The Roost

Familiar faces at Watson Stadium

Former Coastal Carolina standouts Scott Woodward and Taylor Motter returned to Watson Stadium on Friday night along with a few other old teammates to watch the Chanticleers' season-opening 7-1 win over James Madison.

I caught up with both to discuss their first taste of professional baseball last summer and their hopes for the year ahead.

Woodward, who was drafted in the seventh round last June by the Los Angeles Dodgers, hit .219 with a .333 on-base percentage, four homers, two triples and eight doubles in 34 games last summer for the Ogden Raptors -- the Dodgers' short-season rookie league affiliate.

He talked about a few of the main differences in making the leap from college baseball to the professional ranks.

"Competition is a whole lot different," he said. "College ball, you have a scouting report throughout the whole season. Like returning players from the past year, they have that scouting report. And once you get to minor league ball, it takes a while for other teams to figure out where your strengths and weaknesses are. So you may be playing so well at the beginning of the season, but at the end of the season you may not be playing so well because that's when scouting reports factor in."

 

The biggest adjustment, meanwhile, was the switch to wooden bats.

 

"Just trying to make solid contact with the wood bat because it's so different than a metal bat," he said. "[With] a metal bat, you can still hit the ball on the bad spot and still hit it far, but with a wood bat you have to make sure you use all parts of the field and utilize every part of your game."

He reports to the Dodgers' minor league camp on March 3 and hopes to be assigned to the Class-A Great Lakes Loons in Midland, Mich.

"I hope to be up in Michigan is kind of what they've told me a little bit, but I could be in short-season A-ball," he said. "It really doesn't matter as long as I'm playing."

Motter, meanwhile, hit .314 with five homers, 13 doubles, 23 stolen bases, 26 RBIs and 38 runs over 49 games between stops with the Advanced-Rookie Princeton Rays (46 games) and the Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (three games).

Motter, who was drafted in the 17th round last June by the Tampa Bay Rays, said he feels like a good fit for the organization.

"I was exactly what they were looking for -- a speed guy who gets on base, can steal a little bit," he said. "When I started off, I felt a little more experienced than everybody else. I was with a bunch of high school guys, but when I got moved up to Low-A I felt I was right where I needed to be with a bunch of guys who played college ball, knew what they were doing, knew the game."

While his offensive numbers were better than those he posted as a junior at Coastal Carolina last season, the slick-fielding shortstop still feels his offensive game has a ways to go.

"I've really focused on my hitting a lot. I feel I need to get my swing more consistent," he said. "My defense has always been there for me, it's going to be there. But I feel like I need to work on my swing and get that more consistent. It's always been a problem."

Motter reports to minor league camp March 6 and is hoping to take another step up the organizational ladder this season.

"High-A is definitely in the cards for the end of the year hopefully," he said.

| Ryan Young, ryoung@thesunnews.com

Time change for Coastal baseball on Saturday

Coastal Carolina's baseball game Saturday afternoon with ACC foe Virginia has been moved up to 2 p.m. due to the threat of rain.

The Chanticleers' game at Watson Stadium will follow a matchup between James Madison and Boston College, now set for 10 a.m.

Ellis comments on Greenwood suspension

Coastal Carolina basketball coach Cliff Ellis spoke Saturday night about junior point guard Kierre Greenwood's one-game suspension for a violation of team policy, but he did not specify the nature of the violation.

Greenwood did not travel with the Chanticleers to Winthrop as they lost 67-57.

"I don't want people to get the wrong impression," Ellis said. "He's a good young man that made a mistake. He made a bad decision, but having raised three children of my own sometimes they made bad decisions. Sometimes you've got to take the car keys away from them, and that's basically what we've done with Kierre.

"There's some things that he violated. Our policies are there for a reason, and when it's violated, you have to pay the consequences. He had to pay the consequences for it, therefore our team had to pay the consequences for it. But we'll learn from it, move on. But we're not going to put any individual over our policies."

Ellis confirmed that Greenwood will play when the Chants return to action Tuesday at home against UNC Asheville.

| Ryan Young, ryoung@thesunnews.com