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2020 Outlook
Northwestern State Demon Baseball 2020 2020 OUTLOOK
A year of roster turnover left the 2020 Northwestern State baseball team in need of nametags.
With 18 newcomers and three redshirt freshmen, there is no shortage of unfamiliar faces who will don the Purple and White this season.
“There are a lot of new guys, a lot of new faces,” fourth-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. “Our talent level is good as far as the skills we have. I’m very pleased with our recruting, bringing guys in and developing them also. That’s a part that gets overlooked. When guys get here, our assistant coaches and our strength coaches do a good job developing those guys.”
That development will be on full display at Brown-Stroud Field early and often in the 2020 season. The Demons open the season with an eight-game homestand, part of a home-heavy schedule that features 35 home games at NSU’s home park, which has undergone another round of upgrades.
Included in the 35 home games are visits from Wichita State in the season-opening, three-game series and a final weekend round robin series with Houston and Mercer coming to Natchitoches.
“It’s good to get them out at home and let our fans see our new stadium,” Barbier said. “It’s good to play in front of our fans. There are years you build excitement early and then you go on the road for two weeks and it dies. Hopefully we can build it and sustain it, get people out and make it a tough place for everyone to play.”
While the Demons have a heavy presence of newcomers, there are returners with whom NSU fans are familiar, especially in the outfield.
Senior Tyler Smith, a preseason second-team All-Southland Conference selection, returns after leading Northwestern State with 10 home runs and 36 RBIs as a junior. Included in those 10 home runs was a school single-game-record-tying three home runs in a 10-7 win at nationally ranked Arkansas in April.
Smith could find himself in a number of Demon career top 10s following his final season.
A Covington High School product, Smith stands 10th in school history in career triples (7) and needs three home runs to move into a tie for 10th place in that category. Smith also is a talented defender who has tallied 22 outfield assists in his first three seasons.
“Tyler has grown from the day he stepped on campus,” Barbier said. “He’s matured so much. He’s learned how to give a professional at-bat. He’s always been talented. He knows he’ll be circled in our lineup, and they’re going to pitch around him and try to make him hit their pitch. He’s done a really good job of not allowing them to do that.”
Smith and sophomore Jeffrey Elkins both started 49 of the Demons’ 55 games a season ago. As a redshirt freshman, Elkins was Northwestern State’s primary left fielder and ranked third on the team in batting average (.284) and RBIs (32).
“Jeff hit in the middle of the lineup basically from the second weekend on,” Barbier said of Elkins, who had a pair of game-winning hits, including a tie-breaking double in the Demons’ 3-1 win against LSU in March.
“He’s the ultimate worker. He’s out there early every day. He’s a guy, like Tyler and a lot of our guys, who have a combination of speed and power.”
In addition to Smith and Elkins, senior Lenni Kunert and junior Larson Fontenot return after also starting at least 19 games a season ago.
“We have a litany of guys who have been here, like Larson Fontenot, and then there are guys people don’t know yet, like Kendall Foster, Jacob Farrell, Ryan Zimmerman and Gabe Colaianni, who will be very good players here,” Barbier said. “Some will have to work wihile they wait while others will have opportunities to play early and can captialize on them.”
Kunert could see time at a variety of positions in his final season at Northwestern State. Following a slow start to 2019, Kunert recovered to hit .296 with a pair of home runs and 23 RBIs.
“Lenni is our Swiss Army knife,” Barbier said. “He can run out to the outfield when we need him, slide into the DH role or play at second or third.”
Kunert will be the link between the Northwestern State infield and outfield. Similar to the outfield situation, the Demons return several lettermen who have starting experience on the infield.
The most productive of those is sophomore Hilton Brown, who hit .277 with three home runs and 22 RBIs as a freshman while shifting between second and third base.
“Hilton, like Jeff, came in as a fresman and stuck after we lost a player, and he did great,” Barbier said. “He hit those freshman blues toward the end, which happens a lot with guys who haven’t played that long before. He’s come back in really great shape and done a really good job for us.” While Brown manned one corner infield spot for much of 2019, junior Peyton Davis has seen plenty of action in his first two seasons at first base.
With several spots in the hands of players who have never appeared in a Northwestern State uniform, Davis offers stability at first base.
“He had a really good freshman year for us,” Barbier said. “He’s swung the bat well in the spring and is someone you can rely on.”
Davis will be joined at first base by senior
Hayden Brown, a Murray State College transfer who had one of the Demons’ two four-ormore-hit games a season ago.
Barbier said Brown could also see time on the mound and brings “power and stability” to first base.
Up the middle, the Demons must replace shortstop Caleb Ricca, a 23rd-round draft pick of the Seattle Mariners in June’s Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft, and Sam Taylor, who flip-flopped with Hilton Brown at second and third base.
In their stead, the Demons have several options. At shortstop, Panola College transfer Cam Sibley emerged in preseason practices as the likely starter. He will be pushed by Payne Rodgers, who gained experience in the Demons program as a redshirt in 2019.
