Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

BdS By Richard Meyers Gamecock Staff Writer The USC baseball team kicks off the start of the 1980 season this afternoon when they travel to Charleston to face Baptist College. The game will be the first contest of a gruelling 53-game schedule. Under the direction of head coach June Raines and assistant coacn Johnny Hunton, the Gamecocks' 26 man squad will try to improve on last year's 31-6 record. 'The squad includes 14 returning lettermen who will be joined by seven freshmen and four junior college transfers. "I'm very pleased so far with the way we have been playing since practice began in January," Raines said. The fourth year coach feels his team has an abundance of talent with a good balance of experience and youth. "We have good speed, defense (Carolina's fielding average was the fourth best in the nation in 1979) and sound pitching. You never know about the hitting. Our hitters have been banging the ball well since practice began. I think we'll hit pretty well this year, but I thought we would last year too," Raines said in reference to last season's sub-par .258 club average. COMPETITION BETWEEN ballplayers at different positions has made choosing starters a difficult decision, according to Raines. Although he will go with no set defensive lineup, he has a fairly good idea of who he considers his top players at each position. "Keith 'Red Light' Taylor will most likely be the starting catcher," Raines said. "He's a fine defensive catcher with a good arm. He needs to produce a little more offensively this season, but he has been hitting ?|fery well in practice , '*90fat." ' ?- Taylor batted ;243 wkh seven homr runs aadtf RBI irv 1979. He also nailed 2$Mrunners attempting to steal. - Backing up Taylor will be Hobby Lowery, the ^Gamecock's leading hitter in fall practice. The junior from Tampa, Fla., figures to be seeing considerable action as a designated hitter, according to Raines. "Lowery is a good, strong left handed hitter, and he makes contact most of the time. Defensively, he's a good catcher with a quick release," Raines said. JIM CURL AND MARK Boatright are competing for the first base position. Curl finished last season with a .262 batting average while playing in all of the Gamecock's 47 games. Boatright hit .302, while leading the team with five Camp winnina RRI Uo ? 0 ? mrnmmmmmmfmy A V L/ Jk , A IV/ set a school record of 12 total bases in one game and started about half of the season in left field. "Curl is playing well, but he has some back problems that we are concerned about. He seems to be able to play with it though," Raines said. "Boatright has a fine bat and can play the outfield or designated hitter. It's going to be hard to keep him out of the lineup." The second base job is up for grabs between Jamie Thaw and Tom "Termite" Williams. Thaw is a switch hitting freshman from Mount Vernon, N.Y. Williams was the starting second baseman in 1979 and was stinging the ball at a .462 clip until he injured his knee six games into the season. Williomc hoc einn? U ? ' . U1I1H IIMO OIIIV.C 1 Kill ct MICK (111(1 shoulder operation. "Tommy Williams will never be the old Tommy Williams with quickness and speed. But he can make up for that with his head because he is an extremely smart baseball player and knows how to play the game," Haines said. "Greg Jonson is my shortstop, no doubt about it," Raines stated. The three time letterman from Hamilton, Ohio, set a school fielding record for shortstops last season with a .971 fielding per Open i cbcill sc centage (only eight errors in 279 total chances). "DEFENSIVELY, JONSON is right up there with the best I've ever seen in college ball," Raines said of his senior captain who has started 148 consecutive games. Jonson hit only .246 last year, but he hopes to bat about 60 points higher this season. "I'm hoping to hit over .300 this year," Jonson said. "I feel much more relaxed and confident at the plate, and that should help quite a bit." Jonson proved he can hit this past summer when he batted .360 in the Stan Musial League with the Atlanta Yankees. Hob Carraway appears to have nailed down the starting job at the hot corner, replacing former AllAmerican John Marquardt. The junior college transfer from Hillsborough Community College in Tampa batted .368 and .401 during his two years there while 1 i: a I r^1 -1 - leaunig me r lonua junior colleges in RBI with 60 last year. "Carraway is going to be a fine defensive third baseman and a line drive hitter," said Raines. Etienne Farquharson, better known as "Farkie" to his teammates, will return in the left field spot after playing second base for the injured Williams last year. Aided by a 19 game hitting streak, Farquharson batted .331 and swiped 36 bases which placed him tenth overall in the nation in the stolen base category. "HE CAN HIT, and he has great speed," Raines said of Farquharson