Auburn

College Baseball Now 2025

Tom Knuppel college baseball 2025 , , ,
College Baseball Now 2025

                                    College Baseball Now

                                                              issue 1 for 2025

The new season isn’t far away so let’s begin our off-season talk about College Baseball. First, I will give my early Top 25 poll. Of course, things will change before the first pitch of the season is here but for now…..

 

                      (25) Kentucky Wildcats

Head coach Nick Mangione hopes to go deeper into the 2025 World Series with experience along with experience through the transfer portal. Returning from last year’s squad is a slew of arms for the pitching with right handed senior hurlers Robert Hogan and Cooper Robinson, along with a  junior Jacob Price, and a trio of sophomores from the right side in Jake Titus, Tommy Skelding and Raynond Saatman. These pitcher only return with a handful of wins from 2024.

The left-handed pitching returns senior Jackson Nove and sophomores Even Hart, Ben Cleaver and Evan Byers. A few new recruits are expected to step in and find success from the mound. This include lefties Logan Grubb from Lawrenceburg , Kentucky and Leighton Harris out of Lexington high school.

Pitching may be a source of problems for the Wildcats.

Handling the duties behind the dish is Devin Burkes. Last season his batted .239 with 3 homers and 55 runs batted in

Coming back for he Wildcats on the infield we have Patrick Herrera, Landon Franklin (So.), Ethan Hindle (So.) and Hudson Brown (So.)

A couple of outfielders will help solidify the defense with James McCoy (RJr.) and  Griffin Cameron (So.) and then add in utility players Kyuss Garget and Eli Small, both will 3 years left.

A slew of transfers could prove to be fortuitous for coach Mangione with sophomore righty hurler Oliver Boone from Cal, also we have Indiana State right-handed pitcher Simon Gergerson. Designated hitter from Columbia Cole Hage should help the offense along Carson Hansen a  junior outfielder from Milwuakee that batted .315 last year. Illinois State transfer is infielder Luke Lawrence that drove in 40 runs and hit .338 in the Missouri Valley in 2024.

The Wildcats re looking forward to College baseball in 2025.  They open the season March 14-16 on the road against Georgia and then come home for three games against Auburn before returning to the road against Texas A&M. The SEC schedule is brutal and I don’t see them staying in the College Baseball Top 25 for very long.

 

TOP TEN PLAYERS in College Baseball for 2025

Let’s take a look at the top players returning and likely the upperclassmen to get drafted in the MLB.

  1. Jace LaViolette (Texas A&M
  2. Ethan Petry (South Carolina)
  3. Chase Shores ( LSU)
  4. Ike Irish (Auburn)
  5. Devin Taylor (Indiana)
  6. Cam Cannarella ( Clemson)
  7. Jack O’Connor (Virginia)
  8. Cade Fisher (Florida)
  9. Jackson Cheeks ( Kennesaw State
  10. Nolan Schubert ( Oklahoma State)

 

Tourneys

Las Vegas Classic with Texas Tech, Texas, Washington, Illinois

from Feb 28-March 1-2

Top Places to Play College Baseball

Olsen field -Texas A&M

Baum Stadium- Arkansas

Alex Box Stadium- LSU

Dudy-Noble field- Miss State

Goss Stadium- Oregon State

Alex Rodriguez Park-Miami

Hi Corbett Field-Arizona

Dan Law Field- Texas Tech

 

Top 15  College Players to be Drafted in 2025

1, Jace LaViolette

2, Jamie Arnold

3. Tyler Bremmer

4. Cam Leiter

5. Dean Taylor

6. Noah Schubert

7. Ike Irish

8. Kyson Witherspoon

9. Gavin Kilen

10. Caden Boone

11. Henry Ford

12. Zach Root

13. Andrew Fischer

14. Mason White

15.Trent Callaway

 

 

College Baseball Coaching Changes for 2025

First column is the date it became official -scone column is the College or University

