Charles Fischer

6-2 Ducks after seven innings. Gosztola looked like he was going to get out of a jam, but then gave up a double. Ducks didn't do much on offense...

6-0 Ducks after six innings. Will Sanford finished with a great day, giving up no runs. Our first reliever is Gonzaga transfer, Miles Gosztola, who is a lefty with a big sweeping pitch that whips inward towards the batter. He gave up a double, but then forced two grounders and a fly ball. Good start!

6-0 Ducks after five innings. Sanford forces three ground-outs, and the infield looks sharp! Will has 71 pitches after six innings... Angel Laya got his third hit today, a sweet drive in the gap near center field for a double. What have I said about "Greatness and Weakness Emerge Early?" He has a nice natural swing, and quite a good looking player already. Jack Brooks bunts and doesn't make it, but a bad throw pulled the first baseman to have the ball bounce off his mitt. That scores Laya from second base! I guess he has speed too?

5-0 Ducks after 4 innings. Sanford is giving them much to work with as he retired the side, and is at 62 pitches after four innings. It will be interesting to see how long Waz will let him continue, as they like to gradually build the arm up over the season. Gabe Miranda has been hit twice by pitch..already. Drew Smith walked but we got nothing else.

5-0 Ducks after three innings. Angel Laya got another hit in his second at-bat...maybe that is why he is starting? Other Ducks flied/grounded out. Will Sanford put them down in order again, but boy...he has got a nasty curve that drops a foot to pair with his 95 mph fastball. A deadly combination, and maybe that's why he is the starter too? Charles...you gotta trust Coach Waz!

5-0 Ducks after two innings. Will Sanford gave up a hit, but forced two fly-outs, and got a pick-off at first base with Gabe Miranda! Freshman Angel Laya got things going with a hit in his first at-bat! A good-looking newbie there... Jack Brooks did a perfect bunt that died between home plate and the pitchers mound, and he jetted with his superb speed to beat the throw. Then Ryan Cooney puts a perfect bunt down the third base line and with his wings flew to first with time to spare. Jax Gimenez grounds out, but scores Laya. Then Dominic Hellman comes in and unloads a DOM-BOMB that was a line drive that cleared the fence in left field, but also the back fence of the visiting bullpen! Whew!

1-0 Ducks after one inning. We got bases loaded by hits from Jax Gimenez and Dominic Hellman, and a hit-by-pitch on Miranda but could not get much from the opportunity. Drew Smith walked, thus we got a run. Big surprise...lefty hitter Gabe Miranda was in the clean-up spot on the batting order!

Wow, did I get surprised with the starting lineup. Four fielders...I did not anticipate. We have Jax Gimenez at LF, Jack Brooks at CF, and new freshman Angel Laya at RF. And we have Gabe Miranda at first base as I reported yesterday. Will Sanford put them out 1-2-3 in the first half of the first inning, and all three are .300+ hitters. He threw a 95 mph pitch on his first one, so this is a very good start. Great for his and our confidence!

Good gosh, the Big-10 is powerful in winter sports! Thank you for that Jon, as I had no idea how incredible conference teams stack up in those sports.

I like the expanded look, but I do NOT like any byes. Expand it to 32 and be done with it, or make it 16 with no byes, no conference championship games, and no conference "play-in" games. They are in danger of making the season too long, and with depth being depleted with most of the elite teams from the portal...more games=more injuries.

Do not overlook our opponent, as they won 40 games last year, the most in 16 years, and they return a ton of players and welcome a bunch of portal transfers. They ended up in the runner-up in the Atlantic-10 conference, and they have a senior pitcher who is pretty good, and I expect to see today. Speaking of pitchers....the Friday starter was named by Coach Waz as Will Sanford, and you could knock me over with a Duck-feather. I was skeptical if Sanford would even be a starter, let alone the Friday night guy. He was heralded as a major prospect coming out of high school, but had some rough outings last year. But players get better! Head Coach Mark Wasikowski said, "He's pitched really well. His stuff is improved, just everything that he's been able to roll out there... the kid earned it, and so my expectation is for him to just go out there and pitch the way he's pitched, how we've seen him, you know, in Fall scrimmages and Spring scrimmages. He's just been really elite." Will Sanford Sanford said his focus is on setting the tone every weekend, the same way those pitchers before him did — and that his mindset is shaped by what he learned from last season. "Take it week by week, but I just really want to set the tone each weekend for us," Sanford said. "And, you know, just have a great season." "Last year, I felt like I failed a lot. So learning from them and seeing how they hold themselves, how they go pitch to pitch, and how they respond to adversity — it kind of takes what they did and lets me apply it toward this year." The Saturday double-header will have starters Collin Clarke, and transfer Cal Scolari as I expected, and the Sunday starter is unknown at this point.

