(June 1, 2023) The 2023 Sunbelt League Baseball season starts Friday evening for the Crackers as they open on the road against the 2022 SBL Champion Gainesville Gol’ Diggers at Ivey Watson Field. We sat down with Cracker Manager Kevin Meistickle to get his thoughts on the start of the 2023 season.
For 41 seasons, Cracker manager Kevin Meistickle has prepared for the long two month grind of the summer baseball season. From the early 80’s until early 2000’s, it was with a group of ex pro’s and a few collegiate players. Since 2009, it’s been with all college athletes from colleges and universities from all over the nation in the Sunbelt Baseball League which is partially funded by Major League Baseball.
According to Meistickle, the toughest challenge is in the lead up to the season, not so much the season itself.
“Recruiting and selecting the right mix of players is the biggest challenge. We start working on the next seasons team about two weeks after the last pitch of the season. People think we start looking for players in the Spring but Brad (Ethridge), Gil (Navarro) and Steve (Autry) and I start much earlier”, (referring to his coaching staff). I think Coach Autry saw something like 50 college games this Spring. It’s like a job”. Meistickle adds; “Then around February, we start getting calls from all over the nation from coaches trying to place players and from players directly who want to be a part of what’s happening not only with our club (team) but also with the Sunbelt League. We’ve helped a lot of guys land with other teams when there’s no room here with us. It’s doing what’s best for the players and for the league. I’m still getting calls from guys looking to play.”
When asked about the current state of college baseball. “What we’re seeing is a lot of really good players haven’t gotten much of an opportunity to play at their schools for whatever reason. For the past few seasons, it’s been because the rosters are so crowded with those guys who got an extra year due to the COVID season. It really bogged down some rosters with nearly too many players. Lots of “red shirting” and guys just sitting. They hate that. Players need to be playing.
How’s the team looking for 2023? “We have some good young pitchers. I’m excited to see them work this summer. We also have a very young team so we’ll see how they all come together. I think if we play hard, hustle, make good decisions defensively and our pitchers stay on the attack, we will be OK. We can still win. A lot can happen between the first of June and the end of July. But we are young for sure.”
The Crackers have 9 returning players from last seasons runner up team, including the 2022 SBL Batting Champion Scott Campbell(.387) and SBL Reliever Of the Year Ryan Suppa. Other familiar faces include DH/First baseman Jett Pimentel, second baseman Cole Smith, third baseman Shane Newsome, and pitchers Davis Williams, Harry Cain, Ben Koch and Hal Steljes.
Game 1 of the 2023 season starts Friday 6/2 at Ivey Watson Field in Gainesville against the Gol’Diggers. Game 2 will be on Saturday. First pitch for both games set for 6:35pm.
–Cracker Baseball (6-1-2023)
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