URI baseball set to kick off its season next week

02/13/09 - After finishing last season with 31 wins-the most in New England-the University of Rhode Island baseball team is ready to start playing again on Feb. 20 in North Carolina.The Rams finished their 2008 season with an overall record of 31-27-1. They were knocked out of the Atlantic 10 Championship with a 3-0 loss to top-seeded Xavier University. Before that, they defeated Temple University, 7-1, in the first round, Xavier, 11-4, in the second round, but lost to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, 11-1, in the semifinals.

"We had a good year," head coach Jim Foster said. "We had a lot of adversity and we kept getting better."

Foster was named the conference's best game coach by CollegeBaseballInsider.com.

"It's quite an honor," he said. "It's a good recognition by peers and I appreciate it."

Junior southpaw Nick Greenwood was also honored by this Web site, being named one of the league's top starting pitchers. He finished his sophomore season with six wins and a 3.72 ERA over a team-high 92 innings pitched. He also led the A-10 with 95 strikeouts and had a .266 opponent batting average.

"Nick had a good year last year that got him on the radar," Foster said. "He got noticed and now he has to back it up. I hope he can keep improving."

Greenwood, along with senior right-handed pitcher Luke Demko, was named to the Rivals.com A-10 Preseason All-Conference team. Demko set a new single-season record at URI with 26 appearances last season. Over the 43 innings he pitched, he had a 2.30 ERA and held opponents to a .181 average.

"Luke Demko had a great year," Foster said. "This season will be huge."

Two players that graduated last season also received accolades for their performances. Last year's starting catcher Zach Zaneski signed with the Texas Rangers as a free agent and is with the Single-A affiliate Spokane Indians. Shaun Hagey was named to the 2008 Atlantic 10 All-Conference Baseball team.

This season, the Rams will have approximately six new players to replace the ones who graduated and a whole new field. Freshman Sam Vandenheuvel from Arizona is a pitcher and shortstop player. They have also added freshmen Milan Adams (catcher), Anthony Pisani (left-handed pitcher), Ryan O'Neill (right-handed pitcher and outfield) and Mike LeBel (infield). As a transfer from CCRI, junior Luis Chacon is also an infielder.

Foster said that he does not have a set lineup in mind yet, but said that they will have pretty good versatility.

"We got to get playing and put some difficult combinations together," Foster said.

Along with new player additions to the team, Bill Beck Field is going through a renovation after URI athletics received a $1 million donation last year. It will have a completely new surface of synthetic turf. It is the same surface that the Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays use.

Because of the snow, the turf has not been done yet, but Foster said that work should begin again on Monday.

"The field is going to be beautiful," Foster said. "It will require a lot less work and maintenance for the players and staff."

As always, the team wants to win the A-10 championships and make it to the Regionals. Foster said that they also want to make it to the Super Regionals.

"We need to stay healthy, play ball and have fun," he said. "These guys are good ballplayers, good students and good guys. We have a lot of talented kids.