Baseball player Errol Robinson walks out on the field with his teammates after their return from Omaha. (Photo/Logan Kirkland)
The Rebels’ season ended Saturday with a 4-1 loss to Virginia in Omaha, which resulted in a 2-2 final record in the College World Series. The loss may have marked the end of an incredible run for the Diamond Rebels, but it also marks the start of the transition from a good program to a great program in Oxford.
Ole Miss finished their 2014 campaign with a 48-21 overall record, winning the SEC West when they were picked to finish second-to-last in the division, advanced to Omaha for the first time in 42 years, and are likely to finish in the third spot in the final national polls. As head coach Mike Bianco said in the press conference after the season-ending loss to Virginia, “They’ll go down as the best team that ever played at Ole Miss.”
It was sad to see the season end for a team that looked destined to make a run for a national title, but this team should be celebrated for the run they had, and should be looked at as not only the greatest team in Ole Miss baseball history, but also one of the greatest teams in Ole Miss history.
Looking at next year, it will be a different Rebel team on Swayze Field. Nine Ole Miss players were selected in the MLB Draft: Braxton Lee, Will Allen, Chris Ellis, Christian Trent, Aaron Greenwood, Austin Anderson, Austin Bousfield, Josh Laxer and Hawtin Buchanan.
Anderson, Allen, Greenwood, John Gatlin and Preston Overbey are all seniors and have graduated.
Ole Miss can potentially lose most of their bats from the middle of the lineup with Anderson and Allen graduating, and Bousfield most likely signing a big league contract. Lee is also considering signing a big league contract.
The possible lineup for the first game of the 2015 will feature some familiar faces, but consist mainly of new faces coming into the program looking to make a name for themselves and help this team continue their run at success.
The key returners in the lineup for the Rebels are Sikes Orvis, Errol Robinson and J.B. Woodman. Colby Bortles will likely find his way into the starting lineup full time in the infield and will make a big impact filling in the hole in the middle of the lineup. He will most likely play third base, replacing Anderson. Will Jamison, who saw frequent playing time throughout the season, will likely get one of the spots in the outfield.
As we saw in the College World Series when Allen injured his shoulder and played designated hitter in the Rebels’ final two games, Austin Knight replaced him as catcher and will likely do the same to start next season. Knight is a great defensive catcher, which could help him secure the starting spot in his senior year. He played great filling in for Allen the last two games in Omaha and did what he could offensively to help the lineup produce.
There could be competition at second base with Dalton Dulin and incoming freshman Tate Blackman fighting for the spot in the middle infield. Blackman was the former number one infielder prospect in the country and is likely to see a spot somewhere in the Rebel lineup, whether it be at third or second.
Holt Perdzock, who came in and produced in clutch moments for the Rebels this season, will be one of the candidates for the designated hitter spot. He will compete with JUCO transfers Jack Kaiser and Jordan Watkins.
With Chris Ellis likely to sign a major league contract as a third round pick by the Los Angeles Angels, the Rebels will lose their ace of the staff, but are still loaded at pitching.
Christian Trent will be back for the Rebels. The numbers Trent put up this season made him look like the true ace, going 10-0 for the season with a 2.05 ERA in 110 innings pitched. Sam Smith will be back and will move up in the rotation to the number two spot. He struggled at times in the season, but his experience and the number of quality starts he put up will be key in the rotation. The third spot in the rotation is up for grabs.
The bullpen will be without Greenwood and most likely Laxer, but return familiar faces including Scott Weathersby and Wyatt Short.
The biggest loss for the Rebels will be in the coaching staff, as hitting coach Cliff Godwin accepted the head coaching job at his alma mater East Carolina on Wednesday. The news that Godwin would get a head-coaching gig somewhere is no surprise, as he was considered one of the best assistant coaches in the country by many. He helped the Rebels go to Omaha by making them one of the best offensive teams in the country with a .303 batting average, the best in the SEC and second in runs scored in the SEC. Replacing Godwin will be no easy task.
The Rebels will look different when they take the field for the first time at Swayze in 2015, but some familiar faces return and new faces will be inserted in the lineup to make Ole Miss one of the top teams in the country once again. This time it will be expected.
