Feb.
6, 2012
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for CBI Horizon preview
Wright man for the job
By Phil Stanton
CollegeBaseballInsider.com
Co-Founder
Phil@collegebaseballinsider.com
@RoadToOmaha
(Note: After this article was written, CBI
learned that Wright State senior right-hander Casey Henn will
miss the 2012 season following Tommy John surgery.)
DAYTON,
Ohio – When you hire a coach, you hope
for someone who will build a solid program. Wright State
certainly did that with Rob Cooper.
Cooper (left) enters his eighth year with the
Raiders and has constructed a consistent winner. After having a
losing season in his first campaign, Wright State has posted six
straight seasons of at least 30 wins, with three conference
titles and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. The Raiders have
earned at least a share of the regular season title in the
Horizon League in each of the past two seasons.
Wright State was 36-19 overall in 2011 and 16-7
in league play. Cooper, a former assistant at Oral Roberts, was
named Horizon League Coach of the Year for the second straight
season.
“As we’ve gotten this thing going, it’s been the
upperclassmen in our program educating the new guys,” Cooper
said. “This is how we do things, basically coaching them along
with us.”
There
are plenty of those upperclassmen on this year’s squad, with 10
seniors and seven juniors. Two of those seniors include
All-Americans Jake Hibberd and Michael Schum (right).
“The redshirt freshman year that I had, I had the
mentorship of two or three or four of the older guys,” Schum
said. They took me under their wing. I took everything they had
to say to heart and continued to do what they told me to do.
Obviously it helped out.
“Now as a senior, it’s fun to take people under
your wing. You want them to be able to take your spot. ‘Hey, I’m
challenging you to take my spot before this year is over.’ I
feel like in doing that we have that success that transfers from
year to year. Over the years it continues instead of having to
rebuild. We can continue with the guys we have.”
Wright
State gave Schum his only Division I offer. After redshirting in
2008, Schum posted 13 saves with a 1.95 ERA in earning
All-America honors as a freshman. The native of Bright, Ind.,
struggled in 2010, but rebounded with a huge season a year ago,
going 9-2 with nine saves and a 1.37 ERA with six walks and 41
strikeouts in 52.2 innings.
“He had a hand in half of our wins,” Cooper said.
“We can bring him in in the fifth inning if we have to. It’s
such a nice thing to go to the bullpen and know that you have a
guy that can give you a chance to finish out that game every
time.”
Hibberd is happy to have
his closer back.
“Having him come out there in the ninth or the
eighth, you know they’re going to get ground balls,” Hibberd
said. It’s a great feeling, especially when the hitters have
worked so hard to either get a lead or keep us in the game and
then Michael comes in and shuts them down. He’s been a huge
asset to the team for the last three years and we’re lucky to
have him come out here again.”
Hibberd
(left) had a monster year in 2011. The first baseman from nearby
Miamisburg won the Triple Crown in the Horizon League, hitting
.407 in 55 starts with nine homers, 21 doubles, 42 runs and 56
RBI.
“He was locked in,” Cooper said. “When guys
pitched around him, he didn’t chase. He was so quiet and so
confident. It was one of the most mature approaches to hitting
I’ve been around in my entire career.”
Schum recognized Hibberd’s
leadership.
“He goes about this stuff the right way, every
day,” Schum said. “He’s one who will take charge. He has the
ability to take charge because he’s on the field constantly. He
was our first baseman last year and does a great job over there.
He brings a lot of energy and is a heck of a teammate.”
The Raiders won a pair of one-run contests
against Valparaiso to secure the 2011 Horizon League
Championship. But Wright State didn’t perform in the College
Station Regional as it did during the season, getting shut out
twice to end its season.
Wright State returns its top seven hitters and 10
of its top 11, including senior infielder Zach Tanner (.374, 15
2B, 5 HR, 34 RBI), senior outfielder Tristan Moore (.352, 17 2B,
5 HR, 46 RBI), junior infielder Justin Kopale (.321, 11 2B, 3
HR, 28 RBI) and senior catcher Corey Davis (.312, 15 2B, 8 HR,
40 RBI). Along with closer Schum, the Raiders will have senior
starter Casey Henn (7-4, 4.83 ERA) back to lead the pitching
staff.
“This
is a senior-laden group,” Cooper said. “It’s also a senior-laden
group that has played in three championship games in their three
years. They’ve beaten two No. 1-ranked teams. When these guys
were freshmen, they beat Georgia when they were ranked No. 1.
When they were sophomores, they beat Virginia when they were
ranked No. 1.”
The Raiders again will have a challenging
non-conference slate, visiting NC State, North Carolina and
Virginia.
“It’s totally by design,” Cooper said. “I’m very
fortunate because I’ve got an administration that understands
what we’re trying to do. In 2009 we started the season 1-9 and
ended up going to a regional.
“The thing that’s great about it is that our guys
love it. It’s exciting. The reason why I love it is because at
the end of that period, this is where we’re really at. If we are
fortunate enough to go to a regional, chances are we’re going to
get sent to a UNC or Charlottesville or A&M. I want our guys to
experience that in case we’re fortunate enough to go.”
So should Wright State be penciled in for a
regional spot?
“What
you constantly have to fight against is that it just happens
because we show up, that just happens because it happened last
year,” Cooper said. “We have a lot of guys back but what you
have to guard against with our guys, or with any team, is we’re
not last year. This is a brand new team. And this is a brand new
team that hasn’t won anything, hasn’t won a game this year,
hasn’t won a conference game this year. At the end of the day,
it’s nice what’s on paper, but that’s all it is, is paper.”
(photos courtesy of Wright State
Media Relations Office)
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