The Clark Atlanta University baseball program is working hard, and their fall baseball league is underway. The Panthers return most of their core players and added a couple transfers and freshmen to a group that went from being dead last in the conference standing going into the last month of the season to qualifying as a seventh seed for the SIAC tournament.
The focus this fall season is hitting with a purpose and with that the Panthers hit every day on the field or in the cages.
CAU head baseball coach Kentaus “K.C.” Carter continues to emphasize to his players the importance of hitting the baseball to the opposite side of the field and gap-to-gap hitting. CAU baseball has demonstrated hitting the ball in those directions and they are looking to translate that style of play in the spring season as they compete for the SIAC championship.
CAU baseball is getting stronger and faster. The new assistant athletic director for sports performance at CAU, Reginald Taylor, has gotten the team in good shape for the fall and continues to prepare their bodies for the spring season. CAU baseball lifts three times a week and they are conditioning everyday.
Retaining some of his roster’s older talent wasn’t the only significant roster development for longtime coach Carter this offseason. The veteran coach also made a splash in the NCAA transfer portal and has developed a really good relationship with those guys that came into fall practice.
The big thing for Carter is his ability to coach and have a staff that’s ready and willing to do whatever is necessary to win ball games and raise the team’s level of performance on the field especially at the plate.
Can the offense find an identity with the newcomers? Which young arms are ready to contribute?
With the possibility of freshman arms moving to the rotation and in the bullpen, some will likely have to step up early to have depth in the staff. This fall will be an important time for those freshmen to show they can be trusted when the 2023 season starts. There are a lot of roles to be filled.
For Carter the next step of evolution for this program is inching closer and closer to that elite status at every position, something that allows this team to win baseball games in as many ways possible. That’s done through these offseason months, where the growth of this team seems to be reaching a new level heading into a really important season.