who was a member of the Independent All-South team in 1979. "I think he is going to have a great year for us." Switch hitter Joe McCarthy and sophomore Hobby Vollmer >vill share time patroling center field |' ' |:11 v *<. . HiI '> ?! ,if< I" '% {z'?s 'f^'./^-^*>>,-S- - ^ ". ?: W Speedster Etienne Furquhars in an exhibition game test ivi ieason today < ]uad s McCarthy hit .379 while stealing 25 bases for Seminole Community College in Sanford, Fla., last season, drafted twice by the pros in 1979, McCarthy is a native of Scranton, Penn. Vollmer stole 13 bases in 15 tries and saw action in 35 games for the Gamecocks. He hit only .130 however. Both McCarthy and Vollmer are prime candidates for the leadoff position. Junior Paul Hollins will again play right field, a position he has held since midway through his freshman season. A .296 career 'We have aood soee ? pitching. You never ki Our hitters have beer since practice began... hitter as a Gamecock, Hollins will be backed up by Ricky Lee. "Hollins turned into a good outfielder by simply working hard every day on his defense," Raines said. Lee has a "major league arm" according to Raines, but needs to be more consistent with his bat." BILL LANORUM IS clearly the ace of the staff, despite missing all of the 1979 season due to a fractured kneecap. He appears to be fully recovered after notching a 120 record playing summer ball. "I think my knee is 100 percent, and I'm looking forward to having a great season. My goal is to win every game I pitch," Landrum said. Landrum's quest for a perfect record is not un realistic,, considering the 8-2 mark he posted in 1978. fy_2- -J '". ' " '. ; ' ' b jb iii vijj . #( JlH on readies to steai second base wkend against DeKalb South at Baptist it for ac Brett Baynham, the owner of an 8-1 slate in two years as a Gamecock, and sophomore Dennis Lubert are the number two and three starters respectively. Both are southpaws. Citadel transfer Don Gordon is scheduled to be the number four starter, but a tender arm will cause him to miss a few turns on the mound, according to Raines. Mark Calbert and Joe Kucharski will compete for the spot with Gordon sidelined temporarily. d, defense and sound now about the hitting. i banging the ball well / , June Raines The 6-4 Calvert hails from Maryland, where he posted a 10-2 high school record in 1979. Fellow Marylander Kucharski is a 6-3, 220 pound righthander who was drafted by the Texas Hangers in June. Martin Small and Bobby Kish will be the primary relief pitchers and will try to replace Jeff Twitty who was the Gamecocks' ace reliever totalling ten saves and a 0.76 ERA. ROSS BLEDSOE, a 6-2 freshman from Wf?st fVillimhin anH uiollr-nn ?vvum vii Frank Henry, a good sinkerball hurler, round out the pitching staff. "All the pitchers will get to pitch early because I don't think anybody is ready to go nine innings yet. Basically, for the first couple of games we are going to use two or - ,: , \ , - ' " * - ," ^ r Itlllf-?||||IS " ^ I | Junior College. Farquharson bases and batting average last / :tion more pitchers," Raines said. Overall Haines feels that he has a solid ballclub with better than average defense and speed, along with hitting potential. He is also pleased with the team's depth and the ability of several of his players to play at more than one position. The one big question mark will be the bullpen, according to Raihes, because it lacks an experienced relief pitcher. Raines character izeu the 53 game schedule as the toughest he's had since he's been coaching and , maybe the most difficult that Carolina has ever had. Thirty-four games are slated for home, and 19 of them will be at night. The Gamecocks will play College World Series participant Miami four times in Miami during Spring break. Carolina also has four games scheduled with defending ACC champion Clemson, in addition to facing The Citadel and Tennessee twice. Also on the schedule are North Carolina, Ohio State, Ohio University and Maryland. The Gamecocks will play one doubleheader this year on March 8 against Old Dominion at home. They will also play an alumni exhibition game on May 2. The first home game is at 3 p.m. Friday against Tennessee. "AS AN INDEPENDENT school, our goal every year is to make the Diavoffs. What we trv to do is win the next game because we don't have a conference championship to shoot for. Every game is big for us," Haines said. "I think we have a super ball club," said Jonson; the team captain. "We have the experience and players to have a great season. II we play like we can, I think we have a good shot at winning the national championship." I'T vi- -b ^~:r* ">" -V1 L.r" >T5" ?-f r- - f- r.-: j ^ \-^"* 1 "*1" *'/.''-t' ^V'^f- '*:-"" '<- rr?5 v j ^glSB jf I Ipsl .' MHPIi^SffMiWBifti: M- w HMB| K PiMisBsi ' illl : ^^BSUU/KKm ~ H HHHI: / V" |H9 I BBmBHBM :' M V fv: Pi gSJjp 11 Oav? Robacfc ? OAMCCOCK I tod the Gamecocks in stolen I year.