The Infielders
At first base, the Irish will turn to the “two-headed Notre Dame returns two everyday infielders in monster” of Casey Martin (Chesterton, Ind.) and Greg Sherry (56 starts in 2009) and Mick Doyle (44 David Casey (Whitefish Bay, Wis.), who combined to starts) in 2010 as well as two others (Casey Martin, make 45 starts in 2009. Together, the duo batted .316 David Casey) who split time at first base, but the with five home runs and 33 RBI. David Casey immediate question is how the Irish will replace showed a flair for the dramatic with his three home departed shortstop Jeremy Barnes, who drove in 70 runs, all of which came in a two-week period in last season (tied for eighth in school history) and 197 April. His first career home run came in Cincinnati for his career (fifth). The Irish will attempt to counter on April 11 and not only cleared the scoreboard in Barnes’ loss with the addition of a pair of talented right field, but also crashed halfway up the façade of freshmen in Adam Norton and Frank Desico and the Fifth Third Bank Arena, which sits some 30-40 feet behind the wall; his second career blast, a ninthversatility of the returning players. For the third time in four seasons, an Irish player inning shot, gave the Irish a 7-6 lead at Louisville on will make a position shift to settle in at shortstop. April 24 (a game Louisville eventually won, 8-7); and Doyle projects to see the most time at shortstop this his third deep fly (two days later) was a two-out, season after having started only at third base (39 game-tying grand slam in the seventh inning that set starts) and second base (16 starts) in his career. The the stage for Tate’s two-out, game-winning bomb in switch has paid off at the plate both times, as Brett the ninth. The Irish hope that both will clear the Lilley hit .372 with a .512 on base percentage after fence more often in 2010 and provide the power for moving from third to shortstop in 2007 and Barnes the Irish lineup. “The key to our whole offense this year is those had a career year offensively last season after sliding two guys over there,” claimed Schrage. “If they have over from second base. “As far as just being the steadiest guy for the job, good years for us, we’re going to have a good offense. I think we’ve seen that the last few years. We moved I think Casey Martin and David Casey are both capaLilley there, we moved Barnes there, and now we ble of being our power guy. We as a coaching staff move Mick there because we want a guy there who's are waiting for one of those two to emerge and be a a leader and Mick is one of our captains. We needed someone to play shortstop and also be a dependable infielder, and he’s probably our most dependable guy to make the routine play.” Doyle batted .327 last season (including .351 in conference play) with three home runs, 31 RBI, 10 doubles and nine sacrifice flies (an Irish single-season record and tops in the BIG EAST). Like McConnell, Doyle also ended 2009 on a high note, batting .455 (10-for-22) with five multi-hit games over Notre Dame’s last six contests. Sherry has continued to work extensively at second base after starting the final 23 games for the Irish at the position last season and has the edge to start there again in 2010. The junior from Mendham, N.J. boasts a .292 career average in 103 career games (98 starts), with 64 runs scored. He batted .273 a year ago, largely skewed after a season-ending 4-for-46 stretch (dropping his average from .338), but posted a 1.16 walk-to-strikeout ratio (29 walks, 25 strikeouts). “He’s been a really steady guy for us, and I think he came into his own more at second base this fall. He had never really played there, so he’s kind of settling in at the position and getting a lot better at second base.” Doyle’s move from third to shortstop makes room for highly-touted freshman Adam Norton to see significant action. The 2009 Prep Baseball Report Indiana Player of the Year finished his career at Andrean High School as one of the most prolific hitters in state history, holding state records for career hits (202), career RBI (183), season doubles (30), and career doubles (65). The 30 doubles came during a senior campaign in which Norton struck out just once and batted .550; take away a 1-for-12 stretch to begin the season, and Junior INF Mick Doyle will likely replace 2009 MLB th he batted .608 (59-for-97). But Norton has also 11 - round draft pick Jeremy Barnes at shortstop. Doyle, impressed the Irish coaches with his defensive ability. who has started at both second and third base, batted “(Norton) reminds us of A.J. Pollock as a freshman .327 with three home runs and 37 RBI a year ago. with his athleticism. He has a great, great arm from third base INFIELDERS (13) Yr. B-T Ht. Wt. Hometown (Previous School) and good hands, and No. Name Adam Norton FR R/R 6-1 175 Highland, IN (Andrean) he can make that play 1 Joe Hudson FR R/R 6-0 190 Odessa, FL (Tampa Jesuit) behind the bag better 4 SO R/R 5-10 165 Cohasset, MA (Boston College HS) than any guy I’ve ever 11 Tommy Chase SR R/R 5-8 175 Saint Clair Shores, MI (De LaSalle) had. He can back- 13 Herman Petzold JR R/R 5-10 180 Mendham, NJ (Delbarton) hand the ball and 15 Greg Sherry JR R/R 6-1 200 LaGrange Park, IL (Benet Academy) throw it with a lot of 26 Mick Doyle SR R/R 5-9 160 Moorpark, CA (Moorpark) authority. He’ll be a 29 Ryne Intlekofer SR R/R 6-0 180 Chicago, IL (Kent School (CT)) guy who, as he grows 30 Will Harford JR R/R 6-6 235 Indianapolis, IN (Brebeuf Jesuit) in our program, will 33 Ty Adams FR R/R 5-10 185 Cleveland, OH (St. Ignatius) hit more and more 35 Frank Desico 38 Casey Martin SR R/R 6-4 230 Chesterton, IN (Chesterton) home runs every year. 44 David Casey JR L/L 6-4 235 Whitefish Bay, WI (Whitefish Bay) He’s going to be a big 52 Steve Sabatino SO L/L 6-2 200 Lockport, IL (Lockport Township) player in the program down the road.”
