By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR.
Editor/Collegiate Baseball
(First Of A 2-Part Series)

FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn. — In the not too distant future, pitchers may have better control than ever if baseball embraces the concepts of two men who are bringing innovative information into the game from the bow hunting and gun industry along with brain research.

The sad reality is that pitchers rarely hit their target. According to Inside Edge, which compiles data from Major League games, pitchers on this level only hit their target 24 percent of the time during the 2014 season. Inside Edge defines hitting a target as the catcher’s glove didn’t move or it was within one baseball width from the glove.

If the best pitchers in the world don’t hit their target 76 percent of the time, it makes you wonder how often college and high school pitchers miss their target.

Military snipers can hit their target with precision up to a mile away, but pitchers fail over and over again at hitting their mark from 60 feet 6 inches.

Collegiate Baseball ran an in-depth story about why snipers are so accurate and pitchers aren’t in the Feb. 6, 2015 edition as the U.S. Navy SEAL Sniper Training program was explored with key vision information as well as interviewing noted baseball vision expert Dr. Bill Harrison on the parallels between sniper training and pitching.

A big difference between the two disciplines are that snipers look through a scope with crosshairs to target with precision, and their rifle is completely still along with the sniper’s body and head. A pitcher has many moving body parts as he throws a pitch, including his head, which obviously includes his sighting mechanism with his eyes.

The game of baseball has never had a method to improve the strike percentage of pitchers until now.

Doug Besherse, inventor of The Strike Plate, and Tim Nicely, inventor of V-Flex, have introduced products in the past year that could revolutionize the way pitchers throw strikes with more precision. Both are from Tennessee and have been toying with concepts for these products the past 20 years.

In the first part of this 2-part series, we will delve into the vision concepts being taught by Besherse. This gentleman from Fayetteville, Tenn. has been involved in the disciplines of firing off arrows in archery as well as guns of every type for the past 45 years. He has shot and tested literally every type of bow that has been used for decades.

Besherse is internally known for firing arrows from bows without the aid of an aiming sight. Yet he is one of the most accurate shooters in the world. Since he was six years old, he has aimed and shot at small targets which has resulted in successful hits or small misses.

In fact, aim small, miss small is a well known saying among marksmen. By reducing the size of the area aimed at, the miss is reduced as well.

A former collegiate pitcher and catcher in Central Florida, Besherse came up with a product for pitchers called The Strike Plate which focuses in on this concept. It is a steel pitching target trainer which has rubberized target covers to protect thrown baseballs.

It automatically trains a pitcher to throw the ball precisely to the four corners of the strike zone and away from the middle of the zone. Each of these four targets is a square the diameter of a baseball.

This training devise takes away the illusion of accuracy. If you are missing the target even a little, you know it immediately.

“My background is very unique,” said Besherse.

“I started shooting BB guns when I was really young because I lived on a farm. One day I got my hands on a very inexpensive archery set, and I remember shooting arrows from it in the first or second grade. There was something about it that mesmerized me.

“From that point on, I spent a lot of time shooting some type of firearm or archery equipment. At the same time, I was playing sports as well. All of these activities go hand-in-hand because of the eye-hand coordination involved.

“One of the things I got stuck on was shooting archery equipment without sights. When you shoot an arrow without a sight, your brain programs the flight of that arrow. It becomes an art form almost for the shooter hitting his target.

“You lock into what you want to hit, and the arrow just goes there when everything is clicking properly. People simply don’t understand how I can accomplish this in archery without a sighting mechanism that most people use. But what I do isn’t as difficult as throwing a baseball and hitting a target as a pitcher.

“The question is this. Whether you shooting an arrow through a bow in archery or firing a baseball as a pitcher, how can you make it go where you want it?

“I have spent probably 40 years of my life being involved in baseball in one capacity or another. I was a former pitcher and also was a catcher during my playing days.”

To read more of this special report on the concepts archers have utilized for decades and why this will help pitchers become better strike throwers, purchase the Feb. 12, 2016 edition of Collegiate Baseball by CLICKING HERE. Doug Besherse explains some amazing concepts that will be new to pitching coaches and pitchers.

By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR.
Editor/Collegiate Baseball

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — In the history of college baseball, it is rare to see 300-pound pitchers perform during games.

In covering college baseball since 1971, I only recall this happening twice.

The first was when future pro football Hall of Fame offensive lineman Anthony Munoz (6-foot-7, 300-pounds) pitched for the University of Southern California and also played football for the Trojans. He was a part of the USC’s 1978 national championship baseball team.

