Eliminating outside noise a priority for UK baseball
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Nick Mingione knows the noise is louder in the postseason. UK’s first-year head coach has worked to eliminate the clutter around the program.
In a team meeting earlier Thursday, he asked his team how many people had friends and family coming into Lexington for the tournament. Nearly everyone raised their hands.
“I explained to them there’s a lot of things going on in their world right now,” Mingione said. “And that’s great. That’s what’s supposed to happen. When you have that many people that care about you and want to be apart of it, I don’t want to downplay that. But at the same time, I think every one of those family members, including myself and all my friends and everyone that’s coming into town, they would want our focus to be on our team.”
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Staying focused will be a new challenge for this UK (39-20) ballclub. The Wildcats are hosting just their second regional in school history. Of the 30-plus players on UK’s roster, only four of them were with the program when the Wildcats made the Louisville Regional in 2014. Outside of senior pitcher Logan Salow -- who threw six innings in an emergency start against the Cardinals -- no one else made a considerable impact in 2014.
With an additional 1,300 seats being added to Cliff Hagan Stadium, plus the built-in pressure of the postseason, Mingione wanted to make sure his team is prepared.
“I just reminded them how important it is to be focused on our team,” Mingione said. “When we do that we’re a really good baseball team. It’s really easy to put your time and energy into those other things and that’s a lonely place to be, focused on things you can’t really control.”
Shortstop Connor Heady, who was one of the four members of the 2014 team, said the coaching staff has done a good job keeping the team focused.
“It’s real easy to get caught up, especially in the postseason, in the fans, the added stands and all the media attention,” Heady said. “But I think Coach Minge and the coaching staff has done a really good job of separating that stuff and helping us lock back in. It’s just a game. We’re going to go out there and execute our game plans. We’re going to stick to the same routines. We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing since the very first day. What we do works.”
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What’s worked has been an excellent combination of hitting and pitching. The Wildcats enter Friday’s game against Ohio with the No. 13 best offense in terms of batting average. UK is hitting .317 on the team. The Wildcats’ 3.65 team earned run average is 33rd best in the country. Seven players for UK were named all conference selections. Stellar play all around has led to the opportunity to host.
UK’s open practice on Thursday morning showed off the additional 1,300 seats down the left field line and beyond the left field fence.
“It’s awesome,” Heady said. “It kinda looks like a whole different ballpark. But it’s something we’ve earned and something Coach Minge talked about. He believes everything in life is earned. We believe that we’ve earned the right to have the extra stands, the banners and everything like that.”