“One hits lefty (Sibley) and one hits right-handed,” Barbier said. “Both are very talented. Payne is a solid defender. Cam is a talented player who an really run.”
Similarly, junior Chaney Dodge and freshman Daunte Stuart offer Barbier and the Demons a couple of choices at second base. Dodge has seen playing time in each of his first two seasons and delivered the game-winning RBI off All-Southland Conference closer Reeves Martin of New Orleans. Sophomore infielder Hilton Brown
Northwestern State Demon Baseball 2020 New faces, same expectations
Stuart stepped in and immediately proved himself capable of contributing as a freshman.
“Daunte has all the tools in the book and worked extremely hard to put himself in position to play,” Barbier said. “He’ll get some opportunities to play.”
Sophomore Cameron Parikh, a transfer from McLennan Community College, could see time at several infield positions thanks to an above-average glove.
“Cam had a funny way of getting here,” Barbier said. “He’s a really, really talented player who has come miles with the bat. His bat’s catching up to his other skill set.”
Behind the plate, the Demons have a quartet of catchers who all bring something different to the position.
“It’s a good group,” Barbier said. “Marshall Skinner has done it before, catching two years at JUCO and catching some for us last year. Tyler Thibodeaux is more of a defensive-minded catcher who can really throw. He’s become so much better at the plate, blocking and receiving the ball, too. He’s someone you really root for.
“Austin Kirkpatrick’s arm is getting back to where he can be productive for us after having arm surgery at LSU-Eunice. He’s getting back and has swung the bat well. Cole Horton is a left-handed hitter, who’s strong and tough. He’s going to hit for us at some point, mabye right away.”
That quartet of catchers will be charged with handling a Demons staff that must replace all but 75 1-3 innings from the 2019 season.
Right-hander Logan Hofmann, who turned down the St. Louis Cardinals after being a 35th-round draft pick in June, likely will front the weekend rotation. A Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star in the summer, Hofmann made a smooth transition from Colby Community College to NSU.
“He’s been special since he’s been here,” Barbier said. “He came to us from Colby, which is where Josh Oller, who pitched for us, is the pitching coach. He’s a good one to come out and get a peek at on Friday nights.”
Peyton Graham, whose 33 2-3 innings are the most among returning pitchers, could find himself in the rotation at some point. Graham emerged with a seven-strikeout performance in relief at Arkansas in late April.
“He had a great fall and was going toward that weekend rotation until he hit a snag in his throwing program,” Barbier said. “He’ll be limited early in terms of innings.” Left-hander Reed Michel returns after missing the 2019 season with an arm injury. Michel was a key piece of the 2018 Demons’ bullpen before undergoing Tommy John surgery.
“He’s been tremendous,” Barbier said. “He’s going to be upper 80s with a really good changeup and a good breaking ball he’s developing. He’s a guy we can rely on for the weekends.”
Freshman Johnathan Harmon impressed in the fall and spring and will begin the season as the Sunday starter.
“It will be interesting with a freshman on Sunday,” Barbier said. “I trust him. Our team trusts him. He works his tail off and will be a really good prospect one day. It will be fun to watch when we throw him into the fire.”
Senior Kyle Swanson returns and again will factor into the bullpen as one of the few Demon pitchers whose role seems in place at the outset of the season. Junior Cameron Taylor is another of those as he enters his second season as a full-time pitcher.
“Cameron’s a neat story,” Barbier said. “He’s come a long way from having arm surgery. He’s learned to sping that breaking ball for a strike.”
Junior right-hander Evan Daigle — “someone I can count on to compete every time he takes the mound” acording to Barbier — is back in the bullpen as well.
Fellow junior right-hander Donovan Ohnoutka will be in the mix as well after continuing to make strides in the offseason.
“Donovan’s an ultimate worker,” Barbier said. “He can run his fastball up to 93-94 and has made himself into a prospect.”
In addition to Hofmann, the Demons added additional junior college arms in right-handers Josh Banes (Hinds CC), Levi David (McLennan CC) and Dillon Morris (Ranger JC).
Texas freshmen Drake Smith (Katy HS) and Micah Berens (Timber Creek HS) could work their way into action as could redshirt freshman right-hander Nik Millsap.
“Josh is going to figure in there somewhere,” Barbier said. “He can run it up to 90 and really sink and slide it. Levi is a midd-90s righthander with as good of a breaking ball as we’ve had.
“Dillon Morris is a bullpen arm that every Southland school needs, a guy who can spin breaking balls for strikes. Drake is an exciting freshman who is really athletic, which allows him to make adjustments. Micah is a big right-hander with a really big arm, and Nik has a chance to be really good. He has a chance to throw four pitches for strikes.”
Sophomore left-hander Cal Carver, a Wichita State transfer, could follow the same role as Banes.
“Cal had a slow start to the fall, but came back in the spring ready to go,” Barbier said. “He’s a mid- to upper-80s lefty with a four-pitch mix. He figures to be a bullpen guy
early, but we’ll probably get a few midweek starts out of Cal.” Senior pitcher Reed Michel
