OXFORD, Miss – “The damn baseball looks like a grapefruit out there to this guy.”

Those words from the grandstand were lobbed from a fan wearing a blue Gators cap. The platitude landed on Florida star Jac Caglianone as the player walked from the visiting Florida dugout to exit the Swayze Field playing surface.

Caglianone, listed at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, just greeted the complement with a hint of a smile. With number 14 on his back, Caglianone resembled an NFL tight end with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. The twenty-year-old presented an imposing figure.

Then he approached wearing a disarming, easy smile. The hulking figure was exceedingly polite. Earlier that day, he had murdered several baseballs.

“He’s the biggest, strongest kid on the field,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.

O’Sullivan had just watched that biggest, strongest kid smack three home runs in a Saturday doubleheader. Caglianone would hit another one the following day, giving him four home runs for the series and a national-best 17 for the season. And oh yeah, Caglianone also started that Sunday game as the pitcher, something he has done each weekend all season.   

Recruited as a premium pitcher to Florida, Caglianone didn’t pitch last season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. That injury hurt his draft stock out of high school and certainly contributed to his arrival as a collegian.

Caglianone was expected to sit out last season completely, and he did so as a pitcher. However, the Tampa native impressed enough with his bat to get a start at designated hitter in a series against the eventual SEC champion Tennessee. In the second at-bat of his first start, he homered. He became a lineup mainstay the rest of the way, finishing with a .288/.339/.528 slash line and seven home runs. He homered twice against Oklahoma at the Gainesville Regional and found his way onto the All-Regional team.

This season, healthy enough to pitch, he earned a job in the weekend rotation. In 29 innings, he has allowed only 15 hits and 11 runs. The sophomore southpaw has struck out 35 and walked 18. He’s 3-0 with a 3.41 ERA in his six starts.

That would be impressive enough as a pitcher. But there has been as much buzz from striking baseballs as striking out batters. Caglianone is batting .400/.462/.971 with 17 homers, seven doubles, and a triple while splitting time between first base and moving to designated hitter on days he pitches. He routinely has exit velocities over 110 mph. The ball just sounds different off his bat.

“My approach has always been to hit a ball hard,” Caglianone said. “So, yeah, my exit velo has been pretty high for a while. I’ve got 120 (mph) once this year and some 118s.”

“He’s just different,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ve had some really good hitters over the years. He’s right there with them. I’m so glad he’s only a sophomore so we still have him for another year.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen him,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said after Saturday’s game. “He’s special. We watched him for 10 at-bats and still don’t know what to throw him. He hits everything. He hits fastballs, breaking balls. We only threw changeups because we’ve seen him hit enough home runs on changeups. And what a first base he plays (defensively).”

While his prowess as a two-way threat is fascinating from the outside, managing his workload is a big part of the story.

“It is definitely a lot tougher in college than I thought it would be,” Caglianone said of managing both pitching and hitting. “The coaches do a great job maintaining my arm.”

“We really take it easy on his throwing, especially with in and out,” O’Sullivan said. “On strike threes, we only throw to third (base) so he doesn’t touch the ball very much. He’s been doing it his whole life, so this is not something he’s never done.”

One person who can relate in some ways to what Caglianone is doing is former Ole Miss two-way standout Stephen Head. A star at Ole Miss from 2003-2005 and a professional player from 2005-2011, Head pitched and played first base for the Rebels well enough to be SEC Player of the Year in 2004.

“It’s hard not to notice what he’s doing,” said Head, who now works as a crosschecker for the Los Angeles Dodgers. “I mean, to be that talented on both sides of the ball.”

Head detailed some of the ways he protected his arm during his playing days, limiting throwing as an infielder in practice and in games, similar to how Florida does with Caglianone.

Head did feel there are some advantages two-way players have. One example is there are twice as many opportunities to experience pressure. If you handle it properly, that can be a benefit.

“If you are batting with two outs in the bottom of the ninth,” Head explained. “That’s no different than pitching in that situation. I think it’s a benefit because you are ready for any situation.”

When asked if he had any advice for a player following his path nearly twenty years later, he offered this retort.

“He doesn’t look like he needs much of my advice,” Head said with a laugh. “I’d say, just continue to do what he’s doing and be smart about it. You have to know how to take care of your body to be able to perform like that every time. It’s a pretty tough balance. There were days when I started a game on Sunday where I was gassed. You have to figure out that balance to do your job, be a college kid, and be a teammate. It’s a harder thing to balance than if you are just playing one side of the ball.”

And that’s the uncertainty as his career progresses after he completes his term as a Gator.

The 2024 draft is out there, and while the prevailing thought on Caglianone entering the season was a mound future thanks to his high-90s velocity, his power production is hard to ignore.

“Growing up I was always like a hitter who pitched,” Caglianone said. “Coming to college, I’ve become more like a pitcher who can hit. I guess that’s what I’d say right now.”

The velocity on the mound is eye-catching. And while there have been bouts with command—he walked eight Sunday—he also had a nine-strikeout, one-walk game. When he’s locating, this is a tantalizing pitching prospect. And remember, he is working his way back after surgery kept him out last season. There’s plenty of development left to happen.

Then you watch him hit. Or, in my case, you hear him hit. That thunderous impact when his bat smashed the ball stuck with me, and the mountainous exit velocities backed that up.

So where is his future? On the mound or at the plate?

“That’s the million-dollar question,” said a grinning O’Sullivan. “It will be nice to see how it all unfolds.”

But maybe he won’t have to choose. While no one should have to live up to Shohei Ohtani’s exalted status, at least now there’s a precedent that playing both is possible.

Even if he wanted to, Caglianone can’t escape the Ohtani comparisons.

