2017 CofC Baseball Preview: Outfield
2/13/2017 2:40:00 PM | Baseball
Infield/Catchers | Pitchers
With the 2017 baseball season opening on Friday, CofCSports.com will take a position-by-position look at this season's team.
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston baseball team will have no shortage of talented new faces on the diamond in 2017, but the Cougars are in a unique position of having several experience newcomers join an already strong outfield group. Coming off a 15th-consecutive winning season, the Cougars are poised for a run at their sixth conference championship behind a versatile and gifted corps of athletes.
The College returns multitalented Freshman All-American Dupree Hart (Rock Hill, S.C.), who led the team with a .314 batting average and 38 walks last season. Hart will split time between centerfield and any of three infield positions, thanks both to his natural speed and remarkable athletic ability.
Returning sophomore Bradley Dixon (Greenwood, S.C.) can patrol center along with both corner slots and, Hart notwithstanding, is perhaps the Cougars' most versatile athlete. While splitting time between third base and all three outfield slots, Dixon batted .273 last season with eight stolen bases and 23 RBIs in 45 starts.
Joey Mundy (Huntington, W.Va.) is likely to start in right field after sitting out last season following his transfer from Vanderbilt. Standing at 6-foot-2, 220-pounds, Mundy is a three-time All-State First Team selection who hit over .500 during both his junior and senior seasons at Huntington High School.
Left field is expected to feature a three-man platoon between junior transfer Xavier Freeman (New Lima, Okla.), redshirt sophomore Logan McRae (Florence, S.C.), and Erven Roper (Easley, S.C.). Freeman earned NJCAA All-America honors at Seminole State College last season after batting .371 with 27 home runs and 82 RBIs; McRae appeared in 26 games with 16 starts and tallied five doubles in 2016. As the Cougars' primary backstop a year ago, Roper drove in 34 runs with 10 doubles and four home runs.
Head coach Matt Heath on Outfielders:
"When you add Dupree Hart into the outfield mix as a very versatile outfielder, and then with Bradley Dixon able to play all over the outfield, it gives our outfield some flexibility because our corner outfield guys are just that - they are going to stay in the corner. That flexibility gives us a ton of options, and means our outfield could be very good, but the outfield is where I look to put our best bats in the lineup. With our best bats in the lineup, I think with Joey Mundy, Bradley Dixon, Dupree Hart and whoever slots into left on that day, it still gives us a very solid outfield."
Be sure to check back tomorrow when we take a look at our infield and catching options for the 2017 season.
With the 2017 baseball season opening on Friday, CofCSports.com will take a position-by-position look at this season's team.
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston baseball team will have no shortage of talented new faces on the diamond in 2017, but the Cougars are in a unique position of having several experience newcomers join an already strong outfield group. Coming off a 15th-consecutive winning season, the Cougars are poised for a run at their sixth conference championship behind a versatile and gifted corps of athletes.
The College returns multitalented Freshman All-American Dupree Hart (Rock Hill, S.C.), who led the team with a .314 batting average and 38 walks last season. Hart will split time between centerfield and any of three infield positions, thanks both to his natural speed and remarkable athletic ability.
Returning sophomore Bradley Dixon (Greenwood, S.C.) can patrol center along with both corner slots and, Hart notwithstanding, is perhaps the Cougars' most versatile athlete. While splitting time between third base and all three outfield slots, Dixon batted .273 last season with eight stolen bases and 23 RBIs in 45 starts.
Joey Mundy (Huntington, W.Va.) is likely to start in right field after sitting out last season following his transfer from Vanderbilt. Standing at 6-foot-2, 220-pounds, Mundy is a three-time All-State First Team selection who hit over .500 during both his junior and senior seasons at Huntington High School.
Left field is expected to feature a three-man platoon between junior transfer Xavier Freeman (New Lima, Okla.), redshirt sophomore Logan McRae (Florence, S.C.), and Erven Roper (Easley, S.C.). Freeman earned NJCAA All-America honors at Seminole State College last season after batting .371 with 27 home runs and 82 RBIs; McRae appeared in 26 games with 16 starts and tallied five doubles in 2016. As the Cougars' primary backstop a year ago, Roper drove in 34 runs with 10 doubles and four home runs.
Head coach Matt Heath on Outfielders:
"When you add Dupree Hart into the outfield mix as a very versatile outfielder, and then with Bradley Dixon able to play all over the outfield, it gives our outfield some flexibility because our corner outfield guys are just that - they are going to stay in the corner. That flexibility gives us a ton of options, and means our outfield could be very good, but the outfield is where I look to put our best bats in the lineup. With our best bats in the lineup, I think with Joey Mundy, Bradley Dixon, Dupree Hart and whoever slots into left on that day, it still gives us a very solid outfield."
Be sure to check back tomorrow when we take a look at our infield and catching options for the 2017 season.
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