Had fun doing the region preview, so I thought I'd take a look at Notre Dame too for the Super Regional next weekend.
Notre Dame (38-14)How they got here: Notre Dame went 3-0 in the Statesboro regional. Fightin’ Irish beat Texas Tech 3-2 Friday, Georgia State 6-4 Saturday and Texas Tech 2-1 Sunday.
ACC record: 16-11
Conference tourney finish: 13-7 (4-0 vs. Florida State, 3-0 vs. Wake, 2-0 vs. Texas Tech, 1-0 vs. Ga. Southern, Michigan and Virginia, 1-2 vs. Miami, 0-1 vs. Va. Tech, North Carolina, 0-3 vs. Louisville)
Best Players:
Not sure why Bertrand isn’t on any top 100 prospect lists (it may be because he is 24 and has no leverage in the upcoming draft). He’ll be on the best starters the Vols have faced – especially as a southpaw.
Cole is from De La Salle, just like Vol freshman phenom Blake Burke. They weren’t teammates though, Cole is in his fifth year at Notre Dame.
Lineup (used in regional – Bats/Throws):
LF Ryan Cole (R/R)
RF Brooks Coetzee (R/R)
1B Carter Putz (R/R)
DH Jack Zyska (R/R)
C David LaManna (R/R)
3B Jack Brannigan (R/R)
SS Zack Prajzner (R/R)
2B Jack Penney (L/R)
CF Spencer Myers (S/R)
Notable: Notre Dame has seven seniors in their lineup and Brannigan is a junior. Penney is the youngster – he’s a freshman. Cole, Myers, LaManna and the team’s top two pitchers are all fifth- or sixth-year seniors.
Stats leaders:
BA – LaManna (.362), Putz (.336), Cole (.310), Penney (.309)
HRs – Zyska (11), Coetzee (11), Brannigan (10), Cole (9)
RBIs – Putz (42), Coetzee (42), Brannigan (42), Prajzner (34)
SBs – Cole (20-for-20), Brannigan (10-of-12), Jared Miller (8-of-11)
ERA (starters): Jack Findlay (2.19), John Bertrand (2.36), Austin Temple (3.46)
ERA (relievers): Ryan McLinskey (2.42), Aidan Tyrell (3.60), Alex Rao (3.76), Liam Simon (4.67)
Strikeouts: Bertrand (96), Temple (86), Rao, Simon (49), Findlay (43)
BAA: Alex Rao (.181), Simon (.182), Findlay (.195), Temple (.196)
Team stats:
Batting average - .296
HRs – 68
K-BB – 376/193
Stolen bases: 72-of-85
ERA – 3.87
WHIP – 1.27
BAA - .225
K/BB – 561/195
Projected rotation: LHP Bertrand (8-2 in 15 starts), Austin Temple (4-1 in 13 starts), Findlay? (5-2 in 15 appearances, 8 starts)
Betrand is a high strikeout guy (eight or more in seven starts) and rarely gets knocked out early (only one start where he didn’t get 5 full innings*).
*Bertrand did have a 1-inning start in the region Friday, where he started against Texas Tech. He pitched the first, then a 5-hour rain delay knocked him out. He came back and pitched Sunday to lead his team into the Supers. He pitched at Furman before transferring to ND in 2021.
Temple is the team’s only other starter with more than 10 starts. He’s another Grad Transfer (turning 23 in August) that came from Jacksonville after missing much of 2021 with an injury. The 6-foot-4 righty actually has a better BAA than Bertrand, limiting opposing hitters to a .196 mark. He also 86 strikeouts in 65 innings, including eight in his region start (W over Ga. Southern). He was the MVP of the Cambria College Classic tourney earlier this year (Played in Minnesota against some Big 10 teams).
Findlay has been the team’s Sunday starter for the final month but closed out Saturday and Sunday’s win in the region. He’s a 6-foot-3 lefty who made eight starts.
Bullpen: Like Tennessee, Notre Dame doesn’t have a shortage of pretty good arms in the bullpen (they’re ranked top 15 nationally in ERA as a team). Senior LHP Aiden Tyrell (3.60 ERA, 25 appearances), senior RHP Alex Rio (3.76 ERA, 20 appearances), and junior RHP Liam Simon (4.67 ERA, 15 appearances) seem like the most likely to see action.
There aren’t many teams that can go deep into their roster with great arms like Tennessee – Notre Dame may be one the teams that can. There’s a reason why they were a preseason top 10 team (and a group many believed should have hosted a region). Don’t let some of their ERA fool you – they are difficult to hit (Rio has a .181 BAA, Simon is .182).
I’ll defer to @Ben_McKee for more information on Notre Dame.
Notre Dame (38-14)
ACC record: 16-11
Conference tourney finish: 13-7 (4-0 vs. Florida State, 3-0 vs. Wake, 2-0 vs. Texas Tech, 1-0 vs. Ga. Southern, Michigan and Virginia, 1-2 vs. Miami, 0-1 vs. Va. Tech, North Carolina, 0-3 vs. Louisville)
Best Players:
John Michael Bertrand, LHP (8-2, 2.36 ERA in 15 starts)
Bertrand may be one of the best lefties in the nation. He was a third-team All-American and first-team All-ACC (getting that honor for a second straight year). He’s a grad transfer (turned 24 in February). He transferred to Notre Dame in 2021 from Furman and has been sensational ever since.Not sure why Bertrand isn’t on any top 100 prospect lists (it may be because he is 24 and has no leverage in the upcoming draft). He’ll be on the best starters the Vols have faced – especially as a southpaw.
Ryan Cole, LF (.310 BA, 9 HR, 20-for-20 on stolen bases)
Get ready for another pesky lead-off hitter who makes his offense hum. Cole, a grad student, was named third-team, All-ACC and seems to come up clutch for Notre Dame. He was 8-for-14 in the region, including a four-hit game Sunday where he had two RBI singles to help the Fightin’ Irish beat Texas Tech 2-1.Cole is from De La Salle, just like Vol freshman phenom Blake Burke. They weren’t teammates though, Cole is in his fifth year at Notre Dame.
Jack Brannigan, 3B/P (10 homers, 42 RBIs - tied for team lead)
Strangely enough, Brannigan is the only person I could find from Notre Dame to be listed on any 2022 draft boards (again, it may be because so many of their players are older and have no draft leverage). Why is it strange? Brannigan is on draft boards mostly as a pitching prospect, but he had a 7.36 ERA in 11 appearances this season.Lineup (used in regional – Bats/Throws):
LF Ryan Cole (R/R)
RF Brooks Coetzee (R/R)
1B Carter Putz (R/R)
DH Jack Zyska (R/R)
C David LaManna (R/R)
3B Jack Brannigan (R/R)
SS Zack Prajzner (R/R)
2B Jack Penney (L/R)
CF Spencer Myers (S/R)
Notable: Notre Dame has seven seniors in their lineup and Brannigan is a junior. Penney is the youngster – he’s a freshman. Cole, Myers, LaManna and the team’s top two pitchers are all fifth- or sixth-year seniors.
Stats leaders:
BA – LaManna (.362), Putz (.336), Cole (.310), Penney (.309)
HRs – Zyska (11), Coetzee (11), Brannigan (10), Cole (9)
RBIs – Putz (42), Coetzee (42), Brannigan (42), Prajzner (34)
SBs – Cole (20-for-20), Brannigan (10-of-12), Jared Miller (8-of-11)
ERA (starters): Jack Findlay (2.19), John Bertrand (2.36), Austin Temple (3.46)
ERA (relievers): Ryan McLinskey (2.42), Aidan Tyrell (3.60), Alex Rao (3.76), Liam Simon (4.67)
Strikeouts: Bertrand (96), Temple (86), Rao, Simon (49), Findlay (43)
BAA: Alex Rao (.181), Simon (.182), Findlay (.195), Temple (.196)
Team stats:
Batting average - .296
HRs – 68
K-BB – 376/193
Stolen bases: 72-of-85
ERA – 3.87
WHIP – 1.27
BAA - .225
K/BB – 561/195
Projected rotation: LHP Bertrand (8-2 in 15 starts), Austin Temple (4-1 in 13 starts), Findlay? (5-2 in 15 appearances, 8 starts)
Betrand is a high strikeout guy (eight or more in seven starts) and rarely gets knocked out early (only one start where he didn’t get 5 full innings*).
*Bertrand did have a 1-inning start in the region Friday, where he started against Texas Tech. He pitched the first, then a 5-hour rain delay knocked him out. He came back and pitched Sunday to lead his team into the Supers. He pitched at Furman before transferring to ND in 2021.
Temple is the team’s only other starter with more than 10 starts. He’s another Grad Transfer (turning 23 in August) that came from Jacksonville after missing much of 2021 with an injury. The 6-foot-4 righty actually has a better BAA than Bertrand, limiting opposing hitters to a .196 mark. He also 86 strikeouts in 65 innings, including eight in his region start (W over Ga. Southern). He was the MVP of the Cambria College Classic tourney earlier this year (Played in Minnesota against some Big 10 teams).
Findlay has been the team’s Sunday starter for the final month but closed out Saturday and Sunday’s win in the region. He’s a 6-foot-3 lefty who made eight starts.
Bullpen: Like Tennessee, Notre Dame doesn’t have a shortage of pretty good arms in the bullpen (they’re ranked top 15 nationally in ERA as a team). Senior LHP Aiden Tyrell (3.60 ERA, 25 appearances), senior RHP Alex Rio (3.76 ERA, 20 appearances), and junior RHP Liam Simon (4.67 ERA, 15 appearances) seem like the most likely to see action.
There aren’t many teams that can go deep into their roster with great arms like Tennessee – Notre Dame may be one the teams that can. There’s a reason why they were a preseason top 10 team (and a group many believed should have hosted a region). Don’t let some of their ERA fool you – they are difficult to hit (Rio has a .181 BAA, Simon is .182).
I’ll defer to @Ben_McKee for more information on Notre Dame.
