That was jarring enough to persuade the seventh-year coach to give the program a drastic overall. He said so long to the status quo.
“Winning can mask things sometimes. We’ve had a lot of success, and what we’ve done is very hard to do. But maybe there’s days where you take that for granted, and you just assume you’re going to win the league. That (early exit) was really good for all of us,” Sogard said.
“We didn’t show up when it mattered most. It left a different taste in our mouth, and it really forced us to look in the mirror, starting with myself. When you get something taken away that you’ve been fortunate to have, you work that much harder to try to get it back.”
Sogard revamped his staff, bringing in pitching coach Travis Ferrick from James Madison and hitting coach Jordan Chiero, who has been in scouting and player development for various outfits.
The Raiders also took a sledge hammer to their bombs-away approach to the game.
They set a school record for homers last season with 112, which was tied for 18th nationally. And their 505 runs also were an all-time program best and 17th in the country.
But they finished a modest 32-24 overall, mostly because of shoddy pitching. Their meaty 8.20 ERA was fourth in the six-team HL and 273rd out of 295 teams nationally.
Fat pitches weren’t the only issue, though. Their leaky defense didn’t give the staff much help.
“Our strength over the years has been to play elite defense and really shrink green space. But we didn’t have much range, so on that grounder in the hole, a 6-3 (putout) turns into a single or an infield hit. And it multiplies quickly,” Sogard said.
“We’re getting back to having personnel that’s really athletic, that we know can play really good defense.”
Among the key returnees are short stop Luke Arnold (Lebanon High School grad), third baseman Patrick Fultz (Springfield Shawnee) and Boston Smith (Vandalia Butler), who is moving from outfield to catcher.
Smith hit 19 homers last season, one short of the school record, while Fultz batted .320. Both were second-team all-league picks, as was reliever Cam Allen (1-1, 4.97 ERA).
Sophomore lefty Griffen Paige, senior Jarrett Heilman (a transfer from Mercyhurst) and sophomore Brayden Schoetzow will be the starters when the Raiders begin their season Friday at Longwood in Farmville, Va.
“What I really like about this year’s team is the depth we have potentially in our bullpen,” Sogard said.”Cam is a guy who came on the scene late last year as a freshman. He’s a fire-baller — he throws it 97 (mph). I really like some of the weapons we have this year.”
After their series at Longwood, which hasn’t had a winning season since 2016, the Raiders will play three games each on the road against three of the premier programs in the country: Auburn, Ole Miss and N.C. State.
The trio have a combined 16 College World Series appearances and 83 NCAA trips.
Mississippi won the 2002 national title.
“We get battle-tested early. You hope you come away with some wins. But I think it also teaches you about your team, maybe where you have a weakness,” Sogard said
“I’ve always believed you grow when you’re playing the best of your level. You win or you learn.”
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