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King ready for upcoming season

After sitting the majority of his senior year out due to injury, Herd star pitcher Josh King is ready to hit the field for the upcoming baseball season.

Last season, King started six times as the Friday night rotation leader and set a record of 28 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings. His record setting season came to an end after he tore the Ulnar Collateral Ligament in his elbow and underwent Tommy John surgery, which is a common baseball injury.

King said his recovery process was long, but steady with no set backs; however, the biggest challenge he faced was the slow pace of his recovery.

"There have been no set backs thus far and many progressions for which I am thankful for," King said. "The hard part about it all is the slow process, I'm just ready to pitch again."

King pitched his way into being ranked third of all time at Marshall with nine career saves prior to last season. The Troup, Ga., native who recently has his degree in management and will earn his second degree in marketing in May, began his campaign as a midweek starter before fitting into the setup man/closer role for three years.

 King said this is a great accomplishment of his, but owes it to his teammates for playing great defense.

"Being third all time in saves is definitely a great accomplishment," King said, "but it's something I would not have been able to do without the team putting me in a situation to get a save and playing great defense."

King's work ethic is not only shown in his achievements on the field, but in his ability to learn and teach his younger teammates, as well. His pitching coach, Josh Newman, said having him back for another season is not only excellent for the team, but great because he gets an extra year to get better.

"Having him back for another season is not only excellent for our younger guys to learn from and for our team to do well," Newman said, "but it is great that he has another year he can work on his craft and hone his skills."

Newman also said that being able to teach King things he can use later on in his career is rewarding.

"You never stop learning as a player," Newman said. "Being able to continue to teach him things that he can hopefully use later in his career is rewarding."

King's teammates are excited for his return, as well. One in particular is his best friend, senior pitcher Matt Margaritonda, who said that he and King learn from each other and compete with each other.

"We learn from each other, digest mistakes we both make, and try to mirror accomplishments," Margaritonda said. "There is no bigger rivalry on the team than Josh and me, but that's just to push each other.

Margaritonda also said that he would not be the same player or person he is without Josh.

"Without Josh, I would not be the player or person I am, and I believe he would say the same," Margaritonda said. "We are the perfect dynamic duo."

King said that MLB player Kris Medlen of the Atlanta Braves reminds him of himself because they both started as relievers and turned into starters.

"If I was to choose one player that reminded me of myself it would be Kris Medlen of the Atlanta Braves," King said. "Much like myself here at Marshall, he started his career with the Braves as a reliever and moved into the starting role for them."

King also said that he believes his style of pitching and mindset is much like that of  Medlen.

"I believe our style of pitching is much the same, as well," King said. "He keeps the ball down in the zone and works both sides of the plate, and anytime I'm on the mound, that is my mindset."

King said that he is very excited about the upcoming season, and that the team is already getting after it.

"I am very excited about the upcoming season," King said. "The team is already getting after it in the weight room, as well as out on the field."

King also said that he is grateful to be  playing with his teammates again.

"I am very grateful for the opportunity to be able to play with my team again once the rehab process is over," King said.

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Herd Conquers URI

The Herd’s preparation for the Rhode Island game was similar to the way the team prepared for Miami of Ohio. After the first win of their season, The Thundering Herd tackled the challenge of the unknown head on, and made it clear that preparing for the Rams started on the home front. 

Herd senior defensive lineman Ra'Shawde Meyers said that just like the first game against Miami, they were simply playing a guessing game since the Rhode Island had a new coaching staff as well as players. 

"Just like the last game, we're looking at film of where the coach came from, and looking at personnel from last year," Meyers said. "So, right now we're playing a guessing game." 

Meyers did not fear playing the guessing game, however. He welcomed the challenge as a new opportunity that he considered as part of the learning process of football.

"Last year, we played teams we never met before," Meyers said. "It's exciting because its new experiences, new schemes, and you learn football."

Alex Mirabal, Herd offensive line coach, said that because Rhode Island had not taken a snap before its meeting with the Herd, preparation was more focused on what they thought the Rams would do, as well as preparation for the Miami game and amongst his players.

"There is nothing that they are going to be able to do defensively that we have not seen already, whether it be through camp that our defense does, or through our preparation for Miami of Ohio," Mirabal said. "Because we do not know, there is some guessing."

Mirabal also said that the importance of research through gaining knowledge of the coaching staff; however, in the end, it all would come back to how the Herd prepared for the game internally.

"At the same time, because there is so much unknown, we just focus on us and getting ourselves better within our system, within our techniques," Mirabal said. 

Senior wide receiver Tommy Shuler said to believe the most important preparation had to do the Herd's player and coaches, not on the other side of the ball.

"We've just got to go out and play Marshall football," Shuler said. "If we play Marshall football and execute our plays, I think that will get us another W."

Rhode Island recruited Lyle McCombs, a transfer from UConn, who racked up 2,681 yards in his three seasons as a Husky. Redshirt junior defensive lineman Ricardo Williams knew the Herd had to execute against him.

"Our coach mentioned him to us," Williams said. "We are definitely keeping an eye on him, and we just have to go out there and execute."

After transferring from the University of Miami, Williams had to sit out a year. His excitement was energized by the fact it would be his first time playing in the Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

"This is my first home game because I sat out a year," Williams said. "I am excited to play my first game on Marshall turf."

Sentence Corrections

8. NC

9. Marshall athletics on Saturday will hold the 36th Big Green Dinner, with ESPN analyst Herm Edwards as its featured speaker.

10. Marshall University has announced that Los Angeles Lakers assistant and former Marshall player Dan D'Antoni will become the head basketball coach of the Thundering Herd.

11. Rakeem Cato is Marshall's quarterback.