Gainesville Region 2014 Baseball World Series Breakdown
#2 Florida, Long Beach State, North Carolina, Charleston
Florida is the number two overall seed in the NCAA Tournament thanks to a very tough strength of schedule. The SEC regular season champs are a very balanced team offensively, but Taylor Gushue is easily the team’s best hitter. The junior is one of just two hitters who have an average over .300, at .323, and leads the team with six home runs and 49 RBI’s. On the mound, freshman Logan Shore is the man. Shore has been great in the Friday night role, going 7-3 with a 1.99 ERA. Behind him, Florida has used a number of different pitchers in the starting role, but the x-factor of the bunch will be Karsten Whitson. A former ninth overall pick in the MLB Draft, Whitson has had an injury-plagued career at Florida, but he has the potential to be the ace of the staff. Coming off a solid start against LSU in the SEC Tournament Championship Game, Florida could use his arm in the rotation.
Joining Florida will be Long Beach State, North Carolina and the College of Charleston. Long Beach State struggled to start the year, but then caught fire down the stretch and climbed up to finish second in a talented Big West Conference. Long Beach will rely on their pitching staff and it is led by senior Josh Frye, 8-0 with a 1.51 ERA, and sophomore Andrew Rohrbach, 6-2 with a 2.13 ERA. Offensively, watch out for Richard Prigatano, who hit .314 with 45 RBI’s and 18 stolen bases this season. North Carolina struggled this season, but they have the experience to be dangerous in the tournament. Sophomore Trent Thornton has been big at the top of the starting rotation, going 7-3 with a 2.10 ERA and he will need pitchers like Benton Moss to step up and join him. Sophomore closer Reilly Hovis has provided a solid prescence at the back end of the bullpen, recording six saves since original closer Chris McCue was lot for the season with a blood cot in his arm. Michael Russell has been the man for UNC offensively this season, but watch out for Skye Bolt. The sophomore is having a down year but he is capable of big things. College of Charleston is a very dangerous four seed with a great pitching staff. Bailey Ober is 9-2 with a 1.37 ERA and Taylor Clarke is 10-3 with a 2.65 ERA to lead the starting rotation and senior Michael Hanzlik has 14 saves at the back end of the bullpen. For a national two seed, this is a very tough region as it has good ball clubs from top to bottom.
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