big threat. Casey is a really, really pure hitter, and I think he’s ready to take the step from his sophomore to junior year and be a real force. Martin is a strong kid; he’s very capable of hitting a lot of home runs as well.” Senior Ryne Intlekofer (Moorpark, Calif.) and freshman Frank Desico (Cleveland, Ohio) give the Irish viable options off the bench, as both will compete for starts in the middle infield. Intlekofer started a career-high 15 games last season (all at second base), batting .250 with 10 RBI and 11 runs scored. Desico can play either middle infield position and started all three games at second base for the Blue in the 2009 Blue-Gold World Series, going 2-for-9 with a double and an RBI. The versatility of the quintet of Doyle, Sherry, Norton, Intlekofer, and Desico gives Schrage numerous options on any given day; Doyle can also play second and third, Sherry started primarily at third base his first season and a half at Notre Dame, and Norton can slide over to shortstop if needed. Intlekofer could also see time in the outfield in 2010 in addition to second base. Sophomore middle infielder Tommy Chase (Cohasset, Mass.) and junior first baseman/outfielder Ty Adams (Indianapolis, Ind.) are both recovering from injuries; Chase will likely miss the season after undergoing offseason knee surgery, while Adams is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery but can provide some power off the bench when healthy. Seniors Herman Petzold (Saint Clair Shores, Mich.) and Will Harford (Chicago, Ill.) have seen limited action in their respective careers, but Petzold was touted by Schrage as possibly Notre Dame’s “best flat-out defensive infielder” and could see time as a defensive replacement in the middle infield, while Harford can catch in an emergency situation and provides leadership and character in the clubhouse.
The Outfielders The Fighting Irish must replace two starters in the outfield this spring after the departure of Pollock and Tate, but return an experienced group up to the task. The senior trio of Ryan Connolly, Brayden Ashdown, and David Mills begin the campaign as the primary outfield starters, while senior Matt Grosso, who made great strides in the fall, and sophomore Alex Robinson will also challenge for time. “With Connolly, Ashdown, and Mills, it gives you three guys with good speed that can run a little bit. Connolly had a really good fall out there, and (Ashdown) is a natural center fielder; that’s where he played in high school. It’s easiest to play him there. Depth-wise, Alex Robinson is probably our best defensive outfielder in center field, and Grosso is the most improved hitter in our program right now.” After seeing time at first base and designated hitter last season, Connolly (Binghamton, N.Y.) is ready to move back to the outfield in 2010. The captain and spark plug for the Irish offense batted .348 (16-for46) with four home runs, 14 RBI and 15 runs scored after being inserted into the starting lineup for good on May 8 versus USF; the Irish went 9-4 in those games and 17-5 (.773) overall when Connolly started last year. He was plunked 10 times on the season and recorded a .490 on-base percentage, a mark that would have ranked fourth in the BIG EAST had he had enough plate appearances to qualify. His knack for getting on base makes Connolly a possible leadoff candidate for the Irish. “Ryan brings so much energy to our team, and he’s a natural leadoff hitter,” said Schrage. “He’ll get hit and sprint down to first base and give our team some lift and energy right off the bat.” Ashdown (Tucson, Ariz.) struggled as a freshman but has blossomed over the past two seasons, batting .323 with a pair of home runs, 17 RBI, and 26 runs scored in 61 appearances (24 starts). He delivered a two-out, walk-off single to beat UConn on May 3 last season, a win that began a 7-1 stretch for the Irish. “Brayden was probably our nicest surprise, along with Ryan Connolly, at the end of last season. He has
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