Alcorn State Baseball.....How Bad

[moorecajun]

Only 23 players on the roster. 10 freshmen and 6 sophomores. Major rebuild with Coach Williams in his first season. SWAC baseball isn’t the same as what you see in other conferences. Many teams struggle to fill their schedule even though they have legitimate D1 talent on the roster. Funding is a major issue for all the programs. It’s a different style but those are some of the hardest working kids you’ll ever meet. I’ll actually be at Southern on Saturday to watch a game.

Good info.

On a sidenote question, isn't it St. Peter's we played a few years back that had the horrible record? The same St. Peter's that played so well in the ncaa men's basketball tournament?

[cjr3888]

Good info.

On a sidenote question, isn't it St. Peter's we played a few years back that had the horrible record? The same St. Peter's that played so well in the ncaa men's basketball tournament?

Yup, same school.

[ZoomZoom]

I think all players work hard as long as the coach believes in them. St. Peter’s (a few years back), Alcorn and stAte this year included. As long as everyone is trying and putting forth real effort.

Then, you have this…apparently the coach didn’t care for the effort or lack of positive culture. The portal cuts both ways. The WHOLE team cut.

https://247sports.com/Article/Grambl...ces-185960618/

[Dad04]

A long time ago my son played summer college woodbat with an Alcorn player, He said they got next to no equipment from the school. They got uniforms and a few balls. the players supplied nearly everything else, like little league.

[cjr3888]

A long time ago my son played summer college woodbat with an Alcorn player, He said they got next to no equipment from the school. They got uniforms and a few balls. the players supplied nearly everything else, like little league.

That’s correct. Some of the schools like Southern & Grambling have more help from former players to raise money. One way to describe it is compared to UL. If a Cajuns player loses a shirt or hat, they can get another one from the equipment staff. At a SWAC school, if you lose a shirt or hat you’re out of luck.

[RaginDave]

Only 23 players on the roster. 10 freshmen and 6 sophomores. Major rebuild with Coach Williams in his first season. SWAC baseball isn’t the same as what you see in other conferences. Many teams struggle to fill their schedule even though they have legitimate D1 talent on the roster. Funding is a major issue for all the programs. It’s a different style but those are some of the hardest working kids you’ll ever meet. I’ll actually be at Southern on Saturday to watch a game.

That is fine and dandy, but the SWAC has had competitive teams in the past, Southern back when Ricky Weeks played for them and Jackson State a few years ago not to mention FAMU and Bethune Cookman have been pretty competitive teams in the past. In fact this year the SWAC has a team with an 18-14 record in Alabama State who has a sub 200 RPI (194). . Not great teams, not even good teams, but at least competitive teams. I hope Coach Williams gets them on the right path, but being defeated by two average to terrible teams and giving up 32 runs in the process is an embarrassment. I realize this is his first year at Alcorn, but man even that 0-whatever St. Pete's team was better than that. That 0-38 team hit .241 on the season with an ERA of 11.45. They lost their games 428-111, or 11.26 - 2.9 per game. As bad as they were, they were better than this Alcorn team. I understand the underfunding and youth, etc. But being this bad is unfortunate for the kids. That 2017 St. Pete's team was bad, but I don't think they were 2022 Alcorn bad. I don't really mind them getting beat but when you get beat 16-2 on average in every game that is an issue.

[sportsfanatic21]

A long time ago my son played summer college woodbat with an Alcorn player, He said they got next to no equipment from the school. They got uniforms and a few balls. the players supplied nearly everything else, like little league.

It’s really bad there. Things may have improved since (God I hope so) but I played a game at Alcorn back in the day. The following are absolute facts:

1. They literally had a barbed wire OF fence in left field, that was 436’ down the LF line according to a piece of driftwood that was attached to the fence near the foul line that had “436” hand painted on it

2. The infield grass was St. Augustine

3. The “mound” was basically a couple of wheelbarrows of dirt someone dumped on the field and was a round hump.

4. They drug the dirt part of the field with a pickup truck.

5. The field, near the infield area was surrounded by chain link fencing, no netting at all. And the bleachers were the aluminum stands you see at little league parks

6. And not surprisingly, they had no lights and on a cloudy afternoon, they game had to be called due to darkness.

I left there feeling sorry for those guys that played there. I never played in a high school or summer league park that was anywhere near as bad

[JamesTheJeweler]

It’s really bad there. Things may have improved since (God I hope so) but I played a game at Alcorn back in the day. The following are absolute facts:

