State of A-State: Baseball

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - Our State of A-State series continues with baseball. Chris Hudgison and I have been talking with several head coaches at their respective camps to get an update on all things Red Wolves. I caught up with Head Coach Tommy Raffo.

On 2022 Arkansas State Baseball Camps (More info here)

“This is a really good part of the season for everybody at Arkansas State. We have 7 through 11 at youth camp and when they’re on campus and you’re able to talk about Arkansas State baseball or whether it could be any other sport, it’s a plus for this university, it’s a plus for the athletic department. We want them to be able to come back to watch a lot of the Red Wolves sporting events.”

On Tyler Jeans and Kevin Wiseman pitching in the MLB Draft League

“They both did really well. They both had a great experience. I think Tyler is still in the Draft League and Kevin went on to the Northwoods League and so we’re excited about what they’re doing. They’re progressing well and obviously carried on a lot of the momentum they had from the season.”

On potential new facilities, interactions with new AD Jeff Purinton

“Jeff is just so engaging and just can’t wait to figure out what the best thing is for Arkansas State and what can be done and to improve in all different ways in a lot of the sports and so we just can’t wait for that part of everything to come into place. Obviously, he’s getting to know the community, it’s just neat to have him on board.”

On new Sun Belt members and how the schedule is impacted

“We’re gonna go 10 weekends in the Sun Belt and the teams getting added are just phenomenal teams for our league. I think we’re the sixth-rated League out of 30 and it’s only going to get better, we’re probably inside the top four next year with Ratings Power Index (RPI) and when you add a Southern Miss and you have four teams going into our league and then Old Dominion that’s going in our league, James Madison, Marshall, it’s just an unbelievable league to compete in and we’re in the footprint of the SEC, of course, but it’s really good baseball and we can’t wait to get after it.

On the future of A-State baseball

“The schedule is going to be phenomenal next year for us and we look forward to adding a lot of new guys to our roster coming up and you know, obviously it’s a different setup. Obviously, we’re gonna meet those challenges and we can’t wait to meet them.”

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