“It’s hard not to (pattern his game over Ohtani),” he said. “In Gainesville, they’ve got the ‘Jactani’ thing going on. It’s surreal. I’m not rushing anything. Especially on the pitching aspect of things, coming off Tommy John.”

Caglianone paused and looked around the emptying ballpark. His focus quickly returned, and he smiled and blurted out the answer he had originally planned…

“I plan to do both as long as I can.”

And based on what we’ve seen thus far, that may just be a long time from now.

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LUBBOCK, Texas – Like a young Mick Jagger, Roc Riggio strutted and preened halfway between second base and third, raising his hands and hopping along on his tiptoes as if he were running through hot coals, or trying to maintain his balance on a high wire. Like Jagger, Riggio is a natural showman who looks born for the big stage — and that home run trot against Arkansas last year came on the biggest stage of Riggio’s baseball career to date, his first taste of Division I postseason action in the wild Stillwater Regional.

Riggio did his talking with his bat as well as his swagger. When it mattered most, in the postseason, Riggio was a force of nature that entire week, finishing the regional 15-for-27 with five doubles, four home runs and 15 RBIs in five games. For Oklahoma State’s 5-foot-9, 180-pound dynamo, that performance was truly a coming-out party on the national stage.

“He has an internal will to convince himself he can do something that physically, you look at him and say you shouldn’t be able to do, but he decides he’s going to do it. And sometimes he has to recruit emotion and energy and feed off of things to do it,” Oklahoma State coach Josh Holliday said. “I saw it firsthand in our regional last year in Stillwater for four or five days. I saw a kid that drew energy from everything, from the other team’s fan base to the opponent, to the moment and all areas in between. And I think he’s just learning how to try to be a consistent performer without being so reliant upon that. But he’s a unique player and I’m just really glad he’s ours.”

A day after the official SportsCenter Twitter account posted the clip of Riggio’s home run prance with the caption, “Roc Riggio was feeling himself on his lap around the bases,” Riggio homered again — and this time he sprinted all the way around the bases and straight into the dugout at full speed. It was brilliant showmanship, even if it continued to infuriate the Arkansas fans on Twitter who decided Riggio was too flamboyant for their taste.

“It doesn’t bother me at all. I know that fans are fanatics. They’re not the ones playing the game, they have no idea what it’s like to be a ballplayer,” Riggio told D1Baseball of the interplay with fans who don’t like his style. “So we like it. We enjoy it. It fuels me, because I love this game, I love when the eyes are on me, I love when people hate me. On the field, I like being hated, that’s fine. Off the field, I respect everyone, I love everyone around me.”

Because Riggio is such a lightning rod, many casual college baseball fans might not know much more about him than that. His personality is so outsized that it can overshadow just how darn good he is at playing baseball.

A blue-chip recruit out of high school in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Riggio drew plenty of pro interest as a dynamic undersized hit machine in the mold of Nick Madrigal, Robert Moore or Dustin Pedroia. But he was determined to honor his commitment to Oklahoma State, where he was slowed a bit during his first fall by a left shoulder injury. Coming off that injury, it took him a little time to really find his stride as a freshman last year, but his torrid postseason performance gave him a very strong final line of .295/.413/.519 with 11 homers, 14 doubles and 47 RBIs, earning him first-team Freshman All-America honors. Riggio has more raw power than Madrigal and Moore, with an extremely strong lower half that he utilizes very well. But his hands are truly special as well, and they play a major role in his eye-opening power (which he showed off Saturday in Lubbock with a big three-run homer to center field to help lead OSU to its lone victory in a series at Texas Tech).

“His bat speed readings are elite, some of the highest ones you’ll see,” Holliday said. “So that’s a bat speed-driven swing, tremendous timing, and a very natural bat path that creates good loft.”

Riggio has continued to elevate his game as a sophomore, hitting .311/.480/.635 with five homers, seven doubles and 16 RBIs through 21 games. He has significantly improved his plate discipline, drawing 20 walks against 21 strikeouts so far after posting a 34-58 K-BB mark last year.

Oklahoma State’s Roc Riggio dons the Cowboy hat after homering in 2022

“It’s more controlled. I came in here as a free swinger,” Riggio said. “I didn’t have a solidified approach, and now having guys like [assistant coaches] Matt Holliday, Robin Ventura, Jordy Mercer, Rob Walton, our whole coaching staff, they’ve all haven’t changed my swing, they’ve just implemented a different approach in my mindset and I’m more of a controlled aggressive approach, and so when I’m not hitting the ball that good, I know what I’m doing wrong. And then when I get back into that mindset of where I have a good approach, I feel very confident to play.”

Josh Holliday said Riggio is “a rhythm player” who has really found his rhythm over the last 10 games or so. His improved patience at the plate has made him a great fit as the catalyst atop the order after usual leadoff man Zach Ehrhard went down with injury. Riggio’s energy is boundless and contagious; even on a routine ground ball to the first baseman, Riccio always runs his hardest down the line.

“He’s just a blood and guts, competitive, all-in, passionate kid. And he plays with a confidence and a little bit of a freedom that makes him who he is, and you never want to take that away from your players if they have it. But he’s also learning how to manage it and he’s doing a good job, and he’s playing great second base,” Holliday said. “And he’s stinging the ball, and he’s a fire-starter. With Ehrhard being out, who was the other component of the top of the order, those two guys did such a great job by the end of last year. Roc’s kind of had to carry the load as far as triggering the offense at the start for the other guys to finish it.”

Riggio has also become a very exciting defender at second base, a position he is still learning. He said he was a catcher his whole life growing up, and he played some corner outfield as well as catcher in high school, only seeing action on the infield dirt for half of his senior season.

