From the Dugout

Former Wildcat Baseball Players:

The Kansas State baseball program just came off a record setting year with 43 wins and the schools first ever NCAA post season appearance. It was an exciting year and we are looking to build on the momentum. The DiamondCats have been a tremendous asset to our program the past few years providing improvements and upgrades to our facility. We are thankful for the support and asking that our alumni really step up to the plate this year for a major project we are undertaking.

At the conclusion of last season, the coaching staff met and discussed some ideas that would continue to best benefit our program. After discussing a few ideas, the consensus of the coaching staff was to upgrade our video system. The past few years, we have utilized video cameras and recording systems that resemble what many of us use at home. This has worked to some extent, but we have also had to continually spend money upgrading or replacing inexpensive equipment. We have researched and viewed different systems at places such as Baylor, Texas A&M, Santa Clara and San Diego State to name a few. These are very expensive systems, but the quality and capabilities are almost endless.

Our coaching philosophy at Kansas State during my tenure has been a “hands on approach.” This means we work constantly with our kids in different teaching areas of the game. Some of our players require fundamental and mechanical work, while others need to see results of their performance in game situations. At Kansas State, we know the importance of the development of our players. Coach Bird does a fabulous job in the strength/conditioning phase; Coach McCann is an excellent pitching coach; and Coach Sawyers spends tireless hours with our hitters. Our program is built on work ethic. The one area where we could assist these coaches the most is a video system to speed up the learning curve of our players.

The Sportstec System was introduced to us by the basketball staff at Kansas State. It involves a very expensive piece of software to manage the system. The software will allow us limitless capabilities of watching our kids in game and practice situations. We can breakdown swings/pitches in different count situations, certain game situations, types of swings/pitches thrown and results. The teaching opportunities with this system are phenomenal and give our kids instant positive and negative feedback in all categories of their game. The system will include 4 permanently mounted cameras – 1 in centerfield, 1 on the press box, and 1 on each dugout. This will give us every angle needed for quality feedback of pitch mechanics and location, hitting mechanics and results, and we can run a live feed up to the Suites for television use. One other very important factor the Sportstec System will provide is scouting of opponents immediately following a game. Our coaches do a great job of compiling information through phone calls and reviewing film of previous years games to create thorough scouting reports. However, the new video system would allow us the opportunity to make quick adjustments during a weekend series.

Our coaching staff is excited for this opportunity, but we need your help. We are committed to this project and will utilize $25,000 of our budget, plus use $10,000 from DiamondCats fund from last year 2008-09. We are asking our alumni to contribute another $15,000 to the DiamondCats fund for 2009-10 to completely pay for this project. This is a major request for your support, but with over 400 Wildcat baseball alumni, the goal is definitely attainable. A number of former players have agreed to help network and make calls encouraging all Wildcats to become involved in this all important upgrade for our program.

Thank you for your past support and consideration of this new exciting project.
Go Cats!
 

Coach Brad Hill