Coastal Carolina Baseball Notebook: Cooke off to strong start after injury-marred 2015

With almost its entire lineup returning from last year, there weren’t many unknowns offensively for the Coastal Carolina baseball team as it opened its season last weekend.

But there were some very encouraging signs from a guy who wasn’t able to contribute much in 2015.

Sophomore outfielder/second baseman Billy Cooke, who was limited to just 27 at-bats as a rookie due to a broken hand, came out of the opening weekend second among all Chants with five hits and a .455 batting average while starting all three games in centerfield.

“Last year playing the first game and finding out I had a broken bone in my hand was not the best news in the world, but definitely a lot better [opening] weekend and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season,” he said this week.

Cooke, out of Maitland, Fla., was a player the Coastal Carolina coaches thought could be an immediate contributor as a freshman last year before he broke the hamate bone in his left hand during the season opener.

He underwent surgery and was eventually able to return to make 10 starts and appear in 25 games, but he hit just .148 with four hits in those 27 at-bats.

Cooke needed only three games this year to top that total, and the No. 19-ranked Chants hope he can keep it going, adding yet another weapon to an already deep lineup.

He also gives coach Gary Gilmore some options defensively as he splits his time in practice between centerfield and second base, where he finished the game Sunday, starting a game-ending double play to seal a big win over the No. 4 Cavaliers.

“Just getting the opportunity is amazing,” Cooke said. “I put on a few pounds, I think I got a little faster as well so I think I’m a lot stronger player and I can bring more to the table to help this team. ... Small ball, stealing bases, scoring runs. We’ve got some big names in the lineup that can drive in runs, and hopefully I’ll be one of the guys who can get on base and score.”

Scouting the field

Coastal Carolina welcomes Duke, Liberty, Marshall and Ohio State to town this weekend for the 17th annual Caravelle Resort’s Baseball at the Beach tournament.

The Chants won’t play Big South rival Liberty this week, but they’ll host Marshall on Friday, Ohio State on Saturday and Monday, and Duke on Sunday.

Marshall opened its season by going 1-2 on the road at Florida A&M last week, giving up 38 runs in the three-game series. The Thundering Herd were 20-32 last season. Senior right-hander JD Hammer (2-6, 3.83 ERA last year), who gave up eight runs and nine hits over three innings in his season debut, is expected to start against the Chants on Friday.

Ohio State comes in with a 3-0-1 record after posting wins over Toledo, Niagara and Pittsburgh and a tie with Toledo last week. The Buckeyes went 35-20 last season, but aren’t picked to finish in the top half the Big Ten this season (the conference only revealed the top six teams in its preseason poll).

Junior left-hander Tanner Tully (4-4 with a 4.75 ERA last year) is projected to start against Coastal Carolina on Saturday while rookie righty Ryan Feltner (a 25th-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays last summer) is on track to pitch Monday when the teams meet again.

Duke opened the season 3-1, taking two out of three games against California before picking up a win over Campbell. The Blue Devils were voted fifth in the ACC’s Coastal Division in the conference’s preseason poll.

Senior righty Brian McAfee, who joined the program as a graduate transfer from Cornell, is set to start against the Chants on Sunday. He gave up seven hits and four runs over seven innings against California in his season debut.

Chants’ pitching rotation

Freshman right-hander Jason Bilous is expected to finally make his first collegiate start Friday for the Chants after being delayed by the team’s rainout Tuesday at UNC Wilmington.

The highly-touted rookie, who turned down a significant offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers last summer to follow through on his college commitment, did get to pitch one inning of relief last Friday, following two walks with two strikeouts in a scoreless frame.

He’ll be on a 50-pitch limit in his first start as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery, but he’s no doubt eager to finally get an extended opportunity on the mound.

“That’s been hard on him. He was so excited on Monday to finally get out there and get a start, but he’s a pretty mellow guy so he’s been good,” Chants pitching coach Drew Thomas said.

Thomas said junior righty Alex Cunningham will pitch Saturday, senior righty Tyler Poole will go Sunday and junior righty Cole Schaefer will start Monday.

Schaefer is an intriguing story to monitor. He struggled mightily last season while posting a 12.38 ERA over eight innings, but he showed a significant jump in velocity this spring and was solid Sunday in the Chants’ 5-4 win over reigning national champion Virginia.

Making the start in the game, Schaefer had allowed only one run through four innings before giving up three in the fifth.

“Very pleased, considering how much he’s been through here and to keep persevering and pushing through and believing in himself,” Thomas said. “... You take away those three 0-2 mistakes he made and I think he pitches into the fifth, maybe the sixth, I don’t know. Those are learning things, but I was very pleased with him.”

Again, Thomas said Schaefer really impressed the coaches in the preseason to earn a chance in the starting rotation.

“It was honestly a breakthrough about three weeks ago. He was still 85-88 [miles-per-hour] in the fall. First outing in the spring was kind of the same, and then he’s been working his tail off and it just kind of clicked and it was 90-91. It was that fast, and he’s been steady,” Thomas said. “We added a new pitch, we added that cut slider in there that helps hide that fastball a little bit more and that’s really, really helped him.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina Baseball Notebook: Cooke off to strong start after injury-marred 2015."