When it is 29 degrees out at the end of January, that can only mean one thing - college baseball season is here.

I like the attitude of UC's new head coach.


Here is a snippet and the link to the full interview is below.

Q: What are some of those things that you're trying to bring to the table and trying to implement?
A: I think that our hitting philosophy is different. A lot of people joke around and say, 'elevate and celebrate,' but it's not – we're not putting the ball on the ground, but we're not trying to hit fly balls either. So, our hitting style with Coach [Kyle] Sprague is new. We're also doing some stuff with our base running and trying to be a little more aggressive and put some more pressure on the defense. Coach [JD] Heilmann is bringing in some different stuff with the pitching. We sprinkle in maybe some stuff they haven't done in the past. So, those are some of the things that are a little bit different. Some other things, like discipline, are the same. My philosophy is that I'm here for the guys. Before, I maybe tried to control guys; now I'm just trying to lead them in the right direction and trying to nudge them and say, 'hey, this is what a good ball player does, this is what a good student does, and this is what a good person does.' Instead of having all those rules, we have standards. We may stub our toes and make mistakes, and there are times you may need to throw in the hammer, but we are in this thing together. This is our program. Let's take it forward in these parameters.

http://gobearcats.com/news/2018/1/25/bas...ogins.aspx

Any idea how good we will be? College Baseball is one thing I've never really followed, but wouldn't mind catching a couple games this year.

Googins coached Xavier to back to back Big East titles and NCAA appearances.

I think UC has some good players to build on. They were picked last in the AAC but I think they will do better than that.

According to 2 guys that played for him at X and who currently coach 17u national travel ball the single best thing about Goggins is that he has JD Heilmann - he is the fuel that drives the engine.

(01-30-2018 12:39 PM)bearcatfan Wrote:  Googins coached Xavier to back to back Big East titles and NCAA appearances.

I think UC has some good players to build on. They were picked last in the AAC but I think they will do better than that.

I don't know much about college baseball either, but I thought we were more in the upswing than being relegated to the basement after the last couple of years of uneven performance.

(01-30-2018 01:02 PM)crex043 Wrote:  

(01-30-2018 12:39 PM)bearcatfan Wrote:  Googins coached Xavier to back to back Big East titles and NCAA appearances.

I think UC has some good players to build on. They were picked last in the AAC but I think they will do better than that.

I don't know much about college baseball either, but I thought we were more in the upswing than being relegated to the basement after the last couple of years of uneven performance.

UC is going through a coaching change and the other teams are also on the upswing.

Also, I'm gonna believe that overall the AAC is better than the BE, what with all our southern teams, might take awhile to get them in NCAA's.

(01-30-2018 12:50 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  According to 2 guys that played for him at X and who currently coach 17u national travel ball the single best thing about Goggins is that he has JD Heilmann - he is the fuel that drives the engine.

I know he did a bunch of stuff with PBR Ohio, then he moved on to run Midland. So he knows everyone and anyone who is worth their salt in Ohio related to Baseball. My only concern would be that he is the Pitching Coach, did he hold that position when he was at UC and or X before that? I know he was not the pitching coach at Midland.

Were there any other reasons they gave as to why they liked JD so much?

(01-30-2018 03:52 PM)JunctaJuvant Wrote:  

(01-30-2018 12:50 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  According to 2 guys that played for him at X and who currently coach 17u national travel ball the single best thing about Goggins is that he has JD Heilmann - he is the fuel that drives the engine.

I know he did a bunch of stuff with PBR Ohio, then he moved on to run Midland. So he knows everyone and anyone who is worth their salt in Ohio related to Baseball. My only concern would be that he is the Pitching Coach, did he hold that position when he was at UC and or X before that? I know he was not the pitching coach at Midland.

Were there any other reasons they gave as to why they liked JD so much?

They say JD not only has a better eye for talent and the game but he is the guy players came there to play for. Goggin not as much. They added that Goggin had a tendancy to have a lot of players asking each other wtf was going on some years... he was one of those guys who falls in love with guys who can top 90 but that’s it and the guys nobody wanted to hit against because they had the best stuff could move the ball around and hit spots often got very few opportunities. They said they would play for JD again in a second but didn’t sound like they liked Goggin that much personally. Perhaps just 2 ex players opinions in a vacuum and others may have different experiences here. Dunno.

(01-30-2018 04:52 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  

(01-30-2018 03:52 PM)JunctaJuvant Wrote:  

(01-30-2018 12:50 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  According to 2 guys that played for him at X and who currently coach 17u national travel ball the single best thing about Goggins is that he has JD Heilmann - he is the fuel that drives the engine.

I know he did a bunch of stuff with PBR Ohio, then he moved on to run Midland. So he knows everyone and anyone who is worth their salt in Ohio related to Baseball. My only concern would be that he is the Pitching Coach, did he hold that position when he was at UC and or X before that? I know he was not the pitching coach at Midland.

Were there any other reasons they gave as to why they liked JD so much?

They say JD not only has a better eye for talent and the game but he is the guy players came there to play for. Goggin not as much. They added that Goggin had a tendancy to have a lot of players asking each other wtf was going on some years... he was one of those guys who falls in love with guys who can top 90 but that’s it and the guys nobody wanted to hit against because they had the best stuff could move the ball around and hit spots often got very few opportunities. They said they would play for JD again in a second but didn’t sound like they liked Goggin that much personally. Perhaps just 2 ex players opinions in a vacuum and others may have different experiences here. Dunno.

Fair review - I've always wondered how we don't have a better baseball team. When you look at the youth (all the way up to 18U) programs in the area, there is a ton of talent in the area. My only thought is it is simply weather related. The top players all commit to schools that are south of Cincy to get on the field earlier in the year. Cincy Flames, Riverbats, Midland, Cincy Spikes ... those teams alone could get you 1/2 a roster.

Well short answer is that for a generation or more UC simply didn’t recruit Cincinnati very much. Some kids on the edges but never really talked to the Midland or Flames kids much for some reason.

One of our members here was a Midland Redskin all through HS...ended up signing with Miami after nobody from UC ever talked to any of them.

(01-31-2018 12:34 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Well short answer is that for a generation or more UC simply didn’t recruit Cincinnati very much. Some kids on the edges but never really talked to the Midland or Flames kids much for some reason.

One of our members here was a Midland Redskin all through HS...ended up signing with Miami after nobody from UC ever talked to any of them.

I just looked at the current roster, there are a few Cincinnati kids in there, but fewer than I expected. From all of the bios, the old staff was looking for one thing, Height!
3 kids 6'5", 3 kids 6'6", 3 kids 6'8" and a 6'9". I am sure a couple are "exaggerated" but still, they could compete with some DIII basketball teams.

I wonder why the past UC coaches skipped over the local kids? Other schools are not. Our coach (travel) has been contacted by at least 5 Division I programs and they have asked for our schedule. And we have not even seen one pitch of HS baseball yet, all are Freshman in HS. Maybe things change with these new coaches.

For a program that has never had a huge recruiting budget, you'd think they would focus more locally than they do. That has been a problem here for 3 decades, though. UC doesn't even send folks to many of the local top tourneys for some reason. I didn't see any guys in UC golf shirts at the Flames college showcase tourney last year and many of the games were held at Marge Schott Stadium.