
• The snow is melting in Appleton and the Timber Rattlers open the season on April 7.  
• The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters and the Eau Claire Express will be playing an exhibition game in Marshfield on May 31.  Two dollars from every ticket will go to support the Gary Varsho Baseball League.  
• High school baseball teams can begin practicing on Monday in Wisconsin with games starting before the end of the month in some places. 

Today's Links

Make sure you check out my friends at the Wisconsin College Baseball Network for the most comprehensive source of college baseball news in Wisconsin. 

I am now on Twitter.  Follow me @baseball_wi .


Another great site to check out is Minor League Ball. John Sickels knows so much about minor league prospects. 

Wolves and Rangers

Cardinal Stritch University split a pair of close games with DeSales University.  The Wolves won both games of a doubleheader on Monday against Schreiner University.  Dean Mlachnik has been hot so far this season hitting .500 with 2 HR and 11 RBI.  The Wolves will be in Texas for two more days before returning to Wisconsin.  Their home opener is next Saturday against Trinity International University.

UW Parkside lost last weekend to Wayne State and St Cloud State playing in Evansville,IN.   They dropped a doubleheader to St Cloud State Saturday.  The Rangers picked up the first win of their season Sunday against Illinois-Springfield 9-6.  That afternoon they lost another game to St Cloud State.  They open up at home next Saturday against Quincy University.

Carthage, Concordia and Edgewood

Carthage College won both games of it's season opening twin bill with Muskingum University.  The Red Men lost a pair of one run games yesterday to Marietta College.  The play Rhodes College today and continue their Florida roadtrip through Saturday. Carthage is coached by Augie Schmidt IV. 

Edgewood College stopped in Tennessee to face Div 2 foe Christian Brothers University.  The Eagles kept it close and lost 6-4.  They will continue south to the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.  They will face Ripon College for a doubleheader today.  Ripon opened their season yesterday with a loss to RPI.

Concordia University lost it's season opener to St. Mary's (MN).  The Falcons rebounded to take two from Pitt-Bradford on Saturday.  They play College of New Jersey this morning and Minot State this afternoon.  They will remain in Arizona until Friday.  You still have time to sign up for Concordia's Spring Hitting Camp on March 27th.

Buccaneers and Sabres and Panthers

Beloit College finished up their Florida trip with a loss to Vassar College.  The Buccaneers ended up with a 4-3 record including two blowout victories against Northland College.  Scoring 57 runs in 7 games is pretty impressive, especially considering they didn't have a single home run. 

Marian University has started out 0-2 this spring while playing St. Mary's(MN) and The College of New Jersey in Arizona.  The Sabres face Augsburg College tomorrow for a doubleheader and will remain in Arizona through March 18.  Marian's head coach Jason Bartelt was inducted into the Lakeland College Hall of Fame last October.  He was named All-Conference in each of his three seasons as a player there. 

UWM dropped 3 to the University or Arkansas last weekend despite being ahead or tied in the fifth inning or later of each of them.   This week the Panthers are in California playing in the Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament.  They lost the first two games to San Jose State and UC Davis.  Today's game was a different story as the Panther pitching staff was lights out against Santa Clara.  Chad Pierce had a perfect game into the fifth inning and only gave up 3 hits and walked none in seven and a third innings while striking out 3.  Greg Blohowiak and Kaleb Engelke finished the 3-0 shutout.  Doug Dekoning went 2 for 3 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.  He has been on fire this season hitting .500 with 2 HR, 13 RBI, and 4 steals.  UWM will finish up their west coast trip tomorrow with a rematch against San Jose State.

Northwoods League Part 1

The Northwoods League has done a lot to improve Wisconsin baseball.  The teams usually sign a few local players to fill up the roster while waiting for some colleges to finish their seasons.  Sometimes those players do enough to earn a spot for the full year.  We are now up to six Wisconsin teams in the Northwoods League.

Carson Park, Home of the Express

The Eau Claire Express have been around since 2005 and are the defending champions.  They were also ranked #1 by Perfect Game  in their ranking of summer league teams.  Pretty impressive considering not too long ago the Northwoods league was considered inferior to the east coast summer leagues.  Follow them on twitter for all the latest news.

In 2007 the Green Bay Bullfrogs started play. They went through 45 different players last year for a variety or reasons but still finished a respectable 39-31.  The Titletown Entertainment Group is hoping to have a new stadium ready in time for the 2012 season.  Follow that link and check out the photo section.  It's going to be a pretty cool looking stadium.  The Bullfrogs recently signed three Wisconsin natives to return this summer.  Paul Hoenecke and Greg Blohowiak are coming from UWM while Joe Betcher is from the University of Illinois-Chicago.  You can follow Green Bay on twitter also. 

Bobby Juan

The La Crosse Loggers were formed in 2003.  The Lumberyard at Copeland Park has pulled in over 100,000 fans each of the last five seasons.  Three out of the last four MLB drafts have had a former Logger taken in the first round.  2010 Gatorade Wisconsin State Player of the Year and La Crosse native Bobby Juan will be coming home to play for the Loggers this summer.  You can receive text alerts from the Loggers.

