FAST FINISH Early setbacks sting Aggie baseball but future looks more promising By Rusty Burson

The bottom line, according to Texas A&M baseball coach Mark Johnson, is that 2001 was not a good season for the Aggies. On the other hand, it was certainly not a complete failure.

The Aggies (33-27) narrowly missed receiving the Big 12’s automatic bid into the NCAA regional playoffs when A&M was upended by Nebraska, 7-4, in the Big 12 Tournament championship game in Oklahoma City.

As a result, A&M failed to make the playoffs for the second consecutive year. It’s the first time in Johnson’s tenure as A&M’s head coach and the first time since 1982-83 the Aggies have gone two straight years without making it into the NCAA regionals.

But the news isn’t entirely bad for the Aggies. After losing 10 of 11 games during one forgettable stretch of the season, the Aggies finished the regular season with a 5-4 record in a potential brutal stretch that included six games against teams that made the NCAA playoffs.

Pitcher Kyle Parcus became a solid contributor, as did many freshmen for the Texas A&M baseball team in 2001.

Then in the conference tournament A&M stormed into the championship game by dispatching of playoff-bound Texas and Texas Tech and blasting Oklahoma.Not beating Nebraska cost the Aggies a playoff spot. But afer last year’s 25-32 record, which included losing 19 of their last 21 games, at least the Aggies now go into the offseason with reason to believe that things are about to get much better.

"We’re not happy with our season," said Johnson, who won the 700th game of his career during 2001. "If we don’t go to regionals, we’ve had a bad season. We finished sixth in the conference, and that’s not a good season. I told our players that. But I also told them I was very, very proud of them during the stretch run. They stepped up against some of the tougher competition in our conference and gained the respect back by the way we played in the tournament. That was very uplifting.

"I would have liked to have done better. We still could have won a few more games at the end, but I thought we really picked it up. There was a change, and nobody can really put their finger on how it changed. But when we started looking at having to play Nebraska, Texas and Missouri to get a chance to even go to Oklahoma City, it looked like it could be a stretch.

"But I think beating Nebraska two out of three generated a little bit of confidence. Then I think the Friday night (win over) Texas enlightened us. And we also had a good chance to win the Sunday game at Texas. Then to go on the road and win two at Missouri, our confidence level continued to go up. So, the foundation level was there when things started to go right for us in Oklahoma City."

Things went exceedingly well during the first four days of the Big 12 Tournament at Bricktown Ballpark. In sprinting to a 3-0 start, the Aggies scored 27 runs, played outstanding defense and received some tremendous pitching, especially from the youngsters in the rotation.

Kyle Parcus, Justin Moore and Chris French – all freshmen – made impressive starts during the tournament. Freshmen Brian Finch and Robert Ramsey, along with sophomore Steven Ponder, also had impressive pitching performances to go along with the stellar relief work of senior Chris Russ.

But it was A&M’s young pitchers who were probably the story of the tournament – and the season, for that matter. A&M endured some potentially devastating injuries to proven performers such as starting pitcher Khalid Ballouli, outfielder David Evans, outfielder Eric Reed and first baseman Travis Wong. The Aggies also failed to receive the production it expected from some of the older transfers.

In almost every case, though, freshmen stepped up and performed beyond expectations. In addition to the aforementioned frosh, freshman like pitcher Matt Farnum, catcher Rusty Meyer, infielder Erik Schindewolf and infielder Matt Alexander played key roles in helping the Aggies avoid what could have been the first back-to-back losing seasons since 1956-57.

While losing Russ and first baseman Jeff Freeman will hurt, there is every reason for the Aggies to believe that they will be back in the hunt for a conference title and a regional bid in 2002.

"Ben Himes came on at the end and got some balls to fall, but (before the season began) I really thought Kevin Thiess and Himes would be in the middle of our order," Johnson said. "And I thought Reed would hit about .330 and steal 25 bases and hold down center field. And obviously, KB was going to be our Friday night starter. Those were key guys that things didn’t work out the way we expected for one reason or another. On the other hand, I wasn’t counting on the freshmen pitchers playing as well as they did.

"This is the first time one of my ballclubs hasn’t gone to regionals in two straight seasons, and that’s not something we want to get in the habit of. What I understood from each one of the individual players who came in here (to meet) is that they plan on being in a regional next year. The freshman class feels very good about itself. They were major contributors. And the sophomores are going to be juniors, and it’s time for them to step up. We feel good about ourselves going into the offseason."

Of course, the key to next season will be putting it all together on the field. Not just for the big games, but all games. In hindsight, what probably cost A&M a chance to be in the regionals was the 5-6 record the Aggies had in non-conference, mid-week games.

A&M beat Nebraska and Texas twice and won six of 10 conference series. But the Aggies also never swept a conference series, lost to Sam Houston twice and dropped home games to inferior opponents like Arkansas State and Southwest Texas.

"When I tell the guys in February that that first game is as important as the one at the last of the season, they have to understand that," Johnson said. "A two-game swing would have had a good chance to put us in a regional. So, I think we learned a lesson from that. I can say it to them every year, but sometimes they have to see it for themselves.

"The good news is that we didn’t flinch amidst all the adversity. A lot of teams with the frustrations and disappointments that we had would have collapsed in such a way that even when things started falling our way in Oklahoma City, that we wouldn’t have had enough of a foundation to build on. So, it was pleasing from that standpoint.

"We certainly represented our university well in (the Big 12) tournament, and I think we got the attention and respect of people. Our guys played hard, and that’s all I can ask them to do. Those are things you can build on. We’ve got a lot of the players back, and we’re still a young ballclub, so it’s a lot better feeling than I had at this time last year."