Baseball early signing

[bison_baseball]

Looks like the addition of B.J Griffith to the baseball coaching staff has brought some attention from players outside of the typical ND/MN recruiting area, as Mitch just announce the signing of Patrick Gaylord. The kid looks like he'll add some leadership and experience to a very young core of players. Check out gobison.com for the full article on the early signing of this switch hitting shortstop.

[sambini]

How will the team be this year?

[Snurd]

They are still very young. The one year under the belts of the players that were there last year will be beneficial, but they are still young with no proven hitters. There are some good players coming up and hopefully having a full year with Montgomery last year the pitchers can begin to grasp his concepts and start to improve more. Coach Griffith will also help, as he brings some new ideas and just having someone there full-time will be nice.

This is an important year for recruiting. If the Bison continue to get dominated and win only about 10 games it won't be very appealing for anyone to come to Fargo to play. They need to show improvement each year.

Good luck to the Herd, wish I could be there to help.

[sambini]

Thanks Snurd for the info. Do we still play the SIOUX?

[bison_baseball]

Nope, the only NCC foe that they still play is SDSU. The Bison have a real tough schedule again this year as they take on the likes of Minnesota, Kansas State, Kansas and Wichita State. As Snurd said, this will be a very big year for them the prove themselves as a DI team. They MUST win more games and play better ball, not only to help their recruiting but also to bring in more people to the games. They have a good coaching staff, especially with the additions of Griffith and Mongo being there full time. I could be an interesting season....to say the least!

[IowaBison]

Don't forget with membership in Teammakers all home baseball (and softball) games are free.

http://www.gobison.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=12107&SPID=706&DB_OEM_ID=24 00&KEY=&Q_SEASON=2005

Minnesota
SDSU
Creighton
(and Savannah State!)

at home

[bison_baseball]

Why do you think they haven't scheduled more D-I Independent teams?

[Jeffdaryl3rd]

They probably don't schedule many independents because by playing the more prominent schools they get some compensation to offset travel expenses, and I think Mitch wants to build the program by proving it against quality programs. I think the team will show significant improvement this year, with more wins and more competitive games. They showed some brief flashes of it last year and hopefully with added experience will continue to progress to the potential they possess.

[bison_baseball]

I guess there's a fine line between playing prominent teams to build the program and creating a schedule so tough for your first two years that you do the reverse and only hurt the future program and recruiting opportunities. I can understand that with one year under their belts, they should be better but after what I saw at the alumni game, it will come to a shock to me if they do well this year!

[Jeffdaryl3rd]

I'm not saying this is going to be a great or necessarily even a good team. *I just think it won't be an absolutely atrocious team like last year. *I think they have improved enough that at least a few of the games against major conference schools will be competitive and games against teams like SDSU and Northern Iowa will be competitive rather than lopsided. *I think that 20 wins would be a major accomplishment considering the youth of the team and difficulty of schedule, and if they play consistent ball against the Valpo's and Western Illinois of the world they might squeeze out a few more than that.

[bison_baseball]

I totally agree with you and I want nothing but the best for them, they are young but it is still a tough schedule! I think the coaching staff will have a big effect on how they play this year. With Griffith being there and changing up the typical practice, they are actually working on the fundamental of the game now instead of hitting BP for 3 hrs; day in and day out. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if they can prove me wrong!

[sambini]

Good luck Bison baseball in this upcoming season.

[soofan15]

Thanks Snurd for the info. Do we still play the SIOUX?
Nope, the Bison backed out of the schedule. Maybe it was because the Sioux beat them quite handily when they first played.

[Tatanka]

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight... ::)

[sambini]

Backed out I do not believe it. See ya down the road Sioux. I guess the baseball team has moved on.