By SAM HOVAN
LongwoodLancers.com

FARMVILLE, Va. – Baseball is back at fLongwood.
 
Just one day away from the 2019 opener, Longwood baseball will deliver its first pitch of the season Friday at 1:30 p.m. in game one of a doubleheader against Maryland-Eastern Shore at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
The 2019 version of the Lancers is a nearly even mix of veterans and newcomers alike, with 19 returners joining 15 newcomers to make up the 42nd edition of Longwood baseball and the fifth team under head coach Ryan Mau.
 
Longwood has starting experience around the diamond, from the middle infield combo of juniors Nate Blakeney and Antwaun Tucker, to returning starting pitcher Tyler Morgan and bullpen veterans John Gregory and Todd Moxey.
 
"At this point we have a lot of returners on the field, so I think experience is where we are strongest," said Mau, who enters 2019 just 10 wins shy of his 100th career win at Longwood. "Along with that, I think our physicality is also a real strength. That has to do with the job they've done in the weight room with coach [Tyler] Wrenn, our strength coach. This is the most physical team I've ever had."
 
Mau and his staff have stockpiled talent that was thrown into the fire over the past two seasons but is now the foundation of the Lancers in 2019. In the field, that group includes Blakeney and Tucker, both starters since their freshman seasons, Grant Keller, who broke out as a 37-game starter last season, and outfielder Jawan McAllister, a former transfer from Pitt and one of the toolsiest players on Longwood's roster.
 
Meanwhile on the mound, Morgan will anchor the rotation after going 4-3 with a 4.91 ERA in 66.0 innings as a sophomore in 2018, while both Gregory and Moxey will spearhead the bullpen after combining for nearly 60.0 innings last season, all in relief.
 
Those aforementioned returners and their teammates endured a difficult 2018 season in which they went 17-38 overall but rallied late in the year to reach the Big South Championship tournament for the third time in four seasons under Mau.
 
"You can learn from success, but you can also learn from failure as long as you look at it the right way," Mau said. "I think going through some of the pitfalls we did last year, individually and as a group, we recognized some of our faults and weaknesses, where we fell short, and what we could be better at so that we can meet expectations for the upcoming year."
 
McAllister, a 5-10, 195-pound outfielder who made 47 starts and swiped 18 bases in 20 attempts last season, has made a big leap at the end of 2018 and carried that momentum into the fall. In his final five games of 2018, he hit two homers, drew four walks, stole four bases and tied for the team lead with five RBI.
 
"He's the strongest on our team, and he's one of the top two fastest guys on our team," Mau of his projected starting center fielder. "Those are two pretty good qualities to have in a college baseball guy. We had to develop him as far as his swing was concerned. He's always been a really good defender and a really good baserunner, but we had to get him to use his strength in his swing and understand that he's got power to run balls out of the yard."
 
Meanwhile Blakeney, who had a similarly hot finish to his 2018 season by hitting hit .390 with seven RBI in the team's final 10 games, returns alongside his double-play partner and shortstop Tucker, who returns for his junior season as Longwood's active leader in nearly every offensive category.
 
In addition to those three, infielder Eli Mercado and outfielders Eric Crain and Jack Schnell all had at least 60 at bats and played in at least 30 games a year ago. Catcher Carlos Garrido, who started 51 games as a freshman in 2016, also returns to the mix after missing all of last season due to injury.
 
Mau says the depth among returning position players means Longwood's newcomers, which include 10 freshmen, can develop over time.
 
"You love things about their potential, but you don't know when it will come to fruition," said Mau of his new crop of Lancers. "We're in a position for the first time ever where they don't have to be thrust out there to perform. We have some depth now where our young guys can mature and develop as we go and hopefully impact us as soon as they can, but it doesn't have to be immediate."
 
Even so, Hunter Gilliam, a local product from The Fuqua School in Farmville, and Cullan Wadsworth, a freshman from Orefield, Pa., have both made strong statements through the fall and preseason.
 
