Last year, the Prairie View A&M baseball team, under the direction of Head Coach Michael Robertson, enjoyed their greatest season of baseball in quite some time. Robertson guided the Panthers to a 30-26 overall record with a 17-15 mark in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The 30 wins carried Prairie View to a third place finish in the SWAC Western Division.Offensively, you can look for the Panthers to continue to put up the torrid numbers that they put up last season. As a team, PVAMU ranked first in ten categories, including batting average, runs, hits, RBIs, doubles, home runs and total bases. Prairie View also finished in the top three in several others, such as slugging, on-base percentage and stolen bases.
Leading the charge will be first baseman/designated hitter Rickey Thomas, a sophomore from Spring, TX. At the end of last season, Thomas was selected to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team along with being chosen First Team All-SWAC. He finished the season batting .351 with nine home runs, 13 doubles, 53 RBIs and 102 total bases. “This year, we expect Rickey to do even better than he did last year. He is stronger, more mature and he is starting to read pitches better. We expect him to go out there and put up better numbers than last year,” said Robertson.
With the recent swing in winning, the players cannot wait until Jan. 28 to kick off the season against Paul Quinn College in a 3-game series that will take place here on the campus. Among the players ready to help PVAMU reach even higher heights are the fresh newcomers, including pitcher Brandon Guthrie of Waller, Texas.
Guthrie admits that Prairie View’s remarkable season had an effect on him when it came time to decide where to play collegiate baseball. “I chose Prairie View A&M University because it is an up and coming baseball program. Coach Michael Robertson is very dedicated to winning and turning players into something more and leading them into bigger and better things, such as playing in the major leagues. Coach had three players drafted last year, which is something that really caught my eye. Prairie View not only has tremendous potential as a baseball powerhouse, but the great environment and education that I will receive is something that I couldn’t pass up.”
While some may think that Robertson runs a tight ship, such an attribute might be necessary to winning, according to Guthrie. “With myself coming from the military and having a great respect for the military, it is easy for me to get along with Robertson because he was in the Marines himself and he runs things in a very controlled manner.”
After winning 30 games, the expectations for the team are at an all-time high. Players are openly talking about winning the SWAC championship. Such a feat may not be so far out of the question. The strengths of this year’s Panther team will lie in its offensive abilities, highlighted by the overall team speed and big bats. Robertson said, “We will be able to generate a lot of runs with our offense. Playing small ball will be a big part of our offense because we have a lot of guys in the lineup this year that are able to run. We are also hoping that our pitching staff will be able to help us have a successful season.”
The Panthers starting rotation, although young, is loaded with potential. Expected to take the mound will be newcomer Matthew Chase (Weatherford Community College), Jermaine Watkins (Independence Community College), Eric Johnson (McNeese St.) and Wrandal Taylor (Ozen High School of Beaumont). Also contributing to the staff will be relief pitcher Ben Dunn, who finished third in the SWAC in innings pitched with 73.2. Jose Mata will be counted on as well, as Mata finished tied for third in the SWAC with six wins.
With players like Jermel Lomack, Terrance Sparks and Gerald Miller being drafted from year’s team, Robertson is looking for someone to replace some of the leadership lost. He said, “Last year I could name five or six guys off of the top of my head that were great leaders on the team. This year, I would say Steve Washington, Bryan Gonzalez and Jabari Wimbs are the guys that I look forward to leading this team.”
So what does a coach coming off of the school’s best record in over 30 years expect? “Championships,” said Robertson with a laugh. “Other than that, we will try to convey to the kids and emphasize that they go out and play hard, be consistent and play with a lot of emotion, especially during home games. We are trying to instill in them a mental toughness and a killer instinct.”
The baseball team’s next home games will be on Friday and Saturday, Jan., 28 and 29. The opponent will be Paul Quinn College, and game time is 3 p.m.