That is the BEST compliment, although good people like you make this site special. Thank you for your kind thoughts and your posts. Good times ahead for all!

This is perfect in the off-season, and helps us know a bit more about 'Cig. Thanks iubhounds for this and for your great input on the many topics. We love to learn from others, and you have shared a ton already. It is great to receive other Big-10 perspectives in our forum Many thanks...

We have another in-state pitcher returning in Gabe Howard from West Linn. In his senior HS year, he was the No. 2 RHP in Oregon, and the No. 3 overall prospect in the state of Oregon as he had a 2.19 ERA in 67 innings. Whew! As a freshman last year, he played sparingly, but finished 1-0 and with a 5.87 ERA. I'm sure he'll make a big jump this year, and great to see so many Oregon-boys on the squad. Gabe Howard in 2025...

So true. How I wish I could have given my friend a hug... Cherish our moments with each other.

One of the core and founding members of the Our Beloved Ducks forum was 30Duck, who up to about eight months ago--posted many times each day. He could not continue due to a variety of issues surrounding health and home-tech issues, but I spoke to him on the phone a couple of times a week. He was a passionate Oregon fan, and we had such fun discussing the current team, and so many teams of the past. 30Duck died recently at only age 66, and I can still hardly believe it. It was very sudden, thus why I sense it was probably related to his heart challenges over the years. He would call in his weekly score prediction to be listed among them all, although I had not heard much from him as the season wound down. There are a couple of items that are notable about him, and I wanted to share with you... 30Duck was a big fan of music in the 70s and 80s, and he would post a music video by Olivia Newton-John on a regular basis. We would laugh about changing the words in one of her songs to..."Hopelessly Devoted to....DUCKS." He would post many songs of that era during the off-season (like now) to lift the mood, and give us something to discuss and be entertained with. You may recall how he was a big fan of the US Navy, as he served for many years on the USS Nimitz Aircraft Carrier, and he had some dandy stories about all the people and experiences over the long time that he served. And boy...did he ever see the world with the way those carrier groups moved about after they left port. He had an impact with his own contributions to the forum, as it was he who began the term, "PREVENT-OFFENSE" to describe the drudging Cristobal time in Eugene. It was so accurate, and so perfect a moniker. He is also the one who came up with the unique slogan for this message board, as he was the first to call it the, "Forum-with-Decorum." So true, and he epitomized that label. In the beginning of the forum...we all were learning how to gradually pull our fangs/claws in, as we realized that we did not need to personally attack each other to make our points. It was he who put many of the ideas in my head about how to focus on hearing all opinions, and not allowing the venomous bluster that occurs on other boards. More than once in those early days--he would get viciously attacked, and I would deal with it in the background. But in public--he was all-class, and I admired him for handling those situations so well. As someone who has lost-his-head a few times--his example was just what I needed to model my forum conduct after, and hence the rules were shaped by his input. One of those rules concerned how we never discuss politics, and his internal strength was a great demonstration for all of us. I have lost many friends over just being politically different, as I did not want to press anything with them, but some could not endure the thought of the forum operated by someone so politically different. 30Duck and I were on opposite ends of the political spectrum--and once we realized that, we agreed to never discuss politics again. He taught me that the friendship was more important... Why was he called 30Duck? Because he loved Ronnie Lee back in his days at Oregon, and you can see in the photo above the number that Ronnie Lee wore. He found that cool picture of Lee laying the ball up over the late Bill Walton, and that photo was his avatar. He knew the teams of old so well, and I so enjoyed hearing the stories about Mac Court back-in-the-day from him. He was one of those who camped out at night for a student ticket prior to a big game, and no surprise. He was a great Oregon fan! The Duck-Angels wept as they lifted 30Duck from the earth, and took him to his final destination. They are not the only ones, as I loved and I miss this wonderful Duck-Buddy. Rest in Peace, my friend.