“Last year was my first full year playing infield, and I’ve improved a lot,” Riggio said. “I’ve had a lot of guys helping me out. I have a lot of guys who have got my back, and I believe I’m one of the best infielders in college baseball. And despite a few hiccups here and there, a few bad hops, I think that our middle infield, our third baseman Aidan Meola, [shortstop] Marcus Brown, [utilityman] Brennan Holt — even the guys who aren’t playing are really good defenders. And so as long as we keep playing good defense we will be in a really good spot.”

This past weekend at Texas Tech, Riggio made multiple standout plays, showing excellent range on a diving play in the 43 hole then popping up and making a quick transfer and good throw to first for the out. He also showing great instincts at a key moment Saturday; with runners at first and second with no outs, Brown made a brilliant diving stop on a hot shot up the middle and flipped to Riggio for the force at second. Riggio faked a throw to first, then whirled around and fired a strike to third to throw out the lead runner, who had made too big a turn around third.

“I think he’s an incredibly under appreciated second baseman, his totals last year were remarkable. He played a high, high percentage second base,” Holliday said. “He’s had a couple of tough chances this year. There’s a couple of errors in there that were tough chances on balls that did awkward things, but he’s a ballplayer. That’s all there is to it, he turns the double play well, he leaves his feet awfully well. He’s alert and talkative and very much engaged on every pitch. He’s my kind of player.”

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LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Georgia Tech went into a series finale against rival Georgia in desperate need of some quality innings from its starting pitchers after getting just 5.2 innings combined with 11 runs allowed from Dawson Brown and Josiah Siegel in losses in the first two games of the series.

Fourth-year sophomore righthander Jackson Finley gave the Jackets exactly that in a 4-1 win over the Bulldogs.

He threw four innings, giving up two hits and one run with two walks and four strikeouts, throwing 39 of his 62 pitches for strikes. He also worked out of a real jam in the fourth inning, when Georgia scored one and threatened for more with two men on and one out. Strikeouts of Parks Harber and Cole Wagner got him out of it.

“I thought it was huge,” Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall said of Finley’s outing. “He pitched out of a jam in his last inning and that’s just good for him. I think it’s a good confidence booster for him. We’re asking him to do a lot, so just happy that he got out of that inning and then we can just kind of keep building from there.”

On its face, that outing doesn’t necessarily stand out, but it was precisely what Georgia Tech needed to set up the rest of the game, as relievers Ben King and Terry Busse took it home from there.

There’s a lot to like about Finley, starting with his performance through four starts. In 17.2 innings, he’s given up 13 hits and three earned runs with four walks and 11 strikeouts. His ERA sits at 1.53.

But beyond that, Finley just looks the part of a Friday starter. He’s got a solid frame at 6-foot-4 and 222 pounds and a four-pitch mix headlined by a low-90s fastball that will touch the mid 90s. And it only helps that he’s now two years removed from the Tommy John surgery that cut short his 2021 season and limited him in 2022.

The thing about it is that he can’t really be Georgia Tech’s Friday starter, though. He doubles as one of the Yellow Jackets’ best hitters — he ranks second on the team in average at .426 and leads the team with seven homers and 22 RBIs — and the coaching staff wants to give him a day off after he pitches. So Tech tried using him as the Sunday starter originally, then moved him up to Saturday last week against Notre Dame, which kept him out of the lineup Sunday.

Now that he’s gone through a few weeks of pulling double duty, Finley is learning more and more each time out about how he has to manage his body and all the other considerations that come along with being a two-way player.

“It has definitely been a little bit of a challenge, just keeping the body in shape,” Finley said. “It’s a lot more taxing, I’d say, but now that I’m starting to get more of a routine, I’m getting used to it and it’s getting a little easier.”

Finley hasn’t gone more than five innings or 82 pitches in any of his four starts, but that should change as time goes on. The coaching staff is being intentional about building him up so that he can be a workhorse once conference play is in full swing.

“That’s what we’re trying to get to, kind of taking it week to week, (and) 60-something (pitches) this week, so hopefully we can get him 70-plus, 75 and then just kind of start building him as we go,” Hall said.

Finley feels like that’s the way he’s headed as well.

“The pitch counts have been pretty steady now in the 60s and 70s, so as long as the arm keeps feeling good, I’ll be able to stretch it each outing,” he said.

A true Friday guy (even if he doesn’t pitch on Fridays) is what the team needs him to be, frankly, because circumstances have been such that Georgia Tech is really looking for answers on the mound.

This was always going to be an area of concern for the Yellow Jackets after they lost every pitcher who started more than four games last season and every pitcher who threw more than 39 innings.

Since this season started, the injury bug has also bitten. Logan McGuire, a high-ceiling righthander who might have actually turned out to be Tech’s Friday starter at some point this season, went down after throwing just 1.1 innings in a start two weekends ago against Tennessee Tech. Additionally, lefthander Camron Hill has been out since the second game of the season, and while his initial role was going to be as a reliever, it further hindered the team’s depth.

Neither of those injuries are expected to be season-ending at this point, but it does mean it’s on everyone else to help keep things afloat until the unit is back at full strength.

Finley is certainly doing his part.

Photo credit: GT Athletics/Danny Karnik

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Payton Tolle turned in a performance for the ages on Saturday. Pulling double duty as the starting pitcher and designated hitter against Oakland, he struck out a career high 10 batters, allowing just one earned run on two hits and a walk in the Shockers’ 17-5 win over the Grizzlies. But that’s only half the story. He also helped his own cause by going a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with a double, a home run and six RBIs – another career high. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a game quite like that,” Tolle told D1Baseball. “I mean there’ve been games in high school where I’m pitching well, but I can’t quite find the hitting or hitting well and can’t quite find the pitching, but everything was just ticking on Saturday. I don’t really know what happened or what I did to be able to get that going. In the moment, I was just taking one pitch at a time, one at-bat at a time and good things just kept happening.”

