Alabama baseball head coach Mitch Gaspard is entering his third season with the Crimson Tide. In his first two seasons, the Tide made trips to the NCAA tournament. During our talk, Gaspard said having experienced position players will help carry a young pitching staff, and his main goal is to have the team compete hard every night.
CW: What did you like about last season, and what were some things you think the team can improve on going into this year?
MG: We knew last year was going to be a transitioning year because we lost the bulk of our position players. Last year’s team was built around our pitching staff. Our starting pitching held up well and had a good year. They carried us because we had an inexperienced offense. Our position players gained valuable experience last year, and we are flipping the script this year. We are much more experienced from a position standpoint, but we are extremely young on the pitching mound.
CW: Your first two seasons here, you’ve made the NCAA tournament. Talk about that postseason experience and how it will help the team moving forward.
MG: Our goal at Alabama, every year, is to contend and have an opportunity to get to Omaha for the College World Series. To do that, you do have to have guys with experience in that arena. We have six guys who have played in Super Regionals. That experience helps most in your daily work in what you do in your fall preparation and early spring. Those guys are able to help the new guys and show them the way. That experience helps build confidence.
CW: Speaking of experience, you have Taylor Dugas and Jared Reaves returning this season. What’s it like having your two best players back for their senior year?
MG: As a coach, it’s comforting. Taylor Dugas could be the best leadoff hitter and centerfielder in the country. He’s a two-time All-American and has played in nearly every game since he’s been on campus. Also, it’s comforting to have Jared. He’s our three-hole hitter. That’s two great places to start. Those guys have been in a lot of different situations, and that gives you a lot of comfort heading into the season.
CW: You talked about the youth of the pitching staff. What are you and your staff doing to get these young guys ready for the SEC run?
MG: The biggest thing for us is a lot of teaching. Our preparation has to be consistent. Next step for us is in game experience. They’re going to see all of that stuff we’ve been teaching come to fruition on the mound this season. We have to learn and get better from outing to outing. The SEC is a tough league to pitch in for a veteran guy, but we’re talking about six or seven young guys.
CW: The team was picked to finish third in the SEC West this season. When you see those rankings, do you think it’s a fair assessment of your team’s talent?
MG: All preseason rankings are all based on what you have coming back. Where we’re picked right now is a very fair assessment. When you look at the SEC and particularly the western division, Arkansas returns nearly its entire team. LSU returns its entire pitching staff. You can really juggle up and see how it falls between ourselves, Ole Miss, Auburn and Mississippi State. It is what it is.
CW: Every coach wants to win a championship, and you obviously want to win the SEC. For you personally, what would make this a successful season, outside of winning a championship?
MG: We have the nucleus for a terrific staff, not only now, but as we move into the future. I would like to see six or seven of those guys establish themselves this year as SEC-ready so we can put a staple on our pitching staff over the next two or three years. The biggest thing for me is having a team play hard every night and play as a group. Every time you go onto the field, you feel like you have a chance to win. All I ask is that you do the right things on the field and play your tails off every night.