1. They literally had a barbed wire OF fence in left field, that was 436’ down the LF line according to a piece of driftwood that was attached to the fence near the foul line that had “436” hand painted on it

2. The infield grass was St. Augustine

3. The “mound” was basically a couple of wheelbarrows of dirt someone dumped on the field and was a round hump.

4. They drug the dirt part of the field with a pickup truck.

5. The field, near the infield area was surrounded by chain link fencing, no netting at all. And the bleachers were the aluminum stands you see at little league parks

6. And not surprisingly, they had no lights and on a cloudy afternoon, they game had to be called due to darkness.

I left there feeling sorry for those guys that played there. I never played in a high school or summer league park that was anywhere near as bad

Wow! Thats beyond bad!

[cjr3888]

That is fine and dandy, but the SWAC has had competitive teams in the past, Southern back when Ricky Weeks played for them and Jackson State a few years ago not to mention FAMU and Bethune Cookman have been pretty competitive teams in the past. In fact this year the SWAC has a team with an 18-14 record in Alabama State who has a sub 200 RPI (194). . Not great teams, not even good teams, but at least competitive teams. I hope Coach Williams gets them on the right path, but being defeated by two average to terrible teams and giving up 32 runs in the process is an embarrassment. I realize this is his first year at Alcorn, but man even that 0-whatever St. Pete's team was better than that. That 0-38 team hit .241 on the season with an ERA of 11.45. They lost their games 428-111, or 11.26 - 2.9 per game. As bad as they were, they were better than this Alcorn team. I understand the underfunding and youth, etc. But being this bad is unfortunate for the kids. That 2017 St. Pete's team was bad, but I don't think they were 2022 Alcorn bad. I don't really mind them getting beat but when you get beat 16-2 on average in every game that is an issue.

One reason for the lopsided scores is obviously pitching. There's 12 pitchers on the roster with only 6 not having to play other positions in the field. Each of the schools you mentioned went through a rebuild like this one, even though not as drastic. Southern went 9-33 in Kerrick Jackson's first season (2018). In 2019 they went 34-24, won the SWAC West, won the SWAC tournament, went to a regional, & were named HBCU National Champs. Alcorn won't see this big a turnaround as quick because of their lack of resources but they won't be this bad for long.

On the note of the Rickie Weeks years at Southern, that was catching lightning in a bottle from 2001-2003. Two of my former teammates were on those rosters. Southern had 20 players drafted from 01-04, 6 of them in the Top 10 rounds. Those teams were fun to watch. Stole around 100 bases per season while also hitting 65-70 home runs & around 35 triples.

[cjr3888]

It’s really bad there. Things may have improved since (God I hope so) but I played a game at Alcorn back in the day. The following are absolute facts:

1. They literally had a barbed wire OF fence in left field, that was 436’ down the LF line according to a piece of driftwood that was attached to the fence near the foul line that had “436” hand painted on it

2. The infield grass was St. Augustine

3. The “mound” was basically a couple of wheelbarrows of dirt someone dumped on the field and was a round hump.

4. They drug the dirt part of the field with a pickup truck.

5. The field, near the infield area was surrounded by chain link fencing, no netting at all. And the bleachers were the aluminum stands you see at little league parks

6. And not surprisingly, they had no lights and on a cloudy afternoon, they game had to be called due to darkness.

I left there feeling sorry for those guys that played there. I never played in a high school or summer league park that was anywhere near as bad

They have an actual stadium now but the outfield fence still looks like it's built out of 2x4's they found on the side of the road.

[CajunVic]

It’s really bad there. Things may have improved since (God I hope so) but I played a game at Alcorn back in the day. The following are absolute facts:

1. They literally had a barbed wire OF fence in left field, that was 436’ down the LF line according to a piece of driftwood that was attached to the fence near the foul line that had “436” hand painted on it

2. The infield grass was St. Augustine

3. The “mound” was basically a couple of wheelbarrows of dirt someone dumped on the field and was a round hump.

4. They drug the dirt part of the field with a pickup truck.

5. The field, near the infield area was surrounded by chain link fencing, no netting at all. And the bleachers were the aluminum stands you see at little league parks

6. And not surprisingly, they had no lights and on a cloudy afternoon, they game had to be called due to darkness.

I left there feeling sorry for those guys that played there. I never played in a high school or summer league park that was anywhere near as bad

This sounds like Northside bad . . .

[cjr3888]

Here's a good one. The Alcorn State game stream is better than CUSA! They even have 3 camera's set up for different angles.

http://theasuchronicle.com/alcorn-st...-state-sports/