I'm going to have a FishDuck Photographer at both games! Dominic Hellman could give us another "Dom-Bomb."

Boy....I guess Waz is not as exceptional in bringing in so many pitchers as I thought by comparison. What I thought was a high number is actually over the average, but not by much. Thanks for the research, and bringing that to us! We'll see Collin Clarke this weekend!

I've got more information about pitchers I did not have room to cover in the article, as we have two pitchers from in-state who redshirted last year. Blake Crawford (West Linn) allowed only two runs in 51 innings pitched in 2024? Whew! Jonah Barkoff, (Lake Oswego) had a 2.05 ERA going until his injury in his senior years. Was listed as the No. 1 LHP for the state before the injury... As I said in the article...Waz is throwing mud-at-the-wall to see who can pitch at this level, and we have another small-college pitcher join the Ducks in Ryder Edwards, (George Fox) who had a 2.29 ERA at that level. Josh Hollis We have another freshman in Josh Hollis, who was listed as the 25th best incoming RH pitcher in the nation and has some good genetics. His brother plays at Cal, and his father played at Long Beach State.

Please see my article about all the pitching additions..... I just received the game notes this afternoon, and they have not listed starting pitchers. But they did confirm many of my picks in the article as starters in Burke-Lee Mabeus at catcher, Ryan Cooney at second, Maddox Molony at shortstop, Drew Smith at third and now let's look at some of the surprises. Gabe Miranda began at TCU... At Designated Hitter...they list Hellman again, and not a starter at first base? Instead they list a transfer Gabe Miranda from Northern Kentucky, who hit .338 (Hellman hit .326) blasted a dozen HRs to Hellman's 13 dingers. Miranda is a stout fellow at 6'3" and 230 pounds, but he stole 11 bases, so he's got some speed. Interesting to watch! At left field they list Jax Gimenez, who is fast, and did some at-bats and pinch-running last year. (.231) In center field they list Jack Brooks, (.162) or the transfer speedster I referred to in the article, Elijah Cook. (.345, 15 HRs and Rawlings Gold Glove) At right field they have listed the guy who ate up the West Coast League last summer, Josh Schleichardt, or stud freshman Angel Laya at 6'3", & 206 who turned down a big MLB contract to play in Eugene. (.326) He was listed as the No. 12 player out of the top-100 ranked by Perfect Game.

Keep in mind that winning the Big-10 is going to be a task because UCLA returned a great team, (all healthy for once) and got some portal transfers that were among the best available out there. The Bruins have been preseason ranked at No. 2 in one poll, and No. 1 in the nation in another. For once it is not an ACC or SEC team at the top? The West Coast teams are adding a ton to our new conference, and the only teams in the B1G ranked preseason are UCLA and Oregon. (They tied for the conference championship last year) But if some great pitchers emerge from all that was brought in....and with Waz throwing mud-on-the-wall with 23 pitchers...we will find some and make a run for the championship!

I don't know how to feel about that, and the many other predictions about Oregon getting their first 'Natty. The respect and exposure is great, but we have not yet proven to respond to the big moments yet. But eventually we can break through and...

I hope so as well, but.... There will be a massive "construction" fee per seat on the north side in the future to upgrade the stadium and add 10-12,000 more seats some day.

Oregon competes in 18 sports, and football pays for nearly all of them. With that being said--Oregon won the most Big-10 Championships last year out of the 28 sports the conference participates in. We don't have Field Hockey, Ice Hockey, Mens Soccer or Mens Volleyball, Wrestling, etc. So for as expensive as it is--the Athletic Department pays for itself and does not go to the university for more money, as 92% of all other Athletic Departments do. We are self-sufficient, which is pretty darn rare these days. (8%) Winning the most championships in the conference with one arm tied behind our back...says a ton about Mullens managing it.