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Pitcher son's progress; school axing sport

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    Pitcher son's progress; school axing sport

    Son Eric currently pitching at Univ. of Nebraska - Kearney as the closer for the Lopers (short for Antelopes). Doing pretty well with a 1.96 ERA, with 19 K's over 18.1 innings, 1 Win and 5 Saves.

    Here's the rub: about a month ago, the baseball team was informed that the 113-year-old program is being eliminated next year. Let that sink in a minute. They're also eliminating men's golf and men's tennis. Total savings from cutting these three sports is projected at $450,000. Well, the baseball team raised $150,000 totally on their own in one night at their baseball banquet a week or so before the administration's elimination announcement.

    Apparently, there is a $3.4 million budget shortfall at the university. Pretty sure the announcement was intentionally delayed so that players had participated in too many games to "red-shirt" this season -- can't imagine administration didn't know this was coming well ahead of announcing.

    Coaches are getting players in contact with other programs for next year. Eric has had contact from a Big 12 school and several from other D2 schools, including at least two written scholarship offers. Feel bad for the whole situation -- players, coaches, the school and the community.

    If anyone knows of programs needing players for next year, UNK has some guys looking. I'll try to attach a couple of video links of Eric below.


    video, sharing, camera phone, video phone, free, upload

    Last edited by tradtiger; 04-10-2018, 11:46 AM.

    #2
    I see he pitched at Navarro !!!

    Sorry to hear about the Lopers school 86'ing the baseball program.... Looks like a good side arm delivery.
    I wish I had connections to pass along.....
    Bump for you dad !!

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      #3
      dang that sucks.. Good luck to your son.

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        #4
        Bad deal for sure. I hope it works out for your son. Maybe it can even better his situation.

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          #5
          That’s crazy. My son has a teammate pitching there as well. He is a freshman.

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            #6
            Originally posted by LROSE View Post
            I see he pitched at Navarro !!!

            Sorry to hear about the Lopers school 86'ing the baseball program.... Looks like a good side arm delivery.
            I wish I had connections to pass along.....
            Bump for you dad !!
            Go Bulldogs! Thanks for the bump.
            He actually went to Navarro as a direct result of a highlight thread I posted on TBH back in high school. A TBH member involved in the sport knew a coach and suggested he call Eric; he did, then had the boy go up and throw a bullpen.

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              #7
              Originally posted by speck1 View Post
              That’s crazy. My son has a teammate pitching there as well. He is a freshman.
              Small world.

              Whole thing is definitely crazy. Team has great facilities -- high-tech diagnostic equipment (Hit Tracks) can tell inches of pitch movement, spin rate, etc., complete indoor facility, funded by former Yankee standout reliever Joba Chamberlain.

              Also, the staff recruited far and wide to build this team: guys from Texas, California, Illinois, Oregon, even Australia.

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                #8
                Really hate to hear that! Praying that this closing door leads to a wonderful new opening.

                Todd

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                  #9
                  Appreciating the good wishes and prayers.

                  Definitely trying to look at it as a "mysterious ways" of the Lord type of thing.

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                    #10
                    What is he 82-84 from the sidearm slot?

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by gingib View Post
                      What is he 82-84 from the sidearm slot?
                      Right around there, as a mainly two-seam fastball. With good differential on slider (curve); plus, has a change-up that goes down and away from lefties.

                      Pitches to off-center contact, producing a lot of ground balls and popups. Still manages to maintain pretty much a career-long strike-out per inning pitched ratio. Not many walks.

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                        #12
                        Just to save $450,000? There has to be more to it you would think!

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                          #13
                          Hate hearing that- I hope he gets into a program that he is happy with continued success.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Killer View Post
                            Just to save $450,000? There has to be more to it you would think!
                            Seems odd, alright. Baseball program almost pulls it's own weight, looks to me like. Paltry savings they're seeming to capture by swinging an axe instead of wielding a scalpel.

                            And, by the way, the Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts' (R) is a member of the Ricketts Family, which owns the former world champion Chicago Cubs. He is independently wealthy to the point of writing his campaign a personal check for $12 million when running for office. I left a message with his secretary, informing him what a travesty was occurring at UNK and suggesting that -- as a Baseball Man -- he should just write a check for $3.4 million to UNK so that the baseball program would not be cut. I'm not sure if that check's in the mail yet...

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                              #15
                              Sorry to hear this. Glad he has other options. I hope it works out well.

                              I went through this 2 years ago at Paris JC with a golf program that had been around since 1916. Myself and the volleyball coach were brought in by an academic guy. This was in late May!! We both had already resigned our to be returning Sophomores and had recruited our Freshman class. All the freshman had been committed since December and been given their scholarships offers for the Fall.
                              This was the most disrespectful and hideous thing of all. All those plans by kids and parents went up in smoke with no chance of finding a place to go with such short notice. Most embarrassing thing I have ever been part of.

                              The whole thing was over money. In our case to save about $150000. Admins will drop programs at the drop of a hat without small town community support. In a small town if a proper board is in place and the community rallies around the sports teams then and only then will the admins get dropped before the sports do. The board at our place could careless about sports. So that was it!

                              The President in our case was a gutless coward for not to telling us and our players her self!!!!!!!

                              Programs are being cut all the time unfortunately. The big schools get bigger and the small schools barely survive.

                              San Jac down in the Houston area just dropped the men's basketball team this year.

                              I hope he finds another place where he is wanted.

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