SFA Baseball 2010 Preview: Catchers
2/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 5, 2010
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - With the Southland Conference coming off its most successful season in five years, the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks could be in line to join the party as one of the league's top teams in 2010 in Johnny Cardenas' second year at the helm of the program.
Despite boasting the least amount of returning players of any team in the Southland, SFA is optimistic that arguably its strongest recruiting class yet will to come in and make an immediate impact, pushing the `Jacks into the upper echelon of the SLC.
The `Jacks lost 18 players off of last year's roster, including all three of its all-conference players in Erich Lehmann, Richard Folmer and Sean Meyers. But with the league having had more players drafted than any season since 2005 this could be a prime year for SFA to take advantage of the league's turnover with 23 newcomers on this season's roster after a year that saw the `Jacks qualify for its second-ever Southland Conference Tournament.
This is the first in a six-part series previewing the Lumberjacks, position by position, leading up to the 2010 opener against Grambling on February 19.
CATCHERS
Last year did not go as expected for the `Jacks behind the plate, but when the dust settled SFA came out of the year both comfortable and confident in what it had stumbled into as a backstop.
Freshman Jarid Scarafiotti walked on to the SFA program one year ago and for the first half of the season spent his time as a bullpen catcher, but an injury to Ryan Sinclair midway through the year forced him into a backup role and in his first career start he responded with a home run at Northwestern State. From that point on he continued to hit and finished the year as the `Jacks starting catcher, hitting over .300 in his first season in the Southland Conference.
"Scarafiotti is one of the better stories that we have on our team," head coach Johnny Cardenas said. "He decided to walk on here because this is where he wanted to be, despite having some opportunities to play at other places, and he worked extremely hard and now comes in as our No. 1 catcher."
The only player on the SFA roster from outside the state of Texas, the Shreveport, La., native will be counted on early in the season to be a middle-of-the-order presence for the `Jacks after hitting five home runs in just 85 at-bats last year in 24 starts.
Behind him will be junior college transfer Riley Huble, who has two years or eligibility remaining after coming in from Hill College following a 2009 season that saw him hit .336 with three home runs for the Rebels.
"Riley is an exceptional guy to have on our roster, especially with how strong he is defensively," Cardenas said. "This is may be the best catching duo we have had here in terms of pitchers feeling comfortable and wanting to throw to their catcher. It really is a luxury when there is that kind of trust between not only a catcher and pitcher, but between a coach and a catcher."
Freshman Garrett Aslin will also provide depth for the 'Jacks behind the plate, making the squad after a four-year career at Atlanta High School where he was a second team all-state catcher in the 3A ranks as a senior.
2010 Season Preview Schedule:
Feb. 5 - Catchers
Feb. 8 - Starting Pitching
Feb. 10 - Bullpen
Feb. 12 - Infielders
Feb. 15 - Outfielders/DH
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