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ARCHIVES - Fall 2008 - Winter 2009 |
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Skutt Alum Walz Gets Win Over #4 Arizona State
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Omaha Company Protects Hitters with Innovative, American-made Safety Products
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2009 Season Approaches as First Official Practices Begin Today With two and a half weeks remaining until the first pitch of the 2009 season, tryouts and practices for Nebraska high school baseball teams get underway today -- the first official day of practice under the NSAA rules. Most ballfields are covered with the remnants of more than 6" of snow that fell last Friday, but that snowcover should disappear in the coming days as temperatures climb into the upper fifties by the end of the week. For most programs, tryouts and drills will be conducted indoors over the next few days as coaches go through the difficult task of winnowing the number of aspiring ballplayers down to the final rosters.
Coaches are currently providing BaseballNebraska with the preseason forecasts for their teams so look for our team reports and preseason Top 10 in each class in the coming days. |
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Frerichs and Ryan Selected 2008 Varsity Coaches of the Year Four Nebraska high school coaches were recognized Tuesday night by their colleagues as the Nebraska Baseball Coaches Association announced its 2008 Coaches of the Year. Spring Varsity honors went to Elkhorn's Jerry Frerichs, who guided the Antlers to a repeat state championship. Millard West's Frank Ryan was recognized as the top Summer Varsity head coach for taking the Wildcats to the American Legion World Series. At the Juniors level, Elkhorn's Josh Snyder was recognized for the spring season, and Millard South's Tom Cooper earned summer season honors. In the University / College division, UNO head coach Bob Herold was selected Coach of the Year following the Mavs' second forty-five win season in three years. |
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Millard West Ranked #12 in National Pre-Season Poll
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BaseballNebraska Seeks Reader Assistance with Advertising Leads BaseballNebraska.com is a free resource for our readers, and we intend to keep it that way. However, this site can't exist without reliable sources of revenue to fund its operation. Rather than using a paid-subscription model, our solution to revenue generation is to sell advertising placement on the website. In order to identify prospective advertisers across the state who might like to advertise here, we are asking for your assistance. Click link above for information on how you can help. |
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Farmer Receives Pre-Season All-American Honors
Kurt Farmer, a hard-hitting Columbus High School senior shortstop, has been named to the Louisville Slugger Pre-Season High School All-American First Team. The Husker recruit was one of twenty-three infielders from across the nation selected by Collegiate Baseball magazine to receive the honor. The publication also named eleven other Nebraska high school players to its annual "Players to Watch" list. |
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Prestigious TPX Top 96 Clinic Coming to Omaha During CWS
Omaha Burke High School has recently been selected as one forty-five sites nationally to host a prestigious TPX Top 96 Clinic for High School Players in 2009, according to Burke Assistant Coach Scott Hodges. The two-day clinic will take place during the College World Series on June 22 and 23rd and is expected to draw high school players and college coaches from across the nation. |
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Fire Displaces Northwest Coach and Family; Relief Fund Established
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2nd Annual Nebraska Baseball Coaches' Clinic to be Held Jan. 31 - Feb. 1 in Fremont
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2009 Huskers to be Introduced at 'Meet and Greet' and Home Run Club Banquet
University of Nebraska baseball fans can catch a preview of the 2009 Huskers during a "Meet and Greet" event this Saturday, January 24 at the Hawks Championship Center in Lincoln. Fans will be able to watch the Huskers go through a workout and drills, listen to comments from the Husker coaching staff and participate in an autograph session. The workout and drills portion will take place from 9 until 11 a.m. with the autographs and light refreshments being served afterwards. In addition, the Husker Home Run Club Preseason Banquet is set for Friday, Jan. 30th at the Embassy Suites in Lincoln. The Huskers' roster includes eleven former Nebraska high school players, including freshmen Kash Kalkowski, Josh Raburn and Nick Ludemann. The season begins for the Huskers on February 20th with a three-game series at Louisiana-Lafayette before the home opener at Hawks Field on February 25th against North Dakota. | Banquet Information | Husker Baseball | |
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Cap on Baseball Contests Advances to NSAA Representative Assembly
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UNO Baseball To Honor Former Coach Bob Gates at 2009 Diamond Club Banquet
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Creighton Baseball to Host Annual Steak Fry on February 7
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Nebraska American Legion Announces Post-Season Sites
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Skutt Summer Baseball Program to Host Barn Party Fundraiser
When: Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009 - 7
p.m.- 11 p.m |