Third Column is the NEW coach and last is the coach that was replaced

9/14/2024 Bellarmine Ben Reel Chris Dominguez
9/3/2024 Morehead State Chris Rose (Interim) Braeden Ward
9/3/2024 Delaware State Pedro Swann Jean-Paul Blandin
8/22/2024 UT @ Arlington Mike Trapasso Clay Van Hook
8/8/2024 Alcorn State Carlton Hardy Reginald Williams
7/22/2024 VCU Sean Thompson Bradley LeCroy
7/22/2024 California State University-Bakersfield Jordon Banfield Jeremy Beard
7/17/2024 Oakland Blake Nelson (Interim) Jordon Banfield
7/15/2024 Liberty Bradley LeCroy Scott Jackson
7/12/2024 Utah Valley Nate Rasmussen Eddie Smith
7/10/2024 Campbell Chris Marx Justin Haire
7/9/2024 Washington Eddie Smith Jason Kelly
7/7/2024 Southern Indiana Chris Ramirez Tracy Archuleta
7/3/2024 Arkansas at Pine Bluff Logan Stout Carlos James
7/2/2024 Texas A & M Michael Earley Jim Schlossnagle
6/28/2024 Youngstown State Trevor Charpie Dan Bertolini
6/28/2024 Pacific Reed Peters Chris Rodriguez
6/28/2024 Niagara Matt Spatafora Rob McCoy
6/26/2024 Nicholls State Brent Haring Mike Silva
6/26/2024 Longwood Ray Noe Chad Oxendine
6/25/2024 Texas Jim Schlossnagle David Pierce
6/24/2024 Dayton Scott Loiseau Jayson King
6/21/2024 West Virginia Steve Sabins Randy Mazey
6/21/2024 Ohio State Justin Haire Bill Mosiello
6/21/2024 Long Beach State T.J. Bruce Bryan Peters (interim)
6/21/2024 Indiana State Tracy Archuleta Mitch Hannahs
6/20/2024 William and Mary Rob McCoy Mike McRae
6/19/2024 The Citadel Russell Triplett Tony Skole
6/19/2024 Stephen F Austin Matt Vanderburg Johnny Cardenas
6/14/2024 Winthrop Mike McGuire Tom Riginos
6/14/2024 South Carolina-Upstate Kane Sweeney Mike McGuire
6/14/2024 Pepperdine Tyler LaTorre Rick Hirtensteiner
6/11/2024 South Carolina Paul Mainieri Mark Kingston
6/11/2024 Houston Christian Clay Vanderlaan Lance Berkman
6/11/2024 Charleston Southern Karl Kuhn Marc McMillian
6/11/2024 Arkansas State Mike Silva Tommy Raffo
6/10/2024 Coastal Carolina Kevin Schnall Gary Gilmore
6/8/2024 South Florida Mitch Hannahs Billy Mohl
6/4/2024 Missouri State Joey Hawkins Keith Guttin
6/3/2024 Manhattan Steven Rosen (Interim) David MIller
5/22/2024 Minnesota Ty McDevitt John Anderson
5/15/2024 Eastern Kentucky Walt Jones Chris Prothro

 

Check out College Baseball 2024 articles HERE

Dutch Leonard- Born in Auburn, IL- Great Lesson Learned from Hack Wilson

Tom Knuppel Baseball History , , ,
Dutch Leonard- Born in Auburn, IL- Great Lesson Learned from Hack Wilson

Born in Central Illinois Major Leaguers

He was born Emil John Leonard on March 25, 1909, in Auburn, Illinois to Emil and Julia Leonard. The story goes that he got the nickname from an earlier baseball player named Dutch. Leonard was a high school star in basketball and football as the school didn’t offer baseball. In the summers, “Dutch” would play on the sandlots and with semipro teams as he had an overpowering fastball.

His father was a coal miner and continually urged his son to find a better way to make a living. Emil didn’t listen, at first, as he went to work in the coal mines. That lasted three days and he knew his father knew what he was talking about. He took a different job digging ditches for the electric company in the Chicago area where he began pitching for the company team.

He was noticed for his abilities on the baseball field by the Evanston News Index and they hired him to play baseball and in 1929, the company was the city champions. Leonard had outdueled a former major leaguer in Hippo Jim Vaughn. He began to play professional baseball fulltime in 1930 as he bounced around several minor leagues teams for the next four seasons. He got a bit tired of that and went home and got a job driving a truck.

In the spring of 1933, he signed to pitch in Class A New York Penn League and went 12-15 and received the noticed of the Brooklyn Dodgers. They paid him $800 and gave him a 10-day trial. He made his major league debut on August 31 as he entered the game in relief with his team down 6-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals. He faced bases loaded and two out and proceeded to keep the Cardinals scoreless until the seventh inning. His debut was a success. The team liked what they saw and advised him to use his knuckleball more often. He ended with a 2-3 record and a 2.93 ERA.

The Dodgers assigned him in 1934 to room with their fading star Hack Wilson. Hack had many National League records o his name but was having trouble staying away from the booze. One night Wilson demanded that Leonard join his for a drink. They went to the bar and got their drinks when Wilson smacked the bottle out of Leonard’s hand and told him to stay away from booze so that he didn’t end up like Hack Wilson.

The seasons and teams flow by from there for “Dutch” as he bounced around with an array of success and failure. In 1950, he had become the oldest player in the National League at the age of 41. He had been mostly relegated to the bullpen but the Cubs gave him a job as pitching coach but was fired in 1956 with all of the miserable coaches of the Chicago Cubs.

After baseball, he became a counselor with the Illinois Youth Commission. He conducted baseball camps for rehabilitation youth. He retired at age 65. On April 17, 1983, Leonard died and is buried near his hometown of Auburn. He left behind his wife of almost 49, Rose, and two sons and one daughter.

In Summation:

Emil John “Dutch” Leonard (March 25, 1909 – April 17, 1983) was a professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed knuckleball pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1933–36), Washington Senators (1938–46), Philadelphia Phillies (1947–48), and Chicago Cubs (1949–53).