Talkington ready for another tour
Jun. 1—Last summer was the ultimate test of will for anyone associated with the West Virginia Miners program.
Everything that could have gone wrong did in the second half. With injuries and players leaving early, the roster at the end of the summer bore nearly no resemblance to the one from opening day.
It would be hard to expect anyone with first-hand experience of that to come back, but Andrew Talkington is doing exactly that.
Talkington reported to Beckley on Friday and will be at Linda K. Epling Stadium Wednesday when the Miners open the season for the start of a two-game series against Johnstown. First pitch Wednesday and Thursday will be 6:35 p.m.
"Really the main factor that brought me to coming back here is it's a great environment, great coaches and it's a great league," Talkington said before Tuesday's evening workout. "Along with getting better, but the environment here is just amazing. I wanted to come back and be part of it again."
Not that the team's struggles weren't difficult to deal with. The Miners, after narrowly missing a playoff spot in the first half, won just seven games after June 30.
"It was tough, but everything was out of our control," he said. "You can control going out there and playing hard. You can't control injuries. The biggest thing for us last year was just learning how to navigate through those injuries and find ways to get wins whenever we can. It was a good learning experience, though. But, yeah, we definitely battled until the end there."
Talkington, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound left-hander, did his part. He went 3-3 with a 4.05 earned run average in 11 starts. He had 54 strikeouts to 15 walks and allowed 47 hits over 51 innings pitched.
"As the year went on last year, he got better and better," Miners manager Tim Epling said. "I know this is a new year and all that, but he was one of the first players contacting me wanting to come back. And he has aspirations of trying to sign with (independent) ball, so I'm going to try to help him do that.
"I haven't got to see him throw in a year now, but I know he's fresh and he's ready to go. He's a workaholic. He is a perfect example of how you prepare and your mindset to play every day. All you have to do is watch him and take notes. What more can you ask?"
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One other player is back from last year — catcher Zach Doss, who is coming off a successful spring at Shepherd University.
The senior was named to the All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East first team after batting .354 with 20 runs batted in, eight doubles and an .873 OPS.
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Epling announced Tuesday that Union College sophomore Ben Cornelius will start Wednesday's opener.
The 6-0, 225-pound left-hander was an All-Appalachian Athletic Conference second-teamer this spring. He made 11 starts but was involved in just four decisions, posting a 3-1 record and 4.76 ERA. He struck out 77 and walked 30 over 60 1/3 innings.
His Union teammate Stephen Karis, a catcher, will join him with the Miners. He was an all-conference first-teamer after leading the Bulldogs with nine home runs and 29 RBIs.
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The Miners will travel to Chillicothe on Friday before returning home Saturday and Sunday to host the Paints. Saturday will be the team's first Fireworks Night of the season.
First pitch for all Monday-Saturday home games will be 6:35 p.m. All Sunday games will start at 2:05 p.m.
Tickets for all games can be purchased online at www.itickets.com/events/463054.
Email: gfauber@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @gfauber5
