I’m no Avent apologist, but….
On recruiting…
1. Baseball in warm weather South recruits itself.
2. Fuhcilitees haven’t hurt recruiting
3. Because of the draft, and player development from 15-18, and allotted schollies, recruiting baseball is a tough chore no matter where you are. IMO, Avent is an average to above average evaluator of talent.
On the season…
1. Our preseason rankings were too high, as I predicted
2. Pitching was a major weakness, exagerated by Brown’s injury early and what appeared to be late season fatigue or soreness (just my observation)
3. Bad regional draw. We should’ve been a #2 IMO, and may have landed in a better bracket. Kentucky was the better club.
Now on player development and game management, that’s another story..Never been impressed with any of those, especially the latter. But from my perspective, I can’t really criticize Avent too much for the postseason play. There have been plenty in years past. And you really can’t inspect him to manufacture runs, or use his pitching staff wisely, since his history in those areas is just…well, predictably gosh awful
But I am glad baseball fanatics everywhere got to witness his antics with the cap check episode. Reminiscent of many an unwarranted angry protest at the Doak.
