BLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech baseball fall competitive season is complete and 2019 Opening Day is under three months away. For a couple weeks in November, while Tech is wrapping up individual workouts and the student-athletes are getting ready for final exams before the semester break, the Hokies' coaching staff will reflect on its second fall in Blacksburg with a Q&A with each one. Two weeks ago, assistant coach Kurt Elbin answered a few questions - CLICK HERE to view, while last week, it was pitching coach Ryan Fecteau's turn - CLICK HERE to view. Below is this week's Q&A with Head Coach John Szefc.
Q: How was your second fall season in Blacksburg?
JS: "It was good. We're just trying to get a lot of new player personnel prepared and integrated into a whole new system. Any time you have a class as big as this one is, there's a lot of change going on. We were fortunate enough to have a lot of players return from last year that are in a much better place now than they were last year. A combination of that, and a lot of newness, when you combine two, it takes a lot of work to get a group like that prepared for a difficult schedule but that's what the fall is for. I'm always thankful that baseball is a spring sport and not a fall sport, this year especially."
Q: What did you see from the team this fall that you really liked?
JS: "Our pitching depth is on a whole other caliber than what it was last year just from a numbers perspective, if nothing else. We have a good feel as to who may fit where but there's nothing that is set in stone at this point as far as pitching goes. Defensively, it's probably a pretty deep group as well, as far as having more options at different positions. Last year, we might have had one option. We weren't a very deep team last year. This year, with our depth, it makes us feel better from the pitching and a defensive perspective. Offensively, again, we just have a lot of options there. Some returning players are further along and just have more experience. It's just a process. In general, I would say on the whole, we are in a better place this year than last year for a lot of different reasons."
Q: Did anyone surprise you this fall?
JS: "Zach Brzykcy, he's probably way further along than he was last year at this time, which is typical. A lot of times, you see guys make big gains in the summer after their freshman year. He had a good summer in the Ripken League and he's way further along as far as his ability to throw strikes. He can be very effective in a three-to-nine out stint. I wouldn't call him a surprise, but that was a nice development. Carson Taylor probably came in here a little bit further along than we thought he would offensively. His summer experience, in that same league, the Ripken League, helped him accelerate that. Nick Biddison, an incoming freshman, I don't know if we thought he'd be as good of a baserunner as he's been. He's our quickest baserunner by far and probably our most versatile player defensively. I would say those three are good examples and, I think, everyone around the program would agree with it."
Q: The exhibition games, did you like that format? Did you like being able to bring in outside competition?
JS: "I don't think it hurt. A lot of the coaches are still trying to figure out exactly how to treat those games. As far as the competitive side, you want to win those games, but you're also trying to get players at-bats, innings on the mound, and defensive innings. You're not managing the game from a pitching perspective anywhere near how you would in the spring. It's good for our guys to get experience against another school, so that we're just not always playing against each other. That will definitely help us prepare for February, having gone out there against two "foreign" opponents so to speak. As far as exactly what it equates to, it's hard to say. When you get into spring and you're midway through the season, it's not like you're going to be looking back at High Point or Florence Darlington saying, "Oh I remember this from that game." It's probably not going to matter a whole lot then. However, it opened our eyes looking at our players, figuring out which guys might be ready for certain situations."
Q: Do you like where the team is coming out of the fall?
JS: "I do like where we are, but the period between Jan. 15 and Feb. 13 will be really important. When we come back from break, that three or four week span will be very important. We know where we are right now, but then the team goes home over Christmas and when they come back, some will be in a better place and some may not be. Then, it's just a matter of what happens over that three or four week span. In college baseball, there's a lot of preparation time from August through the fall and then there's the preseason. It's one stage after another. We're almost done with this initial fall stage and then you go through that whole preseason stage. Right now, we feel pretty good about it. There's a few guys that have to get healthy. We had two new pitchers we didn't throw in the fall, for medical reasons, and then we'll also get Nic Enright and Graham Seitz back in the fray. We're in a good place right now, but we're not close to being ready to play games that really matter just yet."
Q: What have you seen over the past fall with new strength & conditioning coach Brian Neal and how the team has responded to him?
JS: "He's been a really good addition to our whole operation. He's very experienced, very positive and he understands how what he does with weight training and flexibility fits in with college baseball on this level. Our team really respects what he's doing and gravitate to him and they realize that what he's doing with them is just as important as what we're doing on the field."
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
JS: "We just feel good about moving on to the next stage and I think right now is actually a good time of the year (Thanksgiving break) because it gives the team a chance to get away from the game and clear their minds a little bit. Baseball is such an around the clock, around the calendar sport. This break gives the guys some time to get healthy and get away from the grind. It's like going on vacation for a normal person, when they come back they're refreshed and can go back to work and feel a little bit more mentally and physically rested. This upcoming time is similar to that for our players."