Southern Miss heads into the 2012 baseball season following yet another
stellar year full of both team and individual
accomplishments.
The Golden Eagles ended its 2011 campaign with a phenomenal record of 39-19
( 16-8 C-USA), including a regular season
Conference USA Co-Championship, a
ninth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance, both the C-USA Coach of the Year
award for Scott Berry and Pitcher of the Year
accolade for Todd McInnis as well as Tyler
Koelling capturing the Ferriss Trophy for
top collegiate baseball player in the state of
Mississippi.
Upon winning its second Conference
USA regular-season championship, misfortune struck in the postseason for the Golden
Eagles in its quest to try to win the Atlanta
Regional hosted by Georgia Tech. Southern
Miss was unable to field the same team it
had during the regular season as its lineup
was as injuries to Koelling, Adam Doleac,
and B.A. Vollmuth slowed down the squad’s
offensive punch. The Golden Eagles also
did not have the services of starting pitchers
Geoffrey Thomas and Jonathan Thompson
who missed the entire postseason due to
eligibility issues.
Heading into this season, C-USA coaches
predicted Southern Miss to finish fourth in
the league in 2012 behind Rice, UCF and
East Carolina. It should not come as much
surprise to the Golden Eagles due to the
youth of this team. With only five seniors
and 22 combined freshmen and sophomores, this USM team will have to mature
quickly if it wants to defend its regular season championship from a year ago.
Southern Miss will sport many new
faces after 3rd-year coach Scott Berry (75-
43 overall record) brought in the nation’s
3rd ranked recruiting class, according to
Baseball America. The 2012 class is highlighted by Connor Barron, a shortstop from
Sumrall. Barron turned down a lucrative
offer to come to college after being drafted
in the third round of the MLB draft by the
Florida Marlins.
Mason Robbins, an outfielder and pitcher
from George County High School, and
Bradley Roney, an infielder and pitcher from
Wetumpka, Ala., were both drafted in the
first 20 rounds of the MLB draft but opted to
attend USM instead.
These young guys have a daunting task
ahead of them as they seek to replace sev-
Kameron Brunty
eral of the top players from 2011 inlcuding
Vollmuth (.301, 12 HR, 49 RBI), outfielder
Tyler Koelling (.362, 4 HR, 46 RBI), outfielder Marc Bourgeois (.358, 7 HR, 38 RBI), and
infielder Adam Doleac (.335, 2 HR, 39 RBI)
as the top offensive players departing from
last season. Vollmuth was the only one of
the bunch to leave USM early, as he chose
the MLB after being drafted in the 3rd round
by the Oakland Athletics.
USM will be playing in a newly expanded
Pete Taylor Park in 2012 with a total of 2,054
chairback seats and 1,212 bleacher seats,
as the length of the grandstand expanded
beyond the length of both the home and
away dugouts. The new additions will also
make room for a larger student section.
Position Players
Southern Miss returns starters from four
positions off of the 2011 team including
senior outfielder Kameron Brunty, senior
shortstop Ashley Graeter, junior second
baseman Isaac Rodriguez, and sophomore
catcher Jared Bales who also split time with
junior Chase Fowler.
Brunty (.301, 5 HR, 34 RBI), of Gulf
Breeze, Fla., will enter his senior year as
a four-year starter. He is the lone Golden
Eagle to garner any preseason honors from
Conference USA. The team will rely heavily on Brunty’s leadership out of left field as
he is one of the few contributors remaining
from the magical College World Series run
in 2009.
Dillon Day, a junior of Geismar, La., is
the leading candidate to take over center
field duties for the Golden Eagles in 2012.
Day is an excellent fielder who will look to
match his defensive play with his bat. Day
started nine of the 20 games he played in
the field and also made 14 appearances a as
a pitcher, including two as a starter.
The right field spot could be earned as the
season progresses but it looks like the Golden
Eagles will start the season with Joe Martin,
sophomore of Zachary, La., against left-handed pitchers and true freshman Mason
Robbins against right-handed pitchers.
The middle infield will be one of the
few areas with familiar faces for the Golden
Eagles as both Graeter (.331, 2 HR, 24 RBI)
and Rodriguez (.288, 2 HR, 34 RBI) return
to offer a solid combination both offensively and defensively. For the 3rd straight
season, USM reached the 80-plateau in
double plays as they tallied 81 in 2011. The
Golden Eagles led the country in double
plays in 2009 and 2010 after turning 83 and
84, respectively.
Rodriguez, of Weston, Fla., played
exceptionally well in 2011 delivering a
number of key hits on his way to filling the
big shoes left behind the year before by former Golden Eagle second baseman Taylor
Walker. Rodriguez started all 55 games that
he played in last season.
Graeter, a Poplarville native and transfer from Pearl River Community College,
stepped in for an injured Vollmuth at shortstop in the middle of the 2011 season.
Graeter was so effective as a replacement
that he earned a starting spot for the remainder of the season when the Golden Eagles
decided to slide Vollmuth over to third base
upon his return from injury. Graeter started
in 33 of the 43 games he played.
Southern Miss will have to make room
for top recruit Connor Barron. To ease the
transition for the true freshman, the Golden
Eagles could allow Barron to remain at
his natural position of shortstop. If that is
indeed the case, Graeter could be relocated
defensively to the hot corner at third base.
Catching duties for the Golden Eagles
should be in good hands as both Jared Bales
(.281, 2 HR, 20RBI), of Picayune, and Chase
Folwer (.233, 10RBI), of Cumming, Ga.,
return after combining to start every game