He was a pro baseball prospect who could throw 88-90 mph on the mound and could hit a baseball with incredible power. He once hit a ball over 500 feet during a game for Chaffey High School (Ontario, Calif.). But his career path was firmly entrenched in football.

Another fabulous big athlete is gracing college baseball today in RHP Ben Ancheff, a 6-foot-2, 300 pounder at St. Thomas University in Florida.

This mountain of a man earned 11 varsity letters at Williams Valley High School (Tower, PA) playing football, baseball and wrestling. In baseball, he topped out at 92 mph as a pitcher and was 9-0 with a 0.76 ERA his junior year and hit .420 from the left side as he also caught games.

He was a member of seven All-State teams in those three sports and was an All-American wrestler who rarely lost.

This amazing young man has faced his share of derogatory comments about his size throughout his life — some comments absolutely brutal. Opposing players have fired questionable comments in his direction to get under his skin. But that usually stops when he shows them he isn’t some side show on the mound and can actually pitch.

Fans in the stands are a different story.

To read more about how nasty opposing fans can be in their comments toward Ben Ancheff and how he nearly died at birth, order the Feb. 12, 2016 edition of Collegiate Baseball by CLICKING HERE.

By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR.
Editor/Collegiate Baseball

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Head coaches in NCAA Division I were ejected 35 percent more during the 2015 season than the year before, according to records tabulated by George Drouches, NCAA Division I Baseball National Umpire Coordinator.

It may have been the biggest spike in head coach ejections in the history of college baseball from one year to the next as 150 coaches were tossed last season.

Speaking at the American Baseball Coaches Assn. Division I Business Meeting, Drouches outlined an alarming lack of respect for umpires.

“Quite frankly, many of the ejections were caused by bad behavior from baseball coaches,” said Drouches.

“Arguments with umpires have escalated to being laced with profanity. All umpires try to do is call games to the best of their ability and enhance the game. And they aren’t perfect. But when a coach confronts an umpire with profanity, he isn’t leaving that official much of a choice other than ejecting him.

“Nobody likes to see ejections. It isn’t good for anybody. Umpires have been at fault too because in many cases they didn’t know how to handle situations that keep escalating. We are all in this together, and our goal is to minimize ejections in the game. I used to coach, and I understand when a coach gets ramped up because of a questionable call.

To read more of this article, subscribe to Collegiate Baseball or purchase the Jan. 29, 2016 edition by CLICKING HERE. Drouches explains a plan of action that should cut down on the alarming number of ejections for the 2016 season.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Coppell, Tex. is ranked No. 1 in Collegiate Baseball’s 2016 National High School Baseball Pre-Season poll.

Headlining the team are five pitchers who all have signed or verbally committed to NCAA Division I universities. All throw 90 mph or higher.

They include RHP Charles King (Texas Christian, 6-0, 1.09 ERA, 47 K, 95 mph), RHP Ray Gaither (Dallas Baptist, 7 SV, 0.41 ERA, 21 K, 96 mph), junior LHP John Kodros (LSU verbal commit, 1-0, 1.47 ERA, 91 mph), RHP Hayden Kettler (Baylor, 3-1, 1.07 ERA, 91 mph), and RHP Chris Burdine (Oklahoma State).

The Cowboys (25-6) lost in the regional quarter finals last season, but return a seasoned team with 12 players who have been three-year starters. The only position with a new athlete is right field.

“We should have a strong ball club in 2016,” said Coppell Head Coach Kendall Clark. “In my coaching career which is nearly 30 years now, I have never had a pitching staff like this.”

“I was fortunate to coach Plano West High School to the 2008 5A state title in Texas. This staff is much deeper than that one with great arms. We also have 12 players who have been 3-year starters. Everyone on our team is excited to get the season going.”

Leading the offense are junior P/1B/DH Trey Becerra (.324, .500 on base %, 8 2B) and SS Jacob Nesbit (.354, 7 2B, 3 3B, 26 SB).

For information on all the top 30 teams in the poll, read the full story in the January 29, 2016 edition of Collegiate Baseball. This issue also includes the 2016 Pre-Season Louisville Slugger All-Americans and a state-by-state list of top high school players. You can subscribe or purchase a single copy of Collegiate Baseball by CLICKING HERE.
 

Collegiate Baseball’s Pre-Season National H.S. Poll
(January 29, 2016)