Utes made progress in '06

Pleased but far from satisfied.

That's how Utah baseball coach Bill Kinneberg described his feelings after leading the Utes to their first non-losing season since 2002.

"I think we did make progress. We were a better baseball team than we were the year before in basically all facets of the game," Kinneberg said. "We made some strides and it's something to build on. But we still need to get better."

At 28-28 overall and 9-13 in Mountain West Conference play, the Utes have plenty of room for improvement. One thing that may be tough to top, however, are the numbers senior Ryan Khoury posted. The Mountain West Conference's player of the year and Utah's all-time hits leader was one of the nation's top hitters. His .438 batting average featured a team-high 13 home runs.

"The consistency he had was truly amazing to me," said Kinneberg, who noted that Khoury played a key role in all of Utah's victories in 2006. "He's going to be sorely missed and very hard to replace."

Khoury, he continued, matured on the mental side of the game. Adding that to his competitive fire kept the Copper Hills alum from ever getting down or losing focus. He earned postseason accolades and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox.

The Utes have another big hole to fill. Pitcher Josh Cooper, who won a team-high six games, leaves a considerable void. Kinneberg said the 6-foot-3 right-hander gave Utah a chance to win every Friday night.

"We're going to need somebody to step up and be that kind of guy for us," said Kinneberg, who considers senior-to-be Lucas Trinnaman a candidate to do so.

Fellow pitchers Eric King, Greg Krause, Rory James and Brandon Ast gave the Utes some much-needed depth on the hill. Even so, the Utes are expected to bring in five or six new pitchers next season.

"You can never have enough pitching," Kinneberg said. "That's something that we'll address again."

Overall improvement also applies to the position players. Topping the cast of returnees is three-time all-conference infielder Jay Brossman and outfielder John Welsh. In addition, Kinneberg expects sophomore Bret Baldwin, junior Erich Kemp and freshman Corey Shimada will improve on solid campaigns.

"We've got the bones of a good club coming back," Kinneberg said. "But we need some key guys to come in that will help us that are new."

A revamped schedule should also be welcome. The Utes played 13 of their first 16 MWC games on the road. And that followed a preseason spent primarily away from home.