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BaseballNebraska Unveils Premium Prospects Listings as Database Picks up Steam Baseball Nebraska's fledgling Prospects service is gaining traction as 29 prospects and 22 coaches, representing six states, have signed on for the free service. "Starting the service has been a bit of 'chicken and egg' situation," observed BaseballNebraska publisher Jack Mayfield. "Coaches are looking for players, and players are looking for programs. So the key has been attracting both parties to the table. I think we've finally gained critical mass now, and I expect this thing to hit high gear as we get closer to the season." BaseballNebraska has augmented the free listing service with two premium levels -- gold and silver -- that allow for the prospect to include more detailed information in his listing. |
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Nebraska Reserve Baseball League Expands to 32 Teams for 2009
The future of high school baseball in the state looks bright as the Nebraska Reserve Baseball League continues to grow and improve. The fifteen-and-under league, which was formed in the Omaha Metro area in 2006, is poised for growth outside of the Metro with the addition of three Lincoln select teams for 2009. |
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Ultimate Baseball Academy Mega-Facility to Open in January
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Southeast's Scheffert to Represent State in International Home Run Derby
Update 1/3/09: Josh hit a total of four home runs, stroking one long ball during the wood bat phase of the competition and three more during the metal bat competition. In order to advance to the finals, Josh needed to finish in the top five in the preliminary round which consisted of 68 hitters. As things stood when he came to the plate, that meant he would need at least nine home runs. Dante Bichette, Jr., a sophomore from Florida and son of the former major leaguer, was the leader with eleven followed by three hitters with ten each and one with nine. The left-handed hitters, who were expected to thrive in the ballpark, had not yet come to the plate. Josh represented his home state well in the competition and will return home on Sunday and back to classes on Monday. Congratulations, Josh.
Hitters Advancing to Championship Round:
Walker, a University of South Carolina recruit, was crowned World Champion after hitting nine home runs in the Championship Round. Harper, who is yet to play his sophomore season at Las Vegas High School, hit the longest home run on the day with a record-setting 502' bomb. More information at www.power-showcase.com. |
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NSAA Proposal for Baseball Contest Limits Advances to Second Vote
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Hodges Hire Headlines Coaching Changes Not to be outdone by the MLB Winter Meetings, the Metro League coaches meeting on December 7th generated some newsworthy announcements. At the top of the list was an announcement that Omaha Burke assistant Scott Hodges will be the new Senior Legion head coach for Ralston First State Bank. Click the link above for details and other news and information from the meeting. |
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Hurting Hurlers Hurry Healing for 2009 Season Senior aces Patrick Johnson of Elkhorn and Danny Pierce of Bellevue East are the latest to join a growing list of Nebraska high school pitchers who have undergone surgery on their throwing arms. Unlike the recent rash of "Tommy John" recipients, these two are facing a bigger challenge -- battling back from labrum surgery. What's a labrum anyway? And how does a pitcher prevent a potentially season-ending labrum injury? |
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Legion Baseball Post-Season Dates Set for 2009 The state American Legion Athletic Committee met recently to set the dates of the 2009 post-season tournaments for Classes A, B & C Senior and Junior Legion teams. |
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Proposed NSAA Rule Changes Would Affect Baseball Beginning in 2010, Nebraska high school baseball programs could see their seasons shortened by two weeks and the maximum number of games played limited by a seventeen "date" cap if recently submitted proposed changes to the NSAA's Baseball Manual are adopted. |
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Class B Expands with Addition of Yutan and Waverly for Spring 2009 Baseball continues to grow as the Chieftains and Vikings add baseball to their spring sports offerings. The addition of Yutan and Waverly increase the number of Class B teams to eighteen and the total number of programs playing spring ball to 44. |
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Brandon
Bass Wins National Batting Award Brandon Bass, a senior at Millard West High School, has recently been named the recipient of the 2008 Louisville Slugger Award, presented annually since 1945 by the Hillerich and Bradsby Company of Louisville, Kentucky to the American Legion player compiling the highest batting average during national competition. |
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Winkelmann, Daeges, Kalkowski, Williams and Scheffert Finish Atop Leaders
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Fall Baseball Thriving in Football Country
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Husker Recruits Experience Unique Baseball Opportunities
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University
of Kansas righthander T.J. Walz earned a big win Saturday over the #4
team in the nation as the Jayhawks defeated Arizona State, 3-2, on
the road. The former Omaha Skutt standout threw 6 1/3 innings and
allowed two runs on six hits with just one walk and six strikeouts.
During one stretch, he retired ten of twelve batters faced. It was
the second win of the season for Walz as the Jayhawks improved to 10-4.
