THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 24, 1995 TAG: 9502240666
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICHARD GOODEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Virginia Wesleyan baseball coach Nick Boothe says he's about to reveal something he has kept hidden for a year.
His managing skills.
``Last year we were beating up people, but this year you are going to see my coaching ability,'' Boothe said.
The Marlins, who host Emmanuel College today at 3 p.m., are coming off a dream season that featured a 23-game winning streak. They won the ODAC regular-season championship with a 15-1 conference mark. They were 28-6 overall, their best finish.
Topping that performance, Boothe said, will be a heavy task.
Much of the burden falls on senior second baseman Jason Williams, a first-team All-ODAC pick last season.
``I think that I should be the leader, it comes with being a senior,'' Williams said.
``I have been expecting it since the day I got here. For the past three years, I watched the older guys take the pressure.''
Thirteen of the 26 players are first-time Marlins. That group includes freshman first baseman Danny Hierholzer from Salem High School.
Brad Mazur will anchor the four-man pitching rotation. Former Cox standout Billy Kachuba (an All-ODAC second-team pick), senior Jim Keitel, and sophomore Michael Barry will also gets plenty of innings.
``Unlike the rest of the team, the pitching has a good mixture of old guys,'' said Chris Parsons, the Marlins' pitching coach.
When a team averages 12 hits a game and finishes first in the conference in batting, pitching is less important. But it has become a priority now, because the Marlins lost more than 50 percent of their run production. Key losses include All-ODAC first baseman Kevin Rooks, outfielder Gary Sasser and shortstop Anthony Doane. Rooks batted .429 and drove in 45 runs. Doane batted state player of the year.
Rooks quit school to work for an underwater welding company. Sasser was disappointed at a lack of interest from scouts.
``Sasser had a good year, but scouts didn't give him enough attention, so he figured he could put baseball to the side,'' Boothe said.
Rightfielder-pitcher Ryan Casey signed with the Chicago Cubs.
Although Boothe is working with a revamped roster, he prefers to think the Marlins are reloading rather than rebuilding. But after losing half of his team, he is also aware the season's outcome is unpredictable.
``These guys are inexperienced, so we don't know what they are going to do,'' Boothe said. ``But as the year goes on, they are going to get better.'' by CNB