Fall ball looking good in the end

This archived article was written by: Dillon Manzanares

USU Eastern Baseball wraps up fall ball with tough losses to a tough Salt Lake Community College squad. On Saturday, Oct. 19 the USU Eastern Golden Eagle baseball team traveled to Salt Lake and had a showcase event before playing their final two games of fall ball. The event had over thirty scouts from a number of different colleges in attendance. The two games combined consisted of 16 straight innings, with no breaks. The Eagles played very well defensively throughout the two games; as errors did not come very often. Leading the charge on the mound for the Golden Eagles was Chance Abrath, Jake Meservey, and Kameron King.
The final scores in both games were 4-3 and 4-1 both in SLCC’s favor.
According to assistant coach KC Smurthwaite, the Golden Eagles have improved in all phases of the game since the beginning of fall ball. He is impressed by the improvements of both the offense and the entire pitching staff. “Our pitching staff is really starting to hit their stride. Now that doesn’t mean we are where we want to be, we still have a long ways to go in terms of where we need to be by the first game. We will get to where we want to be soon enough. It just takes time,” stated Smurthwaite. “The players seem to be getting more and more comfortable with each other on the field. They are developing relationships off the field as well, which helps build the teams moral.”
The team batted extremely well overall in fall ball. The Eagles had a batting average of over .300, which is a good achievement as a team. The main thing that the team will need to work on as far as hitting is concerned, is being smarter hitters late in games. The pitching staff needs to be more consistent as well, in order for them to be where they want to begin the season. The team has yet to have final cuts, as they will take place in a few weeks.
Overall, Head Coach Scott Madsen and Smurthwaite are pleased on how the team performed in fall ball. Smurthwaite added, “ Scott and I are extremely pleased on how we played. We are far from satisfied as a team. We still need to put in extra work to become the team we are supposed to be. I feel like we have all the pieces and now is the time they start to come together, which they are. These are key months as our practices start to move indoors and are limited. We are really exited for the season. This season is going to put us at new levels and traditions. It is an exiting time to be a Golden Eagle.” Eagle baseball will start conference play in the spring.