HI NOTES: Brock Bond is Back

MU IN THE MINORS

Brock Bond
Fresno Grizzlies

♦ Brock Bond is Back!

The last time we reported on Brock Bond, his status going into the 2012 was uncertain, after missing most of 2011 on the disabled list following a concussion.

But Brock has been in the Fresno Grizzlies lineup since April 12th, most often as the DH, but also playing at 2nd twice and 3rd twice.  His .171 BA is not great, but his OBP is .293.

In a game on April 24th, Brock reached base four times, with a triple and 3 bases on balls.

Here's a SimmonsField.com Tip of the Cap to Brock Bond, who's still chasing the dream.

From Twitter:

@cornerinfielder: Brock Bond still exists. Okay.

GAME DAY

♦ Mizzou Catcher Plays With Big League Ambition (KOMU) with VIDEO

Ben's evolved into a Tiger captain.

"The respect that he gets from the pitching staff. The way that he deals with the game. He's a baseball player and that's a real compliment because there's not a lot of those guys out there anymore. Guys that know how to play the game," head coach Tim Jamieson said.

"He'll come out and yell at me if I'm doing something wrong," Zastryzny said. "He's not going to be like Rob settle down. He's going to be like Rob, throw a strike rigt here. Ok, Ben, whatever you want."

♦ Red Raiders capture first Big 12 series victory of season with 7-0 shutout of Missouri (lubbockonline.om)

The win, coupled with Kansas State suffering the sweep at the hands of Oklahoma State and Kansas’ series finale against Oklahoma being washed out, puts the Red Raiders (25-22, 5-13) a half-game ahead of the Jayhawks (4-13) for seventh place and two games ahead of the ninth-place Wildcats (3-15) in the Big 12 standings with six games left to play. Tech is at Texas A&M next weekend, then hosts Kansas State to end the season May 17-19

Tech is also just two games behind Missouri (23-19, 7-11), which hosts Texas next weekend and winds up the season at Kansas. The Red Raiders need just two wins in their remaining six league games to clinch a berth in the Big 12 Championships.

♦ Tech baseball picks up first Big 12 series win (Daily Toreador)

Needing some wins to get out of the cellar of the Big 12 Conference, the Red Raiders did just that this weekend.
After dropping the first game to Missouri, Texas Tech bounced back to take the next two to win the weekend series — its first Big 12 series win of the season.

It was nice to finally pick up the series win and gain some momentum heading into the final few weeks of play, Tech third baseman Reid Redman said.

“Well it took us long enough, but it’s good. I think we needed some momentum going into the next couple of weeks and it was really big for us, and hopefully this momentum will carry into next week at A&M.”

DRAFT

♦ Draft Picks by College (thebaseballcube.com)

"A historical view of draft picks by college since the Amateur Baseball draft began in 1965. The list is sorted by the number of draft picks by school. Click on a school to see the complete list of draft picks."

Mizzou comes in at 48th, with 133 draftees. Texas is the highest Big 12 tam on the list (4th, with 305). LSU is the highest SEC team at 23rd, with 179.

The list is interesting, with some surprises. You'll never guess what college is #1 with 445 draftees. A hint: A former Mizzou player is now playing at this college.

BIG 12

♦ Kendrick: Baseball must improve in Big 12 (thedaonline.com)

Since 2000, the West Virginia baseball team has had eight losing seasons in Big East Conference play. It has won just three Big East tournament games since 2005 and hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since head coach Greg Van Zant’s second season in 1996.

And, after this season, the Mountaineers will be moving from the Big East to the Big 12 Conference, which is widely considered one of the elite leagues in America.

"The baseball program is clearly in need of revitalization," said Ken Kendrick, the managing partner of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks and a WVU alum and booster. "I know (Athletic Director Oliver Luck) is committed to working on making the program a better program than it is."
. . .
"We don’t want any of our teams to be a doormat in the Big 12. We want this to be a positive experience and be a competitive program with some of the best in the country."

The first step in continuing to improve the program is to upgrade facilities at WVU.

In February, Luck said WVU was looking to build a new baseball facility that would be located at the University Town Center.

The new facility has been making progress, but there’s still plenty of work to be done before West Virginia will be able to call it home.