Where the Commodores finish in the standings this year is anyone’s guess. The team has a lot of question marks at the start of the season as it will not have its full complement of players until early July most likely. In the meantime, the players who are in town will do their best to keep the team’s collective head above water until the cavalry arrives. 

    Falmouth has three players who have been selected to try out for the USA national team in Darwin Barney of Oregon State, Cole St. Claire of Rice, and Sean Morgan of Tulane. Both Barney and St. Claire are both still playing in the College World Series. Barney most likely will take his spot with the national team, but the scuttlebutt around Commodores camp says that there’s a good chance that both St. Claire and Morgan will be playing here. St. Claire, who has gone 5-2 with a 1.55 ERA and 11 saves for the Owls of Rice, would like a chance to start games this summer, and the Commodores are more than willing to accommodate that request while USA probably won’t. Morgan, on the other hand, would also like a chance to not only pitch, but to hit as well.

     Morgan was the workhorse of the Green Wave’s staff this past spring, compiling 118 innings pitched with an 8-6 record, allowing just 96 hits with a 3.51 ERA, which was the team’s best among starters. He struck out 125 and walked just 39. He also batted .227 in limited duty in the field.

     Joining St. Claire and Barney among Falmouth players still alive in the CWS are six others. Mitch Canham (Oregon State), Brad Chalk (Clemson), Taylor Harbin (Clemson), David Kopp (Clemson), Joe Paterson (Oregon State), and Stan Widmann (Clemson) are all still vying for the national championship with their respective clubs.

     As for opening day, Head Coach Jeff Trundy had no idea, as of yesterday, who would be in the starting lineup for Thursday’s opener at Chatham. The Commodores are trickling into camp daily and the active roster is in a constant state of flux. When prompted for his lineup for the first game, the coach, who has been with the organization now for a decade, could only laugh. “I really don’t have any idea right now, it’s all up in the air,” he said.

     What he does know is who will start the opener. After that, though, like his lineup, the rotation is a guessing game right now.

     Sam Detwiler of Missouri State University will take the hill against the Athletics on Thursday evening, with the first pitch slated for 7 PM at Veteran’s Field. Falmouth can only hope that Detwiler can give them the type of effort that they got out of last year’s Missouri State Bear, Brett Sinkbeil, who was taken 19th overall in the first round of the 2006 MLB draft last week.

     Detwiler was one of the aces of the Bears’ staff this year. He posted a 7-4 record with an earned run average of just 2.81, which was second on the team only to Sinkbeil. Detwiler led the team in innings pitched, hurling 93 frames. In those innings he allowed just 73 base hits, and opponents batted just .214 against him. He appeared in 14 games, all starts, and completed two outings by himself. The lefty struck out 99 and walked just 47.

     There are several players that Falmouth fans should really look forward to watching this summer, but none more than outfielder Warren McFadden, of Tulane University. Returning for his second year with the Commodores, McFadden had an absolutely fantastic year with the Green Wave, earning Freshman All-American status from Baseball America. McFadden batted a team-high .382 for TU with 50 runs batted in over the course of the season.

     The other Tulane player that will see time with Falmouth is catcher and first baseman Aja Barto. The big right-handed batter had a rough spring with Tulane, but according to former Commodore Mark Hamilton “he can hit it a ton.”

     Ryan Anetsberger, of Illinois State, has arrived in town and played in the game versus the military all-star team on Sunday. The infielder, who will probably find a home at third base, will probably be a top of the order type of hitter after batting .327 at ISU with 25 runs batted in.

     Also in the infield for the Commodores will be Jeremy Farrell, of Virginia. The Cavalier batted .343 (third on the team) this spring with two homers and 31 RBIs. He could play nearly any infield spot for Falmouth.

     In the outfield, Jay Sferra, of Arizona State, will see a lot of time. Sferra batted .323 for the Sun Devils, knocking in 15 runs and stealing five bases. Fellow Sun Devil, Brett Wallace, will be in the infield for Falmouth and has star potential. Wallace put up some gaudy numbers at ASU, hitting .371 for the season with seven homers and 32 RBIs. He slugged .583 and had an OPS of 1.022.

     A true power threat for Falmouth will come behind the plate in Texas Christian’s Andrew Walker. The catcher had nine homers for TCU with 42 RBIs this spring, playing alongside former Falmouth all-star Chad Huffman (who had 18 homers). Walker batted .304, collected 14 doubles, and had a slugging percentage of .515.

     On the hill, Demel is another returning player from last year’s team that hopes to be a big help to the cause. The right-hander went 6-6 this spring with TCU, posting a 4.08 ERA with 100 strikeouts and just 37 walks over 92.2 innings. Shooter Hunt, of UVA, will work out of the pen. Hunt went 0-0 in 17 appearances with a 4.72 ERA. Hunt allowed about a hit an inning while striking out just more than one per frame. He also walked one every two innings.

     Lefty Cory Luebke, of Ohio State, had a 7-6 record and a 3.38 ERA this season. The 21-year-old sophomore struck out 65 batters in 85.1 innings. He pitched seven complete games, all in Big Ten play and earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Tournament team after giving up only three hits in eight innings in a 9-0 victory over Northwestern. He was drafted in the 22nd round of this year’s draft by Texas. Cory Riordan, of Fordham, went 4-2 this spring.