Founded in 2001, the Madison Mallards blow away the competition when it comes to attendance.  Already averaging almost 6,000 fans a game, look for that number to increase as they renovate their stadium.  The Mallards will have a new field manager this season as they named former Rochester Honkers manager Greg Labbe to the position.  Madison has also unveiled a new mascot and logo for this season. 

Weekend Roundup

Sorry for the hiatus.  I will try not to go that long without posting again. Now on to the news.

• UWM had to contend with the weather even on their trip to Tennessee last weekend.  They dropped two to Illinois State playing in Clarksville, TN.  Their game against Austin Peay was canceled due to weather.  The Panthers are in Fayetteville this weekend taking on the #16 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks.  Two home runs by Doug Dekoning was not enough on Friday as Arkansas won 15-6.  They play again on both Saturday and Sunday.  Also make sure you check out Diamond Chronicles.  Senior Sam Sivilotti and junior Greg Blohowiak, members of the Milwaukee baseball team, are blogging about the season.
   
•  UW Parkside was swept last weekend in their season opening series against Winona State University.  Their games this weekend in Evansville, Indiana against Wayne State and the University of Missouri- St. Louis have been bumped back a day due to weather, and will be played on Sunday and Monday.  
• Cardinal Stritch University finished its opening weekend with a 1-3 record playing against Harris Stowe State University in St.Louis, Mo.  Andy Klein picked up the win striking out 6 and walking 1 in six innings of work.  This weekends games against Indiana University Southwest have been canceled and they will next play March 12 in San Antonio, TX against DeSales University. 
• The Milwaukee School of Engineering has put in a full week of baseball in Florida.  They were 1-6 before yesterday's doubleheader with Hanover.  I can't find results of those games.  
• UW Whitewater took two from Washington University this week.  Daniel Putnam hit .889 with 3 stolen bases while Rob Coe hit .714 with a HR and two steals.  Riley Tincher and Jeff Donovan picked up the wins.  The fifth ranked Warhawks next play on March 17 against St Lawrence.  
• The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are having a Rummage Sale today from 10-3 selling lots of game used jerseys and bats among other things.  Individual tickets also go on sale today.  
• The Beloit Snappers are also selling their game worn jerseys. They have a job fair on March 15 and are looking to fill many positions.
• The Milwaukee Brewers have started out 4-2 so far in spring training.   As they showed last year spring training records dont always match the regular season results.  Check out the Brewerfan.net Power 50 to learn more about Brewer prospects than you thought possible.  
• The Wisconsin Woodchucks of the Northwoods League have signed UWM Panther pitcher and area native Cameron Amsrud to play for them this summer. 

Tuesday's Things to Check Out

• Have you ever wished you had a job in baseball?  Then MLB's Dream Job may be for you.  Apply here for a chance to watch baseball and make a living at the same time.  
• Loud Mom in the Stands got a chance to interview Brendan Harris about playing youth baseball.  
• The Rivercats finished up 2-2 playing against elite competition in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The Rivercats winter teams finish the season with a 14-9-1 record against warm weather competition.  
• UW Milwaukee won the finale to finish the series with Tennessee with a 1-2 record.  CF Doug Dekoning earned player of the week honors for the Horizon League by batting .500 for the series.  
• Green Bay Packer Donald Driver will be bringing his charity softball game back to Time Warner Cable Field for a fourth year.  
• If you haven't checked out BrewCrewBall and their daily mug to find most of the Brewers' news you need in one spot, then do it now. 
• ABR has posted the recap from the WI Top 30 Showcase. 

Wanderings

• The 13U Rivercats are headed to Florida to play in the Cocoa Expo President's Day Challenge.  
• Three Brewers spring training games will be televised on the MLB Network.
• UW Milwaukee outhit Tennessee but still lost 0-4 on Friday.
• The Madison Mallards have signed two Wisconsin natives. Michael Handel is from Sun Prairie, and currently attends the University of Minnesota.  Justin Scanlon attends Michigan State and is originally from Verona.  
• Yahoo has an article discussing how well the Brewers pitchers can hit.

Minor League

Wisconsin has been home to numerous minor league teams over the years.  Fans in the state have gotten the opportunity to watch players such as Hank Aaron and Mark McGwire while they were first starting out.  Now all we have left in the state are two minor league teams. 

The Beloit Snappers are the low A level farm team of the Minnesota Twins.  There is hope they will soon get a new stadium.  They will be relying on donations and cashflow generated by Snappers operations.  I hope they are able to get this done. 

The Milwaukee Brewers also have an in-state low A level farm team in the Midwest League.  The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have been around for a long time but this will be their third season affiliated with the Brewers.  You can become a shareholder and get lots of perks as an owner of the Timber Rattlers. 

