Griffons look forward to strong hitting season

* Oestereicher, Parsons return to Nevada for another season.

By Ralph Pokorny

Nevada Daily Mail

The 2009 season was learning experience for Griffons head coach Ryan Mansfield and he plans to bring those lessons to the Griffons upcoming 25th anniversary season.

Mansfield said that s couple things he plans to do differently is to "let our guys play" and to follow his gut reaction.

"If I second guess -- then it's too late," he said.

Mansfield, who is an assistant coach at Fort Scott Community College, where he works with the hitters, catchers and outfielders, as well as, recruiting coordinator, and an associate scout for the Boston Red Sox, will be in his third year with the Griffons, and his second as head coach.

The Griffons assistant coach this summer will be Jon Hansen, who is in his second season as an assistant coach at Hutchinson Community College, where he played during the 2003-'04 seasons.

"I'm excited to see what we have this year. Overall, we have a better group of position players," Mansfield said.

"We have a little more power than last year and several guys who can run," he said, adding that there a a couple of players who can run 60 yards in 6.6 or 6.7 seconds.

Zach Caldwell, a MSSU 2010 graduate, has about 40 stolen bases this year and teammate Patrick Deao can run, as can Andrew Dixon from Hutchinson Community College, he said.

"We have a good mix of hitters and runners," Mansfield said.

Fans can look for a few more doubles this year, he said.

As for pitching, which is always a critical ingredient, Mansfield expects to have several players he can count on.

Left hander Kyle Oestereicher will be back this summer, as well as right handed pitcher Ryan Parsons.

"I'm very, very confident in their ability," he said.

Jason Nichols, Taylor Burns and CJ Maffai should also contribute quality pitching.

Maffai, who graduated this year, was the number one or two pitcher at MSSU this season, he said, adding that Maffai may be drafted.

"I hope we get him," Mansfield said.

This year's Griffons will have a good mix of younger and more experienced players, including three or four 2010 graduates.

"We have a number of guys who have played three or four college seasons," he said.

There are also at least seven players who are still playing in post season tournaments.

He said there are three playing in the Division I and one in Division II junior college post season and four playing in the NCAA Division II World Series.

"I expect to be better -- that's what we want," he said.

"I'm pretty excited to get the season going and see what we have," Mansfield.

The Griffons open their 2010 season at 7 p.m., June 2, with the Midwest Nationals, a select team of high school and recent high school players from southwest Missouri, located in Springfield.