Coon not panicked by slow start
Posted on Monday, March 10, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/219336/
FAYETTEVILLE — Casey Coon has endured enough peaks and pratfalls to understand how the game works.
The Arkansas junior hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning Sunday against Siena, a sure sign a funk to begin the season was on its way out just in time for topranked Arizona State and the opening of SEC play this week.
It doesn’t always work that way, and in his next plate appearance, Coon hit a sharp grounder down the third-base line that screamed double but turned into a hard-hit out.
“I’ve hit the ball sometimes fairly hard, and it just ends up in some guys’ gloves,” said Coon, still hitting just. 220 after Sunday’s 10-4 victory.
The home run, Coon’s first this season, gives him 5 RBI, well off a 2007 pace where he led the Razorbacks with 66. But Coon can reason he could be in for better days in SEC play because he got hot in February and March of last season before slowing down.
“I’m trying to get back to a faster pace now that league play’s here. It’s important to get off to a fast start,” Coon said. “But better to start off slow and get hot than get off hot and finish slow like I did last year.”
Coon’s groundout and a diving play and throw by Saints third baseman Don DiPetta — Coon also struck out twice around his home run and a walk Sunday— was a tough-luck atbat. But Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn wants his veteran to use better pitch selection.
Coon crowds the plate, essentially daring pitchers to throw the ball inside to his strengths. He said hitting “away, away, away” is a must.
“He pulls the ball a lot, and they’re playing him on the [third-base ] line. He’s got to learn to stay over the ball and hit up the middle,” Van Horn said. “There’s a lot of room there, and he’s working on it. The ball he hit out of the park he stayed through that ball and hit it more to center than left. If he’ll do that a little more, that average will jump up.”
The Razorbacks have seen extremes with regards to offense so far. Aaron Murphree is hitting. 447 with a streak of 12 home runs through 12 games. Ben Tschepikow, Brett Eibner and Andy Wilkins are all around the. 400 mark.
Then there are less fortunate hitters such as Coon and middle infielders Tim Smalling and Scott Lyons, slowly waking up after one hit combined in their first 40 atbats.
Lyons didn’t get his first hit until Saturday, then promptly collected two more in three plate appearances and almost found the gap in left-center if not for a great catch Sunday. He and Coon could commiserate about such near-misses with their slumps lingering.
“It’s frustrating when you smoke the ball and they make diving catches,” said Lyons, who’s raised his average from. 000 to. 125. “But you take positives that you took a good swing at it, hit it hard but got unlucky. We’re here to pick each other up.”