It was another solid season of baseball for the Volunteers this fall. Jerry Halstead’s John A. Logan College squad checked in with an 11-2 record in what he hopes will serve as a precursor to a strong conference season next spring.

“We got some things done,” said Halstead, now in his 27th year as head coach. “I now have a feel for what our lineup will be like and who can do what defensively, which is critical. And our pitching rotation is starting to get straightened out, too.”

The fall season was especially important for a team that features 20 new players on the roster. Only outfielder Derek Mattea, catcher Marco DiRoma, middle infielder Derek Locascio, corner infielder Adam Velocci and starting pitcher Cale Wine were a part of the program last spring.

“I can see the talent is there,” Halstead said referencing his new squad makeover. “Now it’s just a matter of work ethic. Will our game preparation match our talent? I think it will because we recruited some blue-collar type of kids who have good attitudes about the game.”

Freshmen making an early impact were second baseman Ryan Richardson; centerfielder Brandon Alexander; shortstop Chase Greenwell and third baseman Mike Kozlowski. Greenwell also emerged as the team’s closer.

“All those guys had solid fall seasons and we hope they will be able to carry that over to the spring,” Halstead said.

One starting pitcher who didn’t get much fall work was righthander Tyler Newhart, a sophomore transfer from Wright State.

“He had a heavy load in the Great Lakes summer league, so we didn’t throw Tyler a lot,” Halstead said. “But we’re pretty impressed with him and hope he can back up the numbers he put together over the summer. He could end up being our No. 1 starter.”

Patrick Kaminska and the holdover soph, Wine, could also push for that top spot in the rotation.

“I’m very pleased the way the fall season went for us,” Halstead said. “As far as I’m concerned, it ended a little too soon, but we had a lot of rainouts – more than I can ever recall. Still, I would say this team definitely made progress.”

The Vols will now resort to conditioning the new few months before opening the spring schedule of games Feb. 12 and 13 at a tournament in central Alabama.