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Kirksville residents seeking a top rated psychologist should consult with online psychologist directories and psychology review sites to find a psychologist that works well for them.
Truman students interested in law often go on to become bankruptcy lawyers, personal injury attorneys and even criminal defense lawyers throughout Missouri.
Scouting reports help ‘Dogs prepare
In the competitive world of MIAA baseball, preparation is key. Teams must know hitters’ and pitchers’ tendencies and what other teams do in specific situations.
Head coach Dan Davis said he knows this too well. He said before any series, he and his assistant coaches comb through statistics and play-by-play, trying to learn what opposing players and teams will do in any possible situation.
“I put in stats, or Nick Pfeiffer, my assistant, puts in stats, and then [assistant coach] Mike DeMilia goes through the play by play,” Davis said. “We each have a different role in putting together our scouting reports.”
Davis said his primary concern is for the Bulldogs to play to their strengths. However, the scouting reports play a large role in the way the ’Dogs approach their opponents, mainly in the first game of each four-game series.
Other sports rely on film to scout their opponents, but Davis said it’s all about the statistics. When his assistants develop the reports, they analyze the play-by-play to get an idea of what a hitter is likely to do. For example, if a player gets a hit with an 0-0 count, he could be more of an aggressive hitter, which would mean the ’Dogs would look to throw out of the strike zone in the opening pitches to get a few easy strikes. If a player has a tendency to steal bases, the team will do all it can to prevent him getting on base. However, if he did get on base, the catcher would look to call for a pitchout to try to get a jumpstart on a stolen base.
Freshman pitcher Bret Gerstner said he studies the scouting report to figure out how to throw to the opposing team’s batting lineup.
“As a pitcher, I just go through all the batters,” Gerstner said. “I look at their average, and then their tendencies, whether they like to hit the fastball or off-speed pitches.”
Davis said the coaches analyze as many plays and games as they can to try to pick up consistent hitting tendencies. Once a consensus is reached, DeMilia puts the report together. The reports then are sent to all the players to study before they start the series.
Senior catcher Devon Myers said that when the reports are distributed, he reviews them with the pitchers so they are on the same page come game time. He said he only uses it to get a decent idea of how to pitch to the players the first time through the batting lineup, but after that he relies more on his observations.
“Every year there’s new guys,” Myers said. “I’ll look at it before the game to get a feel for who the guys are, who are their fast guys, who are their home-run hitters. … After that, though, it’s kind of what I see from the game.”
Davis said the Bulldogs put together their scouting reports about teams on a weekly basis, and don’t rely on their experiences against the team the seasons before. While they can recall players from seasons past, Myers said it was important to have fresh scouting reports every time they play a team because players can develop quickly.
“Every year, people are changing,” he said. “We have guys on our team that were throwing 75-80 [miles per hour] last year and now they’re up to 85. Year-by-year, people on other teams were doing that too. We saw a guy, Joe Holtmeyer [from the University of Nebraska-Omaha] my freshman year, he was throwing like 84, and my sophomore year he was throwing 93 and was a pro prospect.”
Overall, Davis said while the scouting report is crucial, it’s not the most important part of the game plan, and the team has stopped relying as much on what they can conclude from statistics.
“We play a little bit more of our game, and [don’t] worry about scouting reports as much as we did in the past,” he said.
Index Timeline
2012 Baseball Timeline
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