The Texas A&M baseball team’s fall practice schedule reaches its culmination this weekend as they play the Fall World Series.
The Aggies have been practicing together for about eight weeks, with the first four weeks focused on individual workouts as per NCAA rules.
“We do play intrasquad games in the fall,” said A&M baseball coach Mark Johnson. “But this [World Series] is a little more on the intense side. We name an MVP for best hitter and things like that. Our emphasis is to build up to the World Series. It’s another step up.”
The two teams, the Dirtbags and the War Eagles, were chosen by the coaches in a draft.
The Dirtbags will be coached by David Coleman and will be led on the mound by sophomore pitchers Matt Farnum, Justin Moore and Kyle Parcus. In the field, the Dirtbags will be led by junior outfielder Eric Reed, senior shortstop Ryan Wardinsky and senior second baseman Ty Garner. The Dirtbags also will have freshman outfielder Coby Mavroulis, who has impressed Johnson so far this fall.
The War Eagles will be coached by Travis Walden and will be led on the mound by junior Steven Ponder and sophomore Robert Ramsey. On the field, sophomore catcher Rusty Meyer, junior first baseman Travis Wong and sophomore infielder Erik Schindewolf will play.
“Rusty Meyer really got our attention this fall,” Johnson said. “He’s been a really good catch-throw guy and has really shut down running game. Travis Wong has hit the ball well. Not a lot of home runs, which is something we’ve tried to work on, but he has had a good fall.
“Ty Garner and Erik Schindewolf have hit the ball well and either could play second or third. Ryan Wardinsky has had a good fall, probably the best fall he’s had.”
Johnson is hoping to find three top starters that separate themselves from the pack, but his efforts will be somewhat hampered by an injury this weekend.
Juniors Khalid Ballouli and Todd Deininger will not throw this because of to injuries. Ballouli, who was in line to be the Friday night starter last season, is still recovering from surgery and Deininger is suffering from elbow problems.
“We need to get three constant top pitchers,” Johnson said. “There’s not as much separation as I would like. We have quite a few good pitchers. I’ve said that our No. 8 pitcher now is the best No. 8 pitcher I’ve had. But we don’t have a guy like a Fossum or a Granger. We do have guys that can keep us in ball games.”
Junior outfielder David Evans will also not be able to go because he is still recovering from shoulder surgery.
The series starts Thursday at Olsen Field at 5 p.m. with a doubleheader.
On Friday, there will be another doubleheader starting at 5 p.m., with the series ending on Sunday with a single game at 2 p.m.