CSN has lots of confidence
College of Southern Nevada baseball coach Tim Chambers has never lacked for confidence and with arguably his most talented team ever, there's no surprise that Chambers has high expectations for his club heading into the 2010 season.
"We're loaded," Chambers was quoted in an article that appeared in Friday's Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I want to see the team that's better than us. We've never had this much talent, not even close."
But Chambers can have such confidence because he starts eight sophomores in his lineup. And oh by the way, the ninth starter is 17-year-old Bryce Harper, who skipped his last two years of high school to be eligible for this year's Major League draft. Harper will start at catcher for CSN and is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft.
Harper apparently has plenty of confidence in himself and Chambers also has plenty of confidence in Harper. "He said, 'I should be able to dominate this league,'" Chambers quoted Harper as saying about the pitching-rich, wood bat Scenic West Athletic Conference. "I said, 'you will dominate the league, but by hitting .375, not .700.'"
Oh, and if there's any question about the pitching staff, Chambers called his pitching staff this year, "the best pitching staff in the history of our program."
It should be noted that there's plenty of people who agree with Chambers assessment that the rest of the SWAC, including Western Nevada College, will be chasing the Coyotes. CSN is ranked No. 1 in the nation in one poll and No. 4 in the country by Collegiate Baseball.
"If we stay healthy and humble, there's no question from a talent standpoint, we're better than we've ever been."
So there's the challenge for WNC, who did begin the season on an encouraging note with a 4-2 win over Arizona's South Mountain Community College on Friday.