It was only the third loss of the season for the Sun Devils against
thirteen wins. |
Hitters
try to push thoughts of personal safety out of their minds when stepping
into the batter's box, but that's not always easy when facing an 85+ mph
fastball. Thanks to local sports equipment manufacturer, EMask,
the risks of catastrophic injury can easily and economically be reduced.
Their EMask facemask and 100 MPH EHelmet batting helmet set the
standard for hitter protective headgear. Click above to learn the
story behind this fascinating start-up company headquartered in downtown
Millard. 
Omaha
Northwest Assistant Baseball Coach Matt Tigani and his family, including
three young children, have been rendered homeless by a fire that
destroyed their duplex and most of their personal possessions Saturday
night. Tigani, who teaches at Parrish School, an OPS alternative
high school, has been a football and baseball assistant at Northwest for
the past three seasons. Northwest and Parrish have established an
emergency relief fund for the Tigani family. Contributions can be
made at any US Bank location. Our readers are encouraged to help
this young coach who has given so much of his time for our sport, our
young people and our community.
A
group headed by Kansas City Royals scouting director Steve Gossett has
recruited some highly respected college coaches as presenters for the
Second Annual Nebraska Baseball Coaches' Clinic on Saturday, Jan. 31 and
Sunday, Feb. 1 at Midland Lutheran College in Fremont. The target
audience for the instructional clinic is high school and youth baseball
coaches from across the state as well as parents of baseball players who
are looking to learn techniques from some of the best teachers in the
game. 
A
proposal to impose a twenty "date" limit on the number of baseball games
played during the spring season has been approved in five of six NSAA
districts during recent Second District Meeting voting -- including
Districts V and VI which have no schools playing baseball.
District II (Omaha Metro area), which has thirty-seven of the fifty-five
schools statewide that participate in baseball, voted against the
proposal by a 79-0 margin. The proposal now advances to the NSAA
Representative Assembly in April. District II may be able to
defeat the proposal there if support from a few delegates from other
districts can be found.
The
UNO Mavericks Baseball program will host its annual Diamond Club Banquet
on 
Creighton
University Head Baseball Coach Ed Servais will introduce his 2009
Bluejays at the annual Creighton Baseball Steak Fry to be held Saturday,
February 7 at Kitty Gaughan Pavillion next to the CU home field,
beginning at 5:30. The Bluejays return eleven Nebraska high school
baseball players from the 2008 roster plus two new Nebraska players for
the 2009 season. The event is open to the public, and tickets are
$35 in advance and $40 at the door. Practice begins on Feburary 1
in preparation for a season-opening four-game series at Huntsville, Texas against Sam Houston State
beginning February 20th -- part
of a fourteen game southern road trip before the March 13th home
opener. |
Don
Kiviniemi, Jr., chairman of the Athletic Committee of the Nebraska
American Legion, has announced site selections for the 2009 American
Legion post-season tournaments. The Class A Senior Legion National
Division Tournament will be played at Sherman Field in Lincoln, while
Roddy Field in Bellevue will be the site of the Class A American
Division Tournament. Those tournaments will be held July 24-28
with the champions meeting on August 1st to determine the Class A State
Champion. That championship game will be played at the home field
of the National Division Champion. Click link above for a complete
listing of tournament sites. 
After
spending most of 2008 in temporary facilities, Coach Bill Olson and the
rest of the UBA staff will move into a spacious new 55,000 square foot
facility at 120th & "I" Streets in West Omaha in early January.
The state-of-the-art facility features a full-size indoor turf
infield and raises the stakes among contenders in the indoor baseball
training marketplace. 
Husker
signee Josh Scheffert will escape wintertime in Nebraska for a few days
at the beginning of the New Year while competing as one of seventy
contestants in an international home run derby event in St. Petersburg,
Florida.
The Nebraska high school Classes of 2007, 2008 and 2009 were each
represented among the top five individual statistical category leaders
for the 2008 Nebraska Class A American Legion Senior Legion season as Brandon Winkelmann (2008), Cody Daeges (2007),
Kash Kalkowski (2008), Chris Williams (2009) and Josh Scheffert (2009) finished
atop the statewide leaderboard.
Even though football is the
undisputed king of the fall sports scene in Nebraska,
participation in fall baseball is on the upswing in the Cornhusker
state as five "Elite" teams and dozens of youth teams hit the
diamond weekly under bright autumn skies.
University of Nebraska baseball
recruits Josh Scheffert and Kurt Farmer head into their
senior seasons with valuable out-of-state baseball
experiences under their belts.