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Tanner’s eyes turn to 2010
Upgrading the pitching staff remains the biggest key to getting USC back to Omaha
USC coach Ray Tanner
Erik Campos/ecampos@thestate.com
CommentsSouth Carolina’s baseball season ended in a fashion that haunts coach Ray Tanner two weeks later. A six-run lead in the NCAA regional championship game against East Carolina evaporated as he ran out of pitching.
That left the Gamecocks absent from Super Regional play for the second consecutive season and out of the College World Series for the fifth year in a row.
The lack of reliable options on the mound caught up to the team in the postseason, which ultimately negated an offense that averaged 7.6 runs per game and led the SEC with 109 home runs.
As Major League Baseball draft Thursday, Tanner took a look back at the 40-23 season, but he spent far more time surveying the 2010 team. And the discussion kept coming back to pitching.
If USC is to advance further in the postseason, the pitching will need to match the hitting. With the possibility of ace right-hander Sam Dyson returning as a redshirt junior after he slipped to the 10th round of the draft, Tanner likes the way things would shape up with him starting Friday nights again.
A hard-throwing Dyson — motivated to prove he belongs in the first round — would lead a veteran staff of starters that would include senior right-hander Blake Cooper, sophomore left-hander Nolan Belcher and senior righty Jay Brown. Those four pitched the most innings on the team this season, combing for a 25-13 record.
“We’re cautiously optimistic about our pitching staff,” said Tanner, who noted that Cooper would become the No. 1 starter if Dyson signs with the Oakland Athletics.
After struggling early, Cooper rebounded to go 9-4, a mark that included a string of key wins during USC’s late-season run.
“I’m happy about what he did for us down the stretch,” said Tanner, citing Cooper’s determination and ability to pitch out of trouble. “He knew how to win.”
Belcher showed poise as a freshman, and the savvy Brown proved he was finally healthy. To fill out the starting roles, Tanner will lose one pitcher to injury and get one back. Sophomore left-hander Adam Westmoreland had Tommy John surgery this week and will miss the 2010 season, while promising right-hander Matt Price will be back after having his freshman season cut short by a fractured right wrist.
As for the closer’s role vacated by senior lefty Alex Farotto, Tanner is looking at one person: junior right-hander Parker Bangs, whose inconsistent season was marked by flashes of brilliance. Tanner is convinced Bangs has both the ability and mental toughness to finish games like some of the great closers he has coached over the years.
“I asked him, ‘Can you be that guy?’ He said, ‘I can be that guy,’” Tanner said, while acknowledging the closer’s role is the most critical for next season.
Sophomore lefty Michael Roth has the ability to get outs as either a middle reliever or a spot starter. A number of pitchers threw less than 10 innings — including Steven Neff, Brandon Miller, Justin Hopper, Will Casey, Jordan Propst and James Rawls — and Tanner said the battle for innings and roster spots will be fierce in the fall.
Tanner said Grimes Medlin is preparing to transfer, as could a few others. Neff showed promise in the regional with an effective outing. Hopper and Miller are pitching for the Columbia Blowfish this summer.
Although Tanner does not expect T.L. Hanna right-hander Brooks Hall, a fourth-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers, to make it to campus, he feels good about the rest of the class.
Two strong-armed pitchers from Virginia, right-hander Ethan Carter and left-hander Tyler Webb, headline the class, along with Conway right-hander Colby Holmes, who was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 47th round, and Hilton Head righty Greg Harrison.
“They’re all quality pitchers,” he said. “We’ve got some good-looking guys coming in.”
He will look to them to help turn around a staff that posted an ERA of 5.07, the highest since Tanner’s first year at USC in 1997.
Much fan criticism for the shortcomings of the pitching staff is directed at pitching coach Mark Calvi, who replaced Jerry Meyers in 2005, when USC made its most recent trip to Omaha.
Tanner, however, blames the inability to recruit as many top-level pitchers as he had from 2002-04, when the Gamecocks made the College World Series each season.
“Coach Calvi and I are very close. He’s an outstanding pitching coach. He didn’t come here because he was my third cousin or my brother-in-law,” Tanner said. “I knew his credentials and his resume. That’s why he came here. He has a great rapport with his players. He works extremely hard. He’s taken hits unjustly. He does a great job.”
“Great” also is the word Tanner hopes people will use more frequently next season to describe his pitchers.
Reach White at (803) 771-8643.
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