I would love to see more minor league teams come back to Wisconsin.  The success of the Northwoods League has shown how popular baseball done right can be in the state.  The key to luring teams back is having a top notch stadium for them to play in.  Hopefully we get another inventive community to find ways to privately finance a new stadium. 

Pitchers and Catchers Report

• Pitchers and catchers have now reported for the Brewers, but none of them made the biggest news of the day.  Milwaukee signed Rickie Weeks to a contract extension.  I like the deal, but hope he can stay healthy and continue to improve defensively.  
• The Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association has released its preseason poll.  They have expanded their rankings this year to 20 teams in each division.
• UW Milwaukee is opening its season Friday at Tennessee .  Also don't forget to vote for their 20th anniversary team.  
• Here is a good editorial on why they should bring varsity baseball back to UW Eau Claire. 
• A newspaper in Tennessee says It may be the best time ever to be a Cheesehead.    I couldn't agree more.
• Appleton Native Trent Whitcomb has commited  to play at Division 1 Eastern Illinois next year.  
• The Timber Rattlers box office manager was one of the Super Bowl ticket holders that didn't get a seat in the game.  They are offering tickets to the  other displaced fans. 

Cody Hanke

photo by waow

Cody has made the All State Basketball , All State Baseball, and All Region Football teams.  His Marathon High School basketball team is currently ranked 3rd in Division 4.  Marathon has to be a favorite to return to state in baseball this year too.  This YouTube clip shows a Leader Telegram interview with Cody at state last year.  He hasn't committed to a college or a sport yet.  I have seen him mentioned in a bunch of blog posts and on different baseball forums.  I think he has a good chance of being drafted early in the June MLB draft if he continues to dominate this spring.  Tall lefties always seem to be in demand.

Wanderings

• New Berlin West is hosting baseball clinics on March 20 and March 27 for grades K-8.
• Northwest Wisconsin Youth and HS baseball clinic  featuring Mark Hallberg will be in Barron on February 26th for grades 5-12.
• The Milwaukee Brewers have released their promotional schedule.  Im not sure what I would like more, the Axford or Greinke bobble. 
•  Have you always wanted to see the Klement's Racing Sausages in person?  Now you don't have to go all the way to Miller Park.  The La Crosse Loggers have signed a deal with Klements and the sausages will be making a couple appearances at Copeland Park.
• The Badger Herald ran an article last year about bringing varsity baseball back to UW Madison. 
• Shaun Marcum signed for $3.95 million  and avoids arbitration.

Jordan Jess

Jordan Jess from Ripon High School is another one to watch this spring.  He played for WAS baseball in 2005 before joining the  Wisconsin Rivercats in 2006 and  finishing up with the Rays.  He also played last summer for the Reds Midwest Scout Team and was named top hitter in Wisconsin American Legion.  He is headed to  play at the University of Minnesota next fall. 

Milwaukee Area Technical College

Frank Cimorelli is the head baseball coach at Milwaukee Area Technical College.  Here is my interview with him.

BAW:  What tips do you have for youth ballplayers hoping to play college ball someday?

Frank:   I encourage all youth players to just get out and play whether it's in the backyard or with select teams. The more you get out there and play,the more fun you have the better your skill set will get. If the players aren't having fun they won't continue to play and by the time they get into high school they'll be finished with baseball. All players will develop at their own pace. Sometimes the best players at 12 aren't the best at 16 so you really want to encourage them to stick with it and with some determination they will get better.


BAW:  How many all star tournaments do you scout each summer?

Frank:   My coaches and I try to attend atleast a couple showcases a year in WI and northern IL. Our conf. and Region is based in IL. and I think it's important to our program for high school players to know we are out there.

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

Frank:   We do not have any players lined up for the Northwoods League. but have had some success in placing players in other college summer leagues. For players interested in going to a summer league the added exp. will only help in their continued growth as players. Our top priority is to help players improve to the point where after 2 seasons with us they will attract enough attention to receive scholarship money to 4yr schools.

BAW:   Does anybody on your team have a chance to get drafted this summer?

Frank:   We don't have any players this yr. who have a chance to get drafted but each season we get better players and at some point are hopeful that we will have a player advanced enough to attract attention from professional scouts. I played JUCO baseball myself so I know the opportunity it offers. Can you get better sitting and the bench at a 4yr school for 2 or 3 yrs.,sure but in my opinion getting on the field right away and getting game exp. is much more beneficial. If I didn't have the JUCO exp. I'm not sure I would have progressed enough at a 4yr school to get drafted as a junior,play professionally and pitch in the major leagues. When using up eligibility sitting on the bench those are innings and at bats I would have never gotten back and the confidence gained probably would have been put on hold. I was a player who coming out of HS had 0 scholarship offers and by the end of my soph yr at a JUCO knew that someday I had a very good chance at getting drafted. While I don't expect this to happen to all the players that play for me there is a good chance they may improve enough after 2 yrs to get a scholarship and continue their education and play 2 more yrs of baseball.