2016 Shorter Baseball Schedule
2016 Hawks Roster

By Jim O'Hara

ROME, Ga. – When Wes Timmons was named Shorter University's head baseball coach last August, he knew that there was much work to be done – and then some – as he took over a program that for all practical purposes was going to have to rebuild from the ground up.

This weekend, the construction begins as what is basically a brand new Hawks team that's under the direction of a new coaching staff takes the field to open a new season.

""These guys have been working to get the feel of the new changes," Timmons said about the 27-player team that, save for just four who played at Shorter a year ago, are will make their debut in the season opener when the Hawks travel to Mobile, Ala., to take on non-conference foe Spring Hill in a doubleheader Saturday and one more tilt on Sunday.

"For most of them, it's all new. Everything is faster," he said. "It's going to take true effort. Give me the effort and I'm with you."

Despite having to begin a season with what is relatively clean slate, the Hawks and Timmons are blessed with the foursome who have been down the NCAA Division II and Gulf South Conference road before – senior Brian Cabrera and juniors Dustin Lawson, Patrick Sanderson and Blaze Vazquez.

Last year, Cabrera got 40 starts in the outfield where he batted .286, scoring 26 runs and driving in 15 more, while Lawson became the Hawks' full-time catcher, starting in all but one of Shorter's games and ended season hitting .292 with 16 RBI and 22 runs.

Sanderson got the starting call as an infielder 29 times last season, recording a pair of home runs and 11 RBI, and Vazquez made the most of his opportunities in the outfield in 2015, batting .311 in 12 games.

All four figure into the position puzzle that Timmons must put together with everyone piece being new ones.

Junior transfer Ty Cherry will get the shot at nailing down first base as he arrives at Shorter after playing the last two seasons Southeastern (Fla.), while at third freshman Sean Acevedo is expected to hold down the other corner at third base.

Sanderson will figure into a three-man combination that will assume the duties as middle infielders at second and short, along with sophomore transfer Jerry Liang – he first played at North Carolina A&T where Timmons previously coached – and freshman Jacob Ramos, both who will take turns as part of the Hawks' pitching plans.

Joining Cabrera and Vazquez in the outfield to start the season will be two transfers in junior Raul Cortes, who played at Palm Beach (Fla.) College, and sophomore Nate Bock, who joins the Hawks after making the trip across the country from California where he played at De Anza College.

"We've been scrimmaging as much as we can to see how they play," said Timmons. "The trouble with that is we don't have enough arms."

All told, not only is the Hawks' pitching staff an entirely new one, it is also few in numbers with Timmons and pitching coach Frank Suarez expecting to call on position players like Liang and Ramos to share time on the mound.

What is certain is that the Hawks have tabbed sophomore Patrick Busscher, a right-hander who transferred to Shorter from North Greenville, as their starter Saturday, with three other hurlers being counted on to see time on the mound right away – sophomore transfers Micah Wyatt, from Summerville via Tennessee Temple, and Michael Weiksner, who played at North Greenville; and freshman Jacob Farmer, who prepped at nearby Armuchee High and spent last year on Georgia Highland's roster.

Knowing the make-up of the mound corps, Timmons is borrowing a page from the minor-league instructional playbook – starting the season using a "piggyback" starting rotation in which pitchers adhere to a strict pitch count each came and split time on the mound in each game.

"That's our approach. We're going to steal that philosophy," Timmons, who spent 10 years playing professionally and began his career with the Atlanta Braves, said about making sure that the limited number of arms the Hawks have stay healthy and get stronger.

After their two games at Spring Hill, the Hawks return to Rome for a three-game home stand at the Ledbetter Baseball Complex with Shorter hosting South Atlantic Conference power Carson-Newman next Wednesday and non-conference opponent LeMoyne-Owen on Feb. 13 and 14.

After visiting Albany State on Feb. 16, the Hawks jump into their GSC slate with a three-game weekend series on the road at Union on Feb. 20-21.

"Before it's all said and done, it will be a carousel of lineups," the coach said about how the entire roster will get a look. "It's going to be a trial by fire.