OXFORD — Will Golsan didn’t seemed bothered by having to answer so many questions.
After all, the Ole Miss junior understood the curiosity from all of the reporters who wanted to ask him about his new position.
After playing second base as a freshman and first base as a sophomore, the former New Hope High School standout will move to right field for his third season with the Rebels.
Golsan will get his first chance to play the position this weekend when Ole Miss plays host to No. 6 East Carolina at 4 p.m. Friday in the first game of a three-game series at Swayze Field. The teams will play at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and at noon on Sunday. All of the games will be on SEC Network+.
“Outfield’s just running and catching fly balls,” Golsan said Monday at Ole Miss’ Media Day. “You’ve got to back up somewhere every play and you can’t take a play off out there, but it’s just catching fly balls and running them down.”
Golsan started 45 of 53 games (32 at second base, nine at third base, and four at designated hitter) as a freshman in 2015. After Tate Blackman had a good start to his sophomore campaign in 2016, Ole Miss baseball coach Mike Bianco decided to keep him at second base and move Golsan to first base, even if Bianco felt like the team was losing some of Golsan’s athleticism with the switch.
Golsan took over for Sikes Orvis, who graduated after the 2015 season. But with the loss of J.B. Woodman, who started 54 games in center field and eight in right field last season, Bianco and his coaching staff decided to move Golsan to the outfield.
“This might be his true position, so the coaches may have finally figured that out,” Bianco said with a laugh. “He’s a great athlete that has all the tools to be a great outfielder, and I think we’ve seen that over the last six months with the way he’s taken to it, where he’s shown more of his athleticism, can really run, has got a great, great arm, and we’re excited for him to be out there.”
Bianco said freshman Cole Zabowski, sophomore Chase Cockrell, and redshirt sophomore Michael Fitzsimmons will get time at first base.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Golsan played last summer for the Orleans Firebirds in the Cape Cod Baseball League. When he returned to Ole Miss, he learned he was going to play a new position. He said he played some center field with the Baltimore Redbirds in the Cal Ripken League the summer after his freshman season, but he said that was the extent of his experience in the outfield until this fall.
Even though the Toronto Blue Jays selected Woodman in the second round (57th overall) of the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft, Golsan said Woodman has been around the Ole Miss facility.
“He’s come out here a couple of times and we’ve talked a little bit,” Golsan said. “He’s taught me a couple of things like how to get under a fly ball, how to be smart out there, and what I need to do.”
Woodman made seven errors in three seasons with the Rebels.
Golsan committed 12 errors last season and 11 as a freshman. He hit .273 with 11 doubles, three triples, three home runs, and 31 RBIs as a sophomore. He hit .290 as a freshman with nine doubles and 26 RBIs.
Senior third baseman Colby Bortles has confidence in Golsan’s ability in the outfield.
“He can do it all,” Bortles said. “He’s probably one of the most athletic people on our team. Him and (Ryan) Olenek, I think can go out there and play every position on the field and be one of the best guys we have. I think anywhere he goes he’s going to be good at it.”
Golsan was a four-year letterwinner at New Hope High School. He helped lead the Trojans to Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 5A State championships in 2013 and 2014. Golsan played shortstop for the Trojans, which the one thing that stuck out to Bianco in the recruiting process.
“He’s been a terrific player since he stepped on the field, and that’s one of the reasons that we recruit a lot of shortstops,” Bianco said. “Usually when you go to a high school game, the shortstop’s the best player on the field and he’s the best athlete on the field. But a lot of times you don’t know that they’re going to have that versatility.”
Olenek (center field) and freshman Thomas Dillard (left field) will join Golsan in the outfield. Bianco said sophomore Kyle Watson will see time in the outfield and the infield.
Olenek played shortstop at Trinity Prep in Winter Springs, Florida, before transitioning to the outfield as a freshman. Dillard caught in high school.
“We’re all infielders and we’re all about the same out there because we started in the infield and then we went to the outfield. Now we’re just trying to win games,” Golsan said.
Bianco has been pleased with Golsan’s attitude through the position changes. He said Golsan never has complained.
“Every time I’ve approached him with the subject going from short to second, second to first or first to the outfield, he’s never batted an eye. It’s always been a very easy conversation. He’s one of those team-first kind of guys. As a coach you appreciate that,” Bianco said.
Golsan is one of eight upperclassmen (two seniors and six juniors) Bianco will rely on. Golsan said he wants to do his part, even if it means he has to change positions to do it.
“It’s just whatever the coach needs you to do,” Golsan said. “You go out there, play hard, play well, and you just try to do whatever you need to do to win the game. I think playing out there and showing the freshmen you can play wherever and you can fit in wherever is good.”
n In other news, Bianco announced the starting rotation for the weekend. Junior left-hander David Parkinson (5-3, 2.78 earned run average) will start Friday, sophomore right-hander James McArthur (6-1, 4.26) will start Saturday, and sophomore right-hander Brady Feigl (4-0, 3.76) will start Sunday.
“The reason it’s been difficult to figure out is because of the competition,” Bianco said. “I don’t know if we’ve ever had a year where we’ve had so many guys that could do it. I chose those guys because they give us the best shot of succeeding.”
n Also, Will Stokes was named to the preseason watch list for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award, members of the association announced Monday afternoon. Stokes is one of 60 pitchers on the list for the award, which is given annually to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball.
Stokes is the second Rebel to earn a spot on the watch list in as many years. Last season, southpaw Wyatt Short made the preseason and midseason lists as the Rebels’ primary closer. With Short now in the professional ranks with the World Series champion Chicago Cubs organization, Stokes is the go-to reliever at the end of games. It is a role that he held at times throughout the 2016 campaign.
As a sophomore, Stokes tied a school record with 30 relief appearances. That mark was fifth among relievers in the Southeastern Conference. The Meridian native went 2-1 with seven saves and a 2.93 ERA in 43 innings. The junior recorded 40 strikeouts and walked seven. He held opponents to a .228 batting average.
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