Thursday, January 15, 2009

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 15, 2009) - The ETSU baseball team resumed individual workouts Thursday in preparation for the 2009 season.

"It was great to have all the guys back on campus," said head coach Tony Skole. "Our staff has been chomping at the bit to get things started. We have a lot of things we want to accomplish in a short period of time. There are only 35 days until Opening Day and we can't officially start practice until Feb. 1, so time is of the essence."

The Bucs open the season at home against Evansville on Feb. 20. ETSU returns 14 players including 2008 Freshman All-American Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Derek Trent (Kingsport, Tenn.), who broke the freshman home run record with 15 last year.

"Overall, I was pleased with the condition that our players returned to campus in," Skole added. "We have a select few who are going to have to work a little harder to meet the standards of our program, but I'm confident that will get there in a hurry. So far, I like the toughness component of this team.  Our staff expects them to give us their best effort every day and thus far they haven't let us down.  I'm already excited for tomorrow's workouts."      

Key additions to the team include Louisville Slugger First-Team All-American Bo Reeder (Cookeville, Tenn.) and Garrett May (Roswell, Ga.).

Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU baseball or any other Buccaneer athletic team.