By: By Tim McCaughan | GoSycamores.com
Head coach
Mitch Hannahs has won 127 games in just four seasons at the helm of the Sycamore baseball program. We sat down with him to discuss the offseason, newcomers and more heading into the 2018 season.
How did the summer go?
I think for the most part, pretty well. The good thing was everybody went out and everybody stayed healthy for the most part. We had guys get a lot of reps and it has shown so far this fall. Guys that didn't get a lot of playing time last year got a lot of reps in the summer and their game is better because of it.
With four players taken in the MLB Draft, how do you think that will affect this year's team?
Not just those guys, but we lost guys that had been solid performers on our club for a few years. Replacing them is not going to be easy. We'll feel the affect but at the same time I feel like the guys our staff have recruited to fill those voids have done a great job so far. From a talent standpoint, I think we'll be fine but from an experience and leadership standpoint that's going to be where we see the drop.
What have you seen from the newcomers so far this fall?
What I really like is how quickly our club has seemed to gel and pull together. That's not something you can fake. That's not something you can talk about and have it happen. Seeing everyone pull together and unify early on has been something pleasant to see to this point. The thing I like is I like how they work. They get out there and get after it and they've jumped right in and attacked every day.
Which of the newcomers do you see having a big impact?
I don't like to single anyone out, especially at this point. Time will play that out. I definitely think there are a few guys sitting there that are going to step in at this level and perform very well, but we'll let that take care of itself.
What are your expectations for this season?
Our expectations don't change. That's the one thing we've tried to get past here. That two or three-year period where you have a good team and then you drop off and you're back in a year or two. We've tried to be much more consistent as a program so I think for us - going from a second to a third-place finish in the league and you lose 15 guys, I think we still have the expectation to be at the top end of our league and being in a regional. That doesn't change year-to-year.
Talk about the schedule and how you think it will help the team heading into the MVC Tournament.
I think this schedule is a tough schedule. The out of conference games are going to prepare us for the competition we're going to see at the league level. We've also got some clubs that are going to prepare us for even a bigger level, which is what you look for in a schedule. The thing that I like about it probably a little more compared to last year is I felt last year's schedule was a really tough schedule in terms of our team travel. I felt like it really wore our club down, so this I think is a good schedule. The time we spend a long way away from Terre Haute is minimized.
The team hit for a lot of power a year ago. Do you expect that to continue this year?
You hope it continues. The other thing that might have been a factor last year was the weather. I think the bottom line is in this climate of college baseball, you have to be able to play more than one style. You have to line up and hit the three-run home run on days where the wind is blowing out but I also think you have to be able to play the game. There is a time and place for small ball as well so that's really where we're at as a young offense. We've got to be a little more multifaceted. We're probably more of a physical team right now that can drive the ball and not as good at the short game and running the bases as we have been in the last couple year.
Indiana State has been consistently towards the top of the country in defense. Do you think this year's team will continue that?
I think if you look around the field we may not be as talented in some spots defensively, but that defense has been a credit to the hard work of
Brian Smiley and
Brad Vanderglas. Those guys put a lot of time and a lot of pride into defense. I think that's why we've seen the consistency over the last few years and I feel like plugging new guys into that with how they practice every day - by spring they are going to be able to continue to carry on that mantra.
What does it mean to you and the program to have a consistent coaching staff with Brian Smiley and Jordan Tiegs who have been with you now for a few years?
It's like the old saying "You're only as good as the people you surround yourself with". There's no consistency in this without those guys. When you constantly have to roll coaches in and out, it just kills the momentum of a program. The other thing is those guys have a lot of responsibility here. This isn't a place where I just stand at the top and point my finger. Those guys are down in the mix of everything. They have a lot of responsibility from the recruiting end to the in-game stuff to practice or whatever it might be. They are a huge part of what happens here day-to-day so losing anyone that is that involved is really a killer for a program. It's really hard to sustain and move forward if we lose guys, especially the caliber of guys we have here.
The full 2018 schedule will be released in the coming weeks.
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