'Fallball' begins for UA baseball team

Aaron Wickenden Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman first baseman Ben Diggins steps up to the plate for his final at bat during last night's innersquad game at Frank Sancet Field. Diggins came to Arizona instead of signing with St. Louis.

"Fallball," senior left-handed pitcher Rob Shabansky's term for fall practice, has begun for the UA baseball team.

"It's the best part of the fall," he said. "Getting out on the field as a team rather than just working out on our own, playing pick-up games, going running at 6 a.m."

Fall practice is especially important for players like Shabansky, who is coming off an elbow injury which cut his 1998 season short.

"Things are going well," he said. "The arm's almost 100 percent."

While the Wildcats hope Shabansky can return to the form that made him 5-1 with a 3.35 ERA before the injury, much of the focus of fall practice is setting a line-up which lost six of its nine starters and three of its top pitchers.

"This is pretty much what's going to determine who plays in the spring," head coach Jerry Stitt said. "For the most part the guys are fighting for every spot."

Stitt said that the only Wildcat guaranteed a job right now is sophomore shortstop Keoni DeRenne, who is Arizona's only returning full-time starter.

One of those players fighting for a job is freshman Ben Diggins, a highly-touted prospect who was drafted 31st in the Major League Amateur Draft in June but chose to not sign with St. Louis and came to Arizona instead.

"I'm excited," Diggins said. "We've got a really good club here. Everybody's been playing well. I can't pick out any one individual right now."

The toughest part of practice for Diggins so far has been adjusting to a new position, first base. With fellow freshmen Shelley Duncan and Kenny Huff the leading candidates to play in the outfield corners, a position shift for Diggins was deemed necessary.

"I'm kind of uncomfortable right now," Diggins said. "Just getting to know all the places I need to be is tough."

While Diggins is concerned with his defense, veterans like Shabansky had a hard enough time getting to know all the new faces.

"There are a ton of new guys," he said. "It's hard finding out everyone's names."

Shabansky said that the hardest part for freshmen right now is adjusting to the college lifestyle. Come the spring the hitters and pitchers will face different challenges.

"The hardest part for hitters is seeing pitchers who throw two to three pitches for strikes," he said. "The hardest part for pitchers is throwing to spots instead of just using heat like they did in high school."

Stitt said that there are "34 to 35 players" practicing right now, with only one player, center fielder Rafell Jones, exempt. Jones is a bit busy as the starting free safety for the UA football team.

The team is divided into a red team and a blue team for intrasquad games. Diggins and Shabansky are both on the red team, while Huff and Duncan lead the blue team.

"Everybody looked good," Stitt said of the team's first intrasquad game. "They were excited to be out there. The pitchers threw strikes, the defense was good, the hitters hit well."

Stitt said that no one has yet to stand out, but "we've got a whole month to go."

In addition to playing intrasquad games and having at least one of the two teams practicing everyday, Arizona will also host two exhibition games against the Dutch national team Oct. 17 and 23 with both games at Sancet Field at 7 p.m.

Chris Jackson can be reached via e-mail at Chris.Jackson@wildcat.arizona.edu.