Tolle made an immediate impact as a freshman last spring, going 4-6, 4.48 in the weekend rotation, while also slashing .317/.357/.471 with three home runs in limited action at the plate. He broke out at last year’s Frisco Classic, taking home MVP honors while navigating the Shockers through an undefeated weekend with standout performances on the mound and at the plate. Limited to just over 100 at-bats last season, Tolle didn’t hit on the days when he pitched and he platooned at designated hitter. 

Interim skipper Loren Hibbs explained that he and his staff had a plan to increase Tolle’s two-way responsibilities this season and credited Tolle with his commitment to bringing the plan to fruition. 

“We’re a lot better coaches when he’s in the lineup as a pitcher/DH versus just being the pitcher,” said Hibbs. “We all saw that this weekend. With his work ethic, what he’s done and the way he competes is top end. We just want nothing but good things for him moving forward. We’re going to stay with the routine that’s worked well for him to this point and keep running him out there and keep putting him in the lineup as a DH.”

Both Tolle and Hibbs appreciate that being a two-way player at this level requires a special level of commitment on behalf of the student athlete. Hibbs believes Tolle is up for the challenge. 

“You’ve seen him in person, he’s huge” said Hibbs. “He’s a big kid; a strong kid. He’s really committed to building his body up in the year and a half now that he’s been here. It’s a credit to him, his work in the weight room. It’s hard to do both. It’s hard to be a two-way player at this level.”

Tolle attributes that willingness on behalf of the program to continue to allow him to develop on both sides of the ball as one driving factor in him choosing the school.

“Recruiting for me was different I feel like because there were some schools that were saying, ‘Yeah, we’ll let you two-way,’ but it didn’t seem like they really wanted it,” Tolle said. “And then there are also schools that said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be a hitter,’ and some schools said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be a pitcher.’ Then whenever I started talking to Wichita State, they seem like they were super on-board with me being a two-way. I thought this was the best chance I’ve got. I believe that they want me to do this, I think they believe in me.” 

Tolle went on to refer to Wichita State as one of his dream schools. He has family ties to the university as his mother is an alumnus, and it was close to home for the Yukon, Oklahoma native. For all those reasons, Tolle described the decision as a no-brainer, knowing it was exactly where he needed to be.

When asked if he prefers hitting or pitching, Tolle chooses all of the above. 

“I love doing both on the same day,” said Tolle. “I have always said ever since I was in high school, middle school, whatever — I’m going to ride this two-way train until they tell me to stop. I’m not going be the one to pick what I do. Somebody’s going to have to tell me; I won’t be able to make that decision for myself.”

After last weekend’s standout performance, Tolle is – perhaps unfairly – drawing comparisons to former Wichita State two-way star and College Baseball Hall of Famer Darren Dreifort, who starred for the Shockers from 1991-1993 before embarking on a nine-year MLB career. 

A veteran with more than 30 years of collegiate coaching experience, Hibbs recruited and coached Dreifort at Wichita State. While he stopped short of comparing the two players, he recognizes just how special the day was for the sophomore.  

“I think [Payton] will tell you he’s not to that level yet,” said Hibbs. “But if he keeps working and he’s still doing what he’s done at this point; he’s got a chance to do some special things like Darren did here.”

“There’s one-of-one with Darren Dreifort, that’s it,” Hibbs continued. “But what Payton did this past weekend is definitely Darren Dreifort-like. I’m just really proud of him; he’s a tremendous, tremendous young guy. He’s just worked his tail off and he loves to compete.”

Wichita State two-way talent Payton Tolle (Kai Caddy/Peak Events)

At 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, Tolle is an imposing figure on the mound as well. He employs a three-pitch mix that includes an 88-91 mph fastball, an improving breaking ball and he shows remarkable comfort in turning over his changeup. While he doesn’t blow hitters away with premium velocity, his length helps him get great extension toward the plate, allowing the fastball quality to play up and get on hitters in a hurry. 

Tolle has been working with former Shockers great and MLB veteran Mike Pelfrey to refine his arsenal. The humble Midwestern young man that Tolle is, he was quick to credit his pitching coach and his catcher for his recent success. 

“Talking to Coach Pelfrey this past week about my starts the first two weekends, we really just wanted to focus on conviction, believing in every pitch and throwing every pitch with confidence,” Tolle said. “That’s something that I went into the game knowing that I wanted to do. Every pitch was going be the best pitch that I throw. I trust Mauricio [Millan] my catcher and he calls a great game. We’re starting to think a lot alike now. Whenever he throws down a sign, I believe it and he believes it. Whenever we’re going together it’s a great feeling when things are rolling.”

Offensively, the loudest tool in the shed for Tolle is his massive raw power from the left side. There’s bat speed to complement the sheer strength, resulting in the ball jumping off his bat. Moreover, he’s able to drive the ball to all fields. An aggressive hitter, Tolle is looking to do damage when he steps to the plate. 

“Something that me and Coach [Mike] Sirianni have talked about is that I really just try to be in attack mode,” Tolle said. “Just seeing a pitch that I can hit and driving it right back up the middle. I feel like I can hit to all sides of the field, so that makes it to where I’m not just looking for inside [pitches]. I’m looking for heaters, I’m looking for hard stuff, I’m looking for stuff that I can hit and I’m always in attack mode.”

Even with the success he had as a freshman and the hot start in the encore, Tolle may just be scratching the surface of his considerable potential. Hibbs was complimentary of Tolle’s maturity, his budding leadership and his team-first mentality.

So how long will Tolle ride the two-way train? Hibbs has no plans to pump the breaks. 

“I think he’s realized that he’s physically gifted enough, if he can get in the right spot mentally which he’s really improved with that, that he can dominate the game at any time against anybody,” Hibbs said. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. I think he’s realized that, and I think the more times that he gets out there and gets a chance to have success, the more confidence he’s going to get. We’re just trying to provide them the opportunity to be a baseball player because he loves playing. It’s really not too hard to write his name in the four-hole, trust me. T-O-L-L-E. That’s pretty simple, I can do that.”

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Ball State Head Coach Rich Maloney has been involved in the game for a long time. A four-time MAC and two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, Maloney has had the opportunity to play a direct role in the development of several talented young men that have gone on to enjoy success at the next level.

In his 28 years as a head coach at the collegiate level, however, Maloney has never seen anything like he witnessed last weekend.

Redshirt sophomore righthander Ryan Brown made a pair of relief appearances for the Cardinals at the Swig & Swine College Classic in Charleston, South Carolina. He struck out 17 of the 20 batters he faced spanning 6 1/3 innings over two appearances, picking up the win in both contests. The only blemish on his pitching line was a lone walk allowed.

“That performance was the best I’ve ever seen, ever,” Maloney said. “I had tears in my eyes in the huddle. I got choked up because I said, ‘guys, this dude put our team right on his back.’ This is pretty special and he’s earned it.”

In Ball State’s second game of the tournament, a 5-4 win over Rutgers, Brown entered the game in the top of the eighth with the score tied 4-4 and retired the side in order, all three on swinging strikeouts. After Ball State took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the inning, Brown returned to the mound in the ninth and induced a foul out, issued a walk and struck out the final two batters of the game, both swinging, while picking up his second win of the season.

Brown’s second appearance of the weekend came one day later on Sunday, going 4 1/3 against Canisius in a 6-1 win. He took the mound in the top of the fifth with two outs and a runner on second. He promptly recorded the third out of the inning and ended up striking out 11 batters in a row. The 12th batter he faced hit a weak ground ball out, but the 13th and final batter he faced struck out swinging, giving him 12 punchouts on the day in another win for both Ball State and Brown.

For context, Maloney has coached numerous high-profile arms at Ball State. Look no further than Bryan Bullington, the No. 1 overall pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates from the 2022 MLB Draft.

In more recent years some of the more notable pitchers, and draft picks, have been Zach Plesac, Drey Jameson, Kyle Nicolas, Chayce McDermott and Tyler Schweitzer, the Chicago White Sox fifth-round pick last July. Bullington played five years in the big leagues with Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toronto and Kansas City. Plesac has been a starting pitcher for Cleveland the past four years, Jameson made his big league debut with Arizona last September and both Nicolas and McDermott finished the 2022 season at the Double A level.

Brown appears to be next in line, ready to follow his fellow Ball State hurlers at the professional level, and what truly makes him so unique is his signature pitch, a Vulcan changeup.

Photo credit: Ball State Athletics

Many of the greatest closers in the history of Major League Baseball have possessed a pitch that defined their greatness. Growing up I distinctly remember Bruce Sutter’s splitter. More recently Trevor Hoffman’s changeup and Mariano Rivera’s cutter were readily synonymous between the pitch and the person that threw them, pitches that every single person knew were coming but were still so good hitters never had a chance more often than not.

“I learned it my freshman year, just basically messing around outside of our dorms with my roommate, Ty Johnson,” Brown said of the pitch’s origin. “I didn’t have a changeup coming into college because I was a catcher my whole life. My freshman year was my first year really pitching, so I had to learn a changeup. I started playing around with some [grips] and was very comfortable throwing that split-change, the Vulcan change. I started throwing it in games and I started getting a lot of swing-and-miss on it, so it kind of just evolved from there.

“So, basically the only thing I’m really thinking about it is I’m throwing it like a fastball – I don’t think it’s the movement that makes it good, I think it’s more of the deception of how it looks out of my hand. It’s definitely been my bread and butter for a couple of years now.”

The Vulcan changeup differs from a split-fingered change in that the ball is placed in between the middle and ring fingers as opposed to the index and middle fingers (imagine Stark Trek’s Spock addressing you with his standard Live Long And Prosper greeting, only with a baseball stuck in the middle of his Vulcan fingers). It differs from a split-fingered fastball in that it is thrown like a changeup, allowing the grip, as opposed to any pronation, to work its magic as the pitch disappears downward as it crosses the dish.

“That’s kind of my rule of thumb, I don’t like to manipulate pitches too much,” Brown added. “I like to use the way I naturally throw and try to make the most out of that. According to my grip the pitch moves how it’s going to move, so I don’t really think about releasing the ball a certain way.”

In addition to this outlier offering Brown also throws hard, usually sitting in the 92-94 range with his fastball, touching 95 frequently with a 96 appearing from time to time. Those velos are expected to climb as the weather warms up and as Brown continues to add strength to his 6-foot-2, 205-pound frame. He’s also working on a slider, a pitch he’s able to dump in to a steal a strike, but at this point in time he hasn’t needed it much given the success of his Vulcan change.

The swing-and-miss metrics are ridiculous, something scouts have taken note of in previous viewings with their interest intensifying through two weekends of play.

Brown’s first appearance of the season came in Ball State’s very first game on the road against Charlotte. Similar to his more recent appearances Brown entered the game in the fourth inning and went the rest of the way. While he did strike out 10 batters he also walked nine, allowing just one hit without giving up a run and picking up his first win of the season.

“Honestly last weekend was equally impressive in a different way,” Maloney said of Brown’s first appearance. “Last weekend when we opened the season we faced a good Charlotte team and I brought him into the game and the margin was basically zero to make a mistake. His line was nine walks and 10 strikeouts, and he got the win. Who does that? A lot of people would say, ‘ugh, he walked nine guys.’ I would say, ‘that showed some moxie.’ That dude had to make big pitch after big pitch to get himself out of his jams, and he did it. A lot of guys would have broke.”

Brown admits he’s not overly mechanical when it comes to pitching. That doesn’t mean he just wildly fires from the mound, but he takes more of a naturalist approach, letting his body and its motion throw the ball he feels most comfortable with. He redshirted his entire first year on campus, arriving to Ball State as a catcher in high school as a native of Harrison Township, Mich., that would take the mound late in games to close things out. At the time he was just hurling fastballs, but his size and arm strength started to draw the attention of college recruiters.

A year ago as a redshirt freshman Brown was named the MAC Freshman of the Year after going 4-1 with a 1.71 ERA in 13 relief appearances. In 31 2/3 innings he struck out 50 batters and only allowed 17 hits, but he did issue 25 walks. The walks are largely contributed to his fastball command. Brown has a remarkable ability to command his Vulcan change but his ability to place his fastball has been inconsistent to this point of his pitching career, which essentially is a two-year work in progress.

“There’s a mechanical tweak I did make,” Brown said of the difference between the first weekend of play and the second. “I don’t really focus on mechanics too much most of the time, it’s more mental, but I made a switch the past week of just keeping my head still and trying not to get out of my mechanics. I’m throwing everything with intent, controlled intent. That mixed with not being afraid to pound the zone, to let my stuff play up, a mix of those two things were what helped.

“Confidence is a big thing for me. Every time I pitch – regardless if it’s the last outing at Charlotte where I had nine walks – I don’t think about that the next outing. I pitch with the same confidence and I use the mental skills I’ve learned to just flush it, move on to the next outing and keep going. I’m not focused on any of the failures of old outings.”

An Exercise Science major at Ball State, Brown has learned a great deal about his body during his studies. Upon graduation he would like to pursue physical therapy, a potential career that could be put on pause considering how much interest he’s going to draw between now and this year’s draft in mid-July.

For now Maloney intends to keep Brown in the bullpen, using him as an effective, somewhat old-school stopper reminiscent of closers of old. Ball State is supposed to get their closer from last year back at some point in time this spring, as Sam Klein has been unavailable to pitch to open the 2023 season after recording 11 saves a year ago. Should Brown get the call to start he has proven in extended relief appearances that he can certainly handle the added innings, and as his slider continues to develop he also has the requisite three pitches to start.

It’s also believed amongst scouts that Brown could be recording outs in the big leagues right now in the exact same role he’s currently being used given the swing-and-miss metrics his Vulcan change elicits.

Those possibilities aren’t in Brown’s mind at this point in time. He is focused on what he can control and that includes helping to guide Ball State to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006 despite winning the MAC regular season championship a year ago.

“Our goal is to win the MAC again and get to a regional,” Brown said. “We’ve been in quite a drought, we haven’t been in a regional since ’06, so everyone’s hungry to get to a regional. I think we could really do some damage because we have a lot of returners that came back, upperclassmen in the mix with a lot of JUCO guys and freshmen that are going to make a big impact.

“Last year I know the guys we had on the team, the veterans – the quality of pitching and hitting that we had – we all knew that it was unfortunate that we couldn’t close out the [MAC] Tournament because I think that team would have been really special if we had made a regional. It just makes us hungrier this year.”

D1Baseball.com is your online home for college baseball scores, schedules, standings, statistics, analysis, features, podcasts and prospect coverage.

BATON ROUGE, La. – Paul Skenes stood on the mound, staring at his catcher, freshman Brady Neal. Maybe there were people in the crowd, 10,683 to be exact. Perhaps there was a batter. He faced 22 of them, according to the final box score. The junior righthander was locked in on his catcher like no one else was present.

Skenes grimaced and hurled the pitch with all he had. Fastball, 98 mph. It was as if he didn’t care there was a man with a bat was standing there. Then he did it again. Fastball, 97 mph. And he did it again and again. He would occasionally mix in a slider, a mid-80s sweeper, showcasing a new arrow in his quiver.

Paul Skenes was ready. Another fastball. Another strikeout. He was made for this moment.

That moment, well, it was opening day in Alex Box Stadium, a day Skenes later said he’d never forget as his first game as an LSU Tiger. Wearing purple and gold, he threw 98 pitches. Most of them were fastballs, and he exited the game after six innings with a dozen strikeouts and a zero in the run column. He won SEC Pitcher of the Week from the SEC office (and also from D1baseball.com’s SEC Extra). By anyone’s standards, it was a good day.

“Paul was outstanding tonight, and he showed why he’s the best pitcher in college baseball,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said. “He is very detailed in his approach, and he executed his plan precisely.”

“He is a very focused and driven young man,” LSU pitching coach Wes Johnson said. “He is very routine oriented and has a plan every day he comes in, which is something you need to be successful. Paul is always looking to learn something that might be able to help him get better.”

Skenes possesses the ability to focus on the moment, blocking out distractions. Those traits would have made him a great F-15 fighter pilot had he remained at the Air Force Academy. Skenes transferred to LSU over the summer.

“He carries himself with poise and presence,” said Air Force coach Mike Kazlausky, who coached Skenes for two seasons. “His mentality is like none I have ever seen at our institution in regard to visual acuity and visualization that he had on every single pitch. It was incredible. None of the other kids think like that.”

Think about that statement for a minute. Coach Kaz isn’t comparing Skenes to the cast of the D1Baseball.com Christmas party. He’s comparing Skenes to Academy cadets. These are the best of the best.

“They just received a true warrior,” Kazlausky said of LSU. “From academics, athletics, and character perspectives, you are not going to meet another man that whole.

“I have no idea what the LSU culture is like, but I guarantee you it just got better.”

Coach Kaz relayed a story where two cadets didn’t meet the standard. Skenes immediately raced up the hill and confronted them.

“The type of kid that he is, he’s not looking to his right and looking to his left and say, ‘See, those kids weren’t doing it right,'” Kazlausky said. “He took it upon himself. That’s leadership."

Bayou Detour

As his coaches pointed out, Skenes understands plans. Sometimes, plans must change, and that’s why the bayou, instead of the Rockies, now surrounds him.

Two years earlier, the 6-foot-6 Skenes was a catcher, a relief pitcher, and a member of Air Force cadet squadron 9. Now, he’s one of the top pitching prospects in college baseball and the ace of the No. 1 team in the country.

At the top of the sport now, that wasn’t the case a few months earlier. At the Air Force Academy, Skenes was part of a huge underdog story. Unlike LSU, Air Force wasn’t a baseball powerhouse. Still, Skenes, Coach Kaz, and the Falcons made a run to the Mountain West Conference Tournament title last season, earning them an automatic bid as the No. 4 seed in the Austin Regional.

The Falcons exceeded expectations in Austin, going 2-2 en route to the Austin Regional final. The Falcons beat Dallas Baptist and Louisiana Tech but lost to host and eventual CWS squad Texas twice, in the opener and the final. Skenes took the mound in the opening game against the heavily favored Longhorns and took the loss.

The game didn’t go as he wanted, as he left the mound after four innings. But the experience prepared him for what would come next, even if he didn’t know it at the time.

“My last start at Air Force was against Texas in front of 8,000 fans or something like that,” Skenes said after LSU’s 10-0 win over Western Michigan last Friday. “It was a big game. I would say the comfort level of doing that was a lot higher today (at LSU). Obviously, there are a lot of a lot of people there, but you know the whole thing about you’d rather have them on your side rather than have them rooting against you. I think I was a lot more prepared for it today than then.”

He had an entire Baton Rouge crowd behind him, along with a star-studded roster that includes returning stars like Dylan Crews and Tre’ Morgan.

Skenes transferred to LSU as part of the heralded transfer class that included Tommy White, Christian Little, and Ben Nippolt. His story was a little different because if he didn’t transfer after his sophomore season, his professional aspirations were unclear.

Paul Skenes the Cadet/D1Baseball.com

Had Skenes stayed at Air Force through his junior season, he would have been locked into graduating from the Air Force before beginning any sort of professional baseball career. There was a precedent to follow as Minnesota Twins pitcher Griffin Jax was drafted in the third round as a junior in 2016 and did not play baseball as a senior. Jax deferred to the Air Force reserve after graduation and was able to play minor league baseball, eventually reaching the major league Twins in 2021.

The rules had changed in the time between Jax and Skenes, and Coach Kaz detailed it below.

Skenes’ situation would have been different than Jax’s. Skenes could have been drafted after his junior year and, like Jax, he would have to return for his senior year to graduate. Skenes, upon graduation, would have had to defer his commissioning of becoming a 2nd Lieutenant in the USAF. Meaning he would not have been an officer in the Air Force. He would have been able to play pro sports until he called it quits or the Department of Defense decided the media value was not being obtained.

Jax, drafted after his junior year, went to school his senior year, was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, and participated in the World Class Athlete Program – designed to train in the minor league organization with hopes of becoming a member of the USA Olympic baseball team. Jax served two years in active duty and applied for an exception to the policy under “Palace Chase.”  The exception was granted, allowing him to play baseball for the Twins, and he traded his final three years of Active Duty service for six years of Reserve Duty.

Skenes was on that path after two incredible seasons in Colorado Springs. As a freshman catcher, he hit .410/.486/.697 with 11 home runs, 43 RBIs, and 49 runs, which led the team in all three. He also served as the Falcons’ closer, totaling 11 saves.

“We knew what we had right away,” Kazlausky said. “He was our best catcher on the team. He was our best hitter on the team. And he was our closer. He would catch twice a weekend. If we didn’t close him in game one or two, he would be long relief in game three. We beat LSU that year. He caught eight innings and then came in and closed, throwing 97 mph. We also beat Arizona. He caught eight innings and closed them out. They had him at 100 mph.”

Then last season as a sophomore, Skenes batted .314/.391/.552 with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs. He would start on the mound on Friday, DH on Saturday, and often catch on Sunday. He finished the season on the mound as the AFA ace with a 10-3 record, a 2.76 ERA, and 96 strikeouts in 85.2 innings. The Falcons were 12-3 in games Skenes started and 20-26 in the other games. That kind of season won him the John Olerud Award as the best two-way player in the country.

“He is one of the greatest athletes to ever attend our school,” Coach Kaz said. “I wish there was something from the Department of Defense and United State Air Force to make eligible for him to remain at our school and play pro baseball as well. It just wasn’t able to work out."

Skenes holding an American flag/D1Baseball.com

Then the summer came, he stamped his passport in the transfer portal and wound up at LSU.

And who can blame him? At Alex Box Stadium, he plays in front of raucous crowds that understand the game against some of the best competition in the country. Every day he practices with some of the best players in the country with a chance to win championships. He would have a chance to pitch in a regional with the large crowd cheering for him instead of against him as he faced last season. He could play for a head coach with an Omaha pedigree focused on building something great. And he could play for a major league pitching coach who understands what a player needs to do to reach the next level.

