Coach Heller on ESPN Radio

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From the ISU Facebook page:

For all you ISU baseball fans out there, tune in to ESPN Radio AM 1300 tonight at 5:45 p.m. ET to hear head coach Rick Heller on the airwaves before the team leaves for a weekend series at Texas - San Antonio.
 

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Here are some of the points made by Coach Heller during the interview on ESPN Sports Radio 1300:

Starting pitching wasn't as strong as he'd like, but happy with the bullpen and of course the hitting explosion. Talked about the change in offensive power. He said Strausborger is the best player in the league as a hitter and a baserunner "stealing at will." Tyler Graham has good power in the two spot. Liniger in the three hole and Luke Feiser in the four hole. He should have a great year. Likes Burnham as a clutch hitter in the five or six hole. Ort will see a lot of playing time and he sees him as an all conference player a couple of years from now. Ben Ferrell will see better numbers than last year. This year's team is more of a doubles team with fewer home runs. Had 60 HR's last year. Four guys can hit doubles in the middle of the line-up. Fits well with the style of play Heller likes to play. Pitching wise: Petricka a Friday night guy who has an overpowering fastball. He's been hitting 91 or 92indoors. Hit 94 in his first start but did not have the command he needed especially with his off-speed stuff. Rodriguez moving to the Saturday role (Sunday last year). Throwing in the mid-80's. Van Skike will be the third starter (that is news apparently already beating Drake out of the #3 position). Drake has a big time arm with 92-or-93 mph in his first outing but has had command problems (I would guess he would be the starting mid-week guys and weekend reliever). Bullpen did a good job on the opening weekend. As far as the competition this weekend. A good challenge especially for the pitching staff. One of the top teams in the Southland conference with several key players back. Potent in the middle of the line-up. Their starting catcher played for Heller last year! We're going to see a lot better pitching this weekend with a couple of lefties. We didn't see any lefties last weekend. Not a team that runs a lot or bunts a lot. We need to locate our pitches and continue a strong offense. Comments on starting over in TH: Inherited a good group of kids from Coach Meggs. The guys welcomed him with open arms and they are team oriented with minimal selfishness. The leadership on the team is tremendous. "I've had so much fun." Was able to get two of his former Northern Iowa players--Ferguson played this weekend. Home opener had to be cancelled because of Bob Warn field not being ready. It is a long-shot as to whether they could go to Indiana this coming week. May reschedule for later in the season. The Tennessee Martin games look like they WILL be played as scheduled as the turf should be done in time. Most of the stadium will be in finished condition with the exception of the parking lot and some walkways. Heller says the home schedule will be a lot better in 2011 and an even better schedule in 2012 which they are already working on! Announcer said he was surprised how well we played last weekend. Neither announcer seemed to really have too much knowledge about the program.
 
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bluepower said:
Here are some of the points made by Coach Heller duringthe interview on ESPN Sports Radio 1300:

...Neither announcer seemed to really have too much knowledge about the program.
Click to expand...

Did he have any thoughts on playing the UTSA Roadrunners?? (FYI -- that alumni base is about as whacked out as the ISUM and ISUE alumni pools)
 

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bluepower said:
Announcer said he was surprised how well we played last weekend. Neither announcer seemed to really have too much knowledge about the program.
Click to expand...


Please pardon this question, since I'm not in the midwest.....with this being on ESPN radio...was it a regional broadcast? Were the announcer not Terre Haute guys? How far (how many states) do you think this broadcast went out to.

Explain this to me like I'm a 5 year old ;)
 
The brief observations on the Roadrunners is in the middle of the long paragraph. It will be a step up from last week as far as the opposing pitching. They will throw a couple of lefties. Offensively they have a potent middle of the line-up. Heller admitted that he did not have an in-depth scouting report on UTSA.
 
This was a local Terre Haute area broadcast with local guys who were not really up to date on the recent history of Sycamore baseball. it was a very basic interview that ran maybe 12 minutes or so.
 
Quabachi said:
Please pardon this question, since I'm not in the midwest.....with this being on ESPN radio...was it a regional broadcast? Were the announcer not Terre Haute guys? How far (how many states) do you think this broadcast went out to.

Explain this to me like I'm a 5 year old ;)
Click to expand...
It's just the local ESPN affiliate for Terre Haute/Brazil. I think the station starts trailing out right after Greencastle if that gives you an idea of the reach.
 

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Jason Svoboda said:
It's just the local ESPN affiliate for Terre Haute/Brazil. I think the station starts trailing out right after Greencastle if that gives you an idea of the reach.
Click to expand...

Is it slightly annoying that local guys are not in the know with ISU baseball? Or do we cut them some slack, and we're just pysched that Heller was interviewed.

Explain this to me like I'm a 5 year old (just kidding).

Thanks for the info Jason and Blue Power.
 
Quabachi said:
Is it slightly annoying that local guys are not in the know with ISU baseball? Or do we cut them some slack, and we're just pysched that Heller was interviewed.

Explain this to me like I'm a 5 year old (just kidding).

Thanks for the info Jason and Blue Power.
Click to expand...
It's not annoying, it's ridiculous.
 
If you think they sounded uneducated talking about ISU baseball - you should hear them try to fill air when they get into softball, track, soccer, etc. - they know absolutely nothing at all about these programs other than what is on the sheet of paper in front of them.
 
I'm just happy to get the air time! Coach Heller is a more approachable person than Meggs was and I imagine that will carry into media interviews. It is important for the head coach to be visable which will help to build the momentum of community support. I hope that the team captains will also be encouraged to speak to the media...once they have had a little "coaching" in that area. I felt that last year the team was successful on the field but was not successful off the field when it came to promoting the program.
 
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