This is the second of three stories to welcome the Alabama baseball season, which begins on Friday night in Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa with a 6:05 p.m. game against VMI. You can read the first of the three posts here.
After concluding a 21-34 season in 2012, Alabama baseball coach Mitch Gaspard hit the recruiting trail hard and found a way to compile a class that was ranked 4th nationally by Baseball America.
The class that is being called upon to impact the team immediately has recently taken a hit, as catcher Wade Wass suffered a break in his ankle and will be out for at least the first month of the season
Wass, a junior coming to the Crimson Tide from Meridian Community College in Meridian, Miss., was one of several expected to play immediately.
“It’s a pretty significant blow,” Gaspard said. “He got hit with a slider in the back ankle, you know, one that you see quite often in baseball. You really think he’s going to jog it off.”
About a week late for me but @nerlensnoel3 said it best- Minor setback for a MAJOR comeback. Ready to help out the team anyway I can #1day
— Wade Wass (@WadeWass_10) February 14, 2013
The decision on who would replace Wass behind the plate was not a difficult one for Gaspard: he simply stuck with what he’s done before.
“That’s the luxury of having a guy like Brett Booth on our team,” Gaspard said. “He was our every day catcher last year and he’s going to have to be a warrior for us. We’re going to have to ask him to catch every game until we get Wade to return. It kind of changes the rotation of what we wanted to do.”
Gaspard mentioned senior Kenny Roberts among others as potential replacements for Booth at third base as he moves behind the plate.
Contributed by Brett Hudson