"On day one, Hunter asked who the strongest guys are on the team were. I told him Blakeney and McAllister, and he said, 'Alright, I'm lifting with those guys.' That told me he wants to be great."
 
"Cullan Wadsworth has come in and done a tremendous job," Mau said. "He has transformed his body and put on a lot of great weight and strength. He is a plus baserunner and defender, and he has surpassed where I thought he'd be at this point offensively."
 
Jacob Mitchell and De'Andre Pitts are also part of Longwood's latest signing class, but both come in as junior college transfers who have fit in seamlessly with the team. Mitchell, a first baseman, hit .340 with 11 homers and a team-best 49 RBI at State Fair Community College in Missouri.
 
"Jacob Mitchell is a seasoned veteran and a great team guy with a great work ethic, and he is absolutely locked in right now offensively," Mau said about his projected opening day starting first baseman. "I love what he can bring to the table for us."
 
"We knew what De'Andre Pitts was capable of offensively with his junior college numbers, and we were hoping that would transfer over here, but the biggest surprise is what he is able to do defensively," said Mau. "He is contending for the starting job at third base but also has the versatility to swing into shortstop if needed. He has been a huge bonus on the defensive side that we didn't see coming."
 
Pitts hit .313 with 12 homers, six doubles and 49 RBI at Motlow State Community College in Tennessee as a sophomore.
 
On the mound, the Lancer pitching rotation will be anchored by Morgan, a junior right-hander who will step into the role of veteran on Longwood's young, talented staff. A product of Ashland, Va., Morgan will be asked to carry a heavy load this season after a strong finish to his sophomore season in which he closed the year with a 3.51 ERA and three wins in his final six starts, including a must-win game over Gardner-Webb that clinched Longwood's berth in the Big South Championship tournament.
 
Behind Morgan, Mau expects Longwood's starting spots to be made up of some combination of three players new to the field this season: Alec Abdalah, a strike-throwing transfer from Los Angeles Harbor College; Nick Fuchs, a transfer from Gannon University who sat last year due to NCAA transfer rules; and Gage Williams, a 6-4, right-handed freshman with huge upside, per Mau.
 
Out of the bullpen, the veteran duo of Gregory and Moxey will lead the way in the middle and late innings. Gregory put together a similarly strong finish to 2018 as his classmate Morgan, allowing just two runs over his final 15.2 innings while striking out 14 during that span.
 
Meanwhile, Moxey enters his sophomore season on the strength of a breakout fall during which he made significant jumps in both his velocity and command of his breaking ball.  The Emmaus, Pa., native made 17 appearances last season as a freshman for the Lancers.
 
"Moxey and Gregory are two guys in the back end right now that I feel really good about," said Mau. "Throwing out of the bullpen can come with a lot of pressure, so in the first couple of weeks we'll get a better feel for who can handle what situations. Obviously, we tried to figure that out in the fall in intrasquads, but it's a little different when it's time to perform and execute in a live game."
 
One freshman out of the bullpen that has impressed Mau with his composure has been Andrew Melnyk, a left-hander who at 6-6 stands as the tallest player on the roster.
 
"He is a strike-thrower who competes and doesn't get rattled," said Mau. "For a freshman, that's somewhat rare. Usually it takes them getting their feet wet, getting their world rocked a little bit, and having some failures before they learn to breathe and compose themselves and handle those situations."
 
The new-look Lancer lineup will debut this Friday, Feb. 15, in a four-game series against Maryland-Eastern Shore that is the program's first home season opener since 2012. That series begins with a Friday doubleheader at 1:30 p.m. and will continue with single games Saturday at noon and Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
 
"We're going to be one collective unit," said Mau. "We're going to hook arms and go through the good and hook arms tighter when we're going through the bad. That's what I want from our team. That's what I expect from this team. I expect us not to play up to certain levels or down to certain levels. I want to play Longwood baseball each and every day regardless of the opponent, and if we do that, I like our chances."
 
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