Mansfield thinks Griffons have right mix

NEVADA, Mo -- Not all of the 2009 Griffons players have arrived and they have only had two practices, but head coach Ryan Mans-field, who is in his second year with the Griffons, thinks they have the right mix of players for a successful season.

Mansfield was assistant coach for the Griffons last season and is in his first year as the Griffons head coach. He just completed his fourth year as an assistant baseball coach at Fort Scott Community College where he works with the hitters, catchers and the outfielders. He is also an associate scout with the Boston Red Sox.

Mansfield said that from what he has seen so far the Griffons will have pretty good defense and pitching this year. Some of the batters will be challenged at first, but that will improve with time.

He said that Thomas McAlpine, Western Oklahoma State College, hit .450 during his spring season and several others have surprised the coaches during batting practice the last two days.

If his early assessment hold true fans can also look forward to seeing some speed on the base paths.

"We have four to six players who will give us chances to score some runs," he said.

Mansfield said that they currently have 32 players on the roster, with nine more expected as their teams post-season play ends.

However, that number will likely drop, as players get injured, need to attend summer school or get drafted.

He said that three players are potential candidates for the draft. John Wagel, who played for the Griffons last season will be attending a camp later in June where he could sign with some team. Justin Beal from Missouri Southern and Adam Champion, University of Arkansas-Little Rock are also likely candidates to be drafted this summer.

"It looks like we have some good arms and we're trying to find a role for each of them," Ryan Takach, Griffons assistant coach, said.

Takach, who has been out of coaching for several years, said that the players all have very good attitudes.

Takach was a non-drafted free agent win 1999 with the Arizona Diamondbacks where he pitched in Low-A at South Bend and Advanced Rookie at Missoula, Mont., in 2000. In 2002 he coached at Premier Baseball School, Chandler, Okla and Around the Horn Baseball, Kalamazoo, Mich.

In addition to the year-to-year changes in players, the Griffons made a major change over the winter. After playing in the Jayhawk League for 23 years the board voted to change their affiliation to the MINK League, largely due to financial reasons.

By changing leagues, the Griffons will have fewer overnight trips and the cost of operation will be less. The MINK League plays a 34-game regular season and is a wood-bat league like the Jayhawk League.

The MINK League dates to 1910 when it was affiliated with Major League Baseball as a Class D league. After 1913, it ended its affiliation with Major League Baseball and today, like the Jayhawk League and other summer collegiate leagues across the country, exists to provide a venue for collegiate players to increase their skills and to enter the Major League Draft.

Long-time Griffons fans will be familiar with several of the MINK League teams like the Clarinda, Iowa A's, Beatrice, Neb. Bruins, the Ozark Generals, the Joplin Slashers --which have been re-born as the Joplin Outlaws --and the Chillicothe Mudcats. This year the league has added teams from Topeka, Kan., St. Joseph, Sedalia, and Kansas City, as well as the Griffons.

The 10-team league has been split into North and South divisions to cut travel expenses and added a playoff between the two divisions to determine the league champion, which earns a berth in the NBC World Series in Wichita in August.

The Clarinda A's have made numerous trips to the World Series and finished tied for 13th in 2008. The Ozark Generals finished tied for fourth place in 2008 and the Beatrice Bruins finished the 2008 season with a third-place finish in the NBC World Series.