2012 Season Preview
Hungry Bulldogs Ready For Action
Veteran Georgia Squad Aims For Special Season In 2012 The 2012 Georgia Bulldogs will take the field as one of the most experienced squads in David Perno’s tenure. Now in his 11th season at the helm, Perno welcomes back eight starting position players and eight pitchers who logged significant innings a year ago. Georgia got a taste of the postseason in 2011, reaching the NCAA Corvallis (Ore.) Regional Final. The goal this year is to go much deeper in the postseason; the veterans are taking aim at Omaha, Nebraska and the College World Series. Perno provided a fall review along with his thoughts on how the 2012 team is taking shape. How do you feel about the potential of the 2012 team? Starting with our defense, I’d say it’s very similar to the 2011 team, and that squad set a school record in fielding percentage (.974). We’ve got just about everybody back. The veterans were sharp; Kyle (Farmer) and Levi (Hyams) turned plenty of double plays and Curt (Powell) at third provides a real strong left side of the infield. I liked how freshman Nelson Ward and senior Colby May played to give us some infield depth. Colby made a smooth transition at first base after playing third base his first three years. All three of our catchers (Brandon Stephens, Joey Delmonico and Brett DeLoach) competed well, and in the outfield, Peter Verdin and Conor Welton both had a good fall. The addition of freshman outfielder Hunter Cole is a plus because he’s got a lot of tools. He showed he could hit and play defense. Going in to the fall, I felt good about our pitching because we had our top guys back, and I still feel good for the spring. We wanted to see who else would step forward. What’s the early season plan for the 2012 rotation? The rotation is going to be Michael Palazzone and Alex Wood with Blake Dieterich and freshman David Sosebee rounding out the starters. We’d like to have senior Chase Hawkins in middle relief, and we know he can start too. Michael was real good this fall and Alex showed increased velocity plus worked on a put away breaking ball. Also, it’s nice to have our late-inning guys ready to go again in Bryan Benzor, Earl Daniels and Tyler Maloof. 2012 University of Georgia Baseball
Alex Wood
Levi Hyams
How do you feel about the offense? We’re in better shape compared to last year, but I feel like we still have a ways to go. There’s potential for a lot of production from our lineup, but we’ll have to use the whole field. We’ll be counting on the veterans. One thing we need is more left-handed hitters. We’ve got Levi (Hyams) who is solid, and Conor (Welton) showed improvement. In the Red-Black series, we batted Conor and Jared (Walsh) 1-2, and they did a nice job including against left-handed pitching. Also, Hunter (Cole) is a right-handed hitter that showed he is capable of being a threat in the middle of the order. I think the lineup could be close to the one we had in 2006, not the power, but the potential to hit around .300 and be balanced. How about all the home games on the 2012 schedule? We went on the road last year and played one of the nation’s toughest schedules. This year, we wanted to play more home games, and it worked out. As far as the home games to start, we’ll get to sleep in our own beds a lot more in February and March. We realize the tough part is coming in the second half, but we’ll see how we measure up in March when UCLA comes to town, and when we start SEC play, too. Thinking back to 2009, that team posted a 19-2 record after a lot of early home games and then struggled. Can you do anything different to avoid that? We always focus on doing things our way. We don’t get caught up with what team we are playing. Our second half in 2009 needed to be better after that start. We just have to make sure we’re getting better as the season goes along. Still, I credit the 2009 team for their ability to regroup and make a run in the SEC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament. The 2012 team has plenty of guys who have been through a lot in their careers. They have faced adversity. They understand the grind of a season, and they are better equipped to deal with anything compared to any other club I’ve been around so I know they will keep things in perspective. 5