A close look at the 2005 Ragin' Cajuns

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The Ragin' Cajuns open their season Friday against LA Tech at Moore Field. This series by Dan McDonald looks at the team position by position.

You think the Ragin' Cajun coaching staff loses much sleep over its infield prospects for the 2005 season?

That group - and as deep as the positions are, it is indeed a group - is easily the most experienced in the University of Louisiana's recent history, and is more than likely one of the deepest and most experienced in the country.

Of the eight full-time infielders on the roster, seven earned letters last year, and middle infielder Jameson Parker would have made it eight-for-eight if he hadn't been sidelined all of 2004 with a broken hand.

All seven of those lettermen have seen starting action. In fact, that group has combined for a staggering 428 starts in their careers. That's an average of 107 starting berths for each of the four infield spots.

"We've got guys that have been here for a long period of time," said Cajun coach Tony Robichaux. "It's not like we're going to have to roll somebody out there first the first time. Everybody we put out there is going to have experience."

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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Cajun outfielders give Robichaux numerous options

LOUISIANA La. - University of Louisiana baseball coach Tony Robichaux knows that his returning outfielders can handle the big things like fielding their positions and providing their share of offense.

But it's the little things that the six-man group can do that makes him comfortable going into the 2005 season.

"We can do a lot of things with this group that we haven't been able to do before," Robichaux said of the three returnees - who combined for 108 starts last year - and the three newcomers.

"We can pinch-hit an outfielder late and keep him in the game. We can put three guys out there with great speed if we want that. We can go three lefties or three righties. And we can stop runners at third base because of their arms."

Junior Josh Landry and senior John Coker provide the Cajuns with two regular starters, and senior Leonard Guerrero started nine games and saw regular backup action. But they're being pressed by three junior college transfers who each impressed the Cajun coaches in their own ways during the fall intrasquad games.

Junior redshirt Alex Preciado of Yuma, Ariz., and Arizona Western College sported an impressive bat in fall practice, and junior John McCarthy of Paloa Park, Ill., and Mesa JC and sophomore Cody Martin, the ex-Acadiana High standout who played last year at Hill Junior College, were both solid in their first semester.

"Those guys are still learning," Robichaux said, "but when they learn more how we do things week in and week out everybody's going to be better. I know each of the three guys we have back are going to be better this year just from watching how they've prepared themselves."

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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Cajun catching stable covers all the bases

The University of Louisiana baseball squad has catchers for all purposes.

If only Ragin' Cajun head coach Tony Robichaux could roll them all into one body, he'd have the prototype heading into the 2005 season.

As it is, he and the squad will have to be satisfied with one player that showed great offensive promise in a backup role last year and who has worked to improve defensively ... one that Robichaux calls the best he's had in 17 years in managing a pitching staff but who has struggled offensively ... and an untested rookie who could be the best hitter of the bunch.

It figures that seniors Adam Massiatte and Justin Morgan and freshman Jonathan Lucroy will all see their share of playing time, and Robichaux says that's a good thing. And some people may not even notice, since they're all listed at 6-foot-1 on the roster and are all between 190 and 193 pounds.

"We're going to try to get every one of them a number of starts," he said. "That's a position in which it's easy to wear down as the season goes along, and if we can get everybody some playing time they won't get beaten down by the end of the year."

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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This was reserved for the Pitching staff but it was never web published.