If you're wondering how the UF baseball team will replace the home runs Matt LaPorta hit during the last four years, senior designated hitter Bryson Barber suggests you look toward the freshmen.
"Josh Adams and Evan Chambers, boy, they might be the two people with the most power on the team," Barber said. "They can both just crush the ball. They really stand out."
Apparently, Barber knew what he was talking about.
The Gators played their second intrasquad scrimmage with umpires on Wednesday afternoon, and the highlight of the contest was a towering grand slam off Adams' bat.
The ball left sophomore pitcher Billy Bullock's hand, and it was beyond the left center-field fence seconds later. It sailed over the black barrier between the field and the O'Connell Center gated parking lot.
There's no way to tell for sure, but the ball probably traveled more than 400 feet, considering the left-center field wall is 365 feet from the plate.
"It feels good, putting the team up four runs," Adams said. "I've faced Billy numerous times from the fall till now. He's just a fastball-slider guy. It actually was a really good pitch. It was a sinker down and in."
Adams and the Orange Team defeated the Blue Team 8-4 in a five-inning game that saw the young players best what will likely be the Gators' starting lineup this season.
The Blue Team - this season's starters - was at a disadvantage from the start, spotting the Orange Team three runs to simulate game-like situations.
Adams doesn't expect to hit home runs like that off pitchers he has never seen before once the season starts.
"It's going to be interesting to see how it goes," he said. "It'll be a lot better than what I saw in high school."
Adams won't crack the starting lineup immediately, but he doesn't mind helping out wherever he's needed.
"Right now, I'm just roaming around everywhere," he said. "Wherever they need me to play, I'll play."
As a freshman, he still has a lot to learn. In between the eighth and ninth innings Wednesday, Adams and fellow freshman Chris Freshcorn were lazily tossing the ball back and forth instead of giving the concentration the coaching staff wanted.
"They expect every throw, every catch to be just like you're in a game situation," Adams said.
Chambers struck out three times in the game, but Barber sees a bright future for the powerful freshmen.
"I can only imagine them when they're my age," Barber said. "They're going to be something else."
UF's pitching looked shaky at best, with Bullock throwing eight consecutive balls at one point, getting one out and then giving up the grand slam.
Cody Barnes, a freshman right-hander, also had two shaky innings, giving up three runs, two walks and hitting a batter.
Junior Stephen Locke appeared strongest of all the pitchers. Locke saw seven batters and retired six of them, only allowing one home run to sophomore outfielder Jake Hicks. Sophomore shortstop Cole Figueroa, who had the highest batting average last season among returning players (.332), went 0 for 4, striking out twice, lining out to center field and reaching on an error.