Fine-Tuning The Arsenal

Skenes arrived at LSU as a hard thrower. He, obviously, can still throw hard. His first pitch on opening day was 99 mph. His final pitch was 98 mph. Velocity isn’t an issue. He quickly admits his stuff has improved since coming to LSU and working with pitching coach Wes Johnson, who joined LSU this summer after a stint as the Minnesota Twins’ pitching coach.

“The consistency has improved,” Skenes said. “The stuff in general, it’s a different slider this year than I was doing last year. I started throwing the two-seam as well but didn’t throw it a ton today. The changeup I threw once today, and I just missed with it with a changeup I’ve been throwing forever. But literally just knowing what makes each pitch good and where to start it. And then the velo has increased and the consistency of the velo has increased, which makes it a lot easier to pitch. So that’s in a nutshell that’s pretty much what we’ve done in the past six months.”

Wes Johnson met Skenes on his official visit shortly after coming to LSU from the Twins.

“The first thing I noticed was we need to get him to move a little better from a sequencing standpoint,” Wes Johnson said. “He obviously had a strong arm and was a big-bodied kid. He needed to clean up the way he moved. If you are going to be a starter in the big leagues, you’ve got to be an efficient mover. You’ve got to be able to recover because you get the ball every five days. He started moving better, and he did stuff over the winter break. Everyone likes to think there’s a magic bullet or whatever, but there’s not. It takes time.

“He’s really good,” the pitching coach continued. “He has to continue to develop his command and consistency. His changeup is really good, and we only threw it twice Friday night. He needs to continue to throw all three pitches in the strike zone. Being able to go to that changeup a little more would be nice, which is something you’ll see from us moving forward with him. The sky’s the limit. He gets it because he is so mature from a mental standpoint. That’s what you see from the guys that make it to the big leagues.”

The big righthander dominated at times, resulting in a dozen strikeouts. Skenes pledged $10 for every strikeout to Folds of Honor, a nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of military and first responders who have died or been disabled. The charity is $120 richer after last Friday. One would expect that total to grow mightily as the season progresses.

As Skenes alluded to, he also changed his slider, which got him a little excited as he described it.

“The slider was really good,” Skenes said. “To be honest, I wished I had thrown it a little bit more. I think all except for maybe one or two were executed. One of them to the guy to the guy that had the double down the line. To be honest, I put it right where I wanted to put that ball. Maybe he was cheating to it or just caught it on barrel, whatever it was, but in my opinion, he was beat on that pitch and just got lucky a little bit. So that pitch was executed. And I think all the other sliders were too. I only threw one changeup. The slider was how I wanted it to be today. Especially with it being cold, making it tough to spin the ball.”

That comment reinforced something Coach Kaz mentioned about Skenes and also something my wife, an addiction counselor, constantly reinforces to anyone within earshot. “Be where your hands are,” meaning focus on the moment and control the controllable. Everything else, whether it be future issues or what others may do, is not where your focus should be.

Most of us focus on the result. The batter got a double off him. However, Skenes was focused on his performance. Did he execute to his standard? It’s a high standard. If met, that’s the result he’s chasing. He thinks, Did I throw my slider at optimum performance? As opposed to thinking, Did I get the batter out? Both are important, but Skenes can only control one part of the situation. That maturity is rare for a 20-year-old. Heck, it’s rare for a 50-year-old.

That slider version is a completely different one than he used at Air Force, moving from a vertical break to a horizontal one.

Photo credit: Beau Brune

“It’s a sweeper as opposed to the gyro slider that I threw last year,” Skenes said. “I didn’t really know how to pitch with it last year. Didn’t really know what a gyro slider was, to be honest, but they are completely different pitches. I don’t know what it was breaking today, but it felt like it was sweeping for sure. I’m throwing it a lot more to lefties. I hardly threw it all to lefties last year, honestly. It was like the sixth start or so last year before I threw a slider to a lefty last year. I threw a number of them today. It’s a being able to throw to both sides in the know where to start it. It’s obviously a work in progress. But I think we’re in a good spot with that.”

“I use a lot of technology as everybody does now,” Wes Johnson explained. “I didn’t like the way he was gripping (the slider). We had a few guys with the Twins where he put the split-grip slider in. So, we split his grip. With his slot, the way his hand works, it made sense to do it. The grip doesn’t work for everybody. He was able to pick it up. He has such a really good two-seam. It runs horizontal. You can create a pretty good spread with a good sweeping slider. That’s what we put it in.”

As Skenes fielded question after question in the postgame interview scrum, I thought to myself, he pauses and composes his thoughts before each answer. This is a deliberate, cerebral guy.

“I don’t know what my velo was today,” Skenes said. “All I know is what my eyes saw and the misses were smaller today than they had been in the last couple weeks. Obviously, the adrenaline was flowing. Now especially, it’s really easy to just go after guys and make them hit it. That was the approach today, but probably to a lesser extent throughout the season, but that’s certainly gonna be the approach."

“He knows he’s better than you and he just dominates,” LSU freshman DH Jared Jones said. “It’s scary. And I’m glad he’s on our team.”

Last season, Skenes was a catcher and cadet. This season, he’s a Tiger with Omaha aspirations and, if the improvement continues, a big league future. And then, after that, Coach Kaz said not to be surprised if he serves his country again.

Coach Kaz spoke about his former player with reverence often reserved for someone’s passing. However, in this case, Skenes just moved 1135 miles southeast.

“He is a better person than he is a baseball player,” Kazlausky said. “And that’s what you need to write because that truly hits home with me."

D1Baseball.com is your online home for college baseball scores, schedules, standings, statistics, analysis, features, podcasts and prospect coverage.

OMAHA, Neb. – Texas’ Ivan Melendez was named the 44th winner of the Golden Spikes Award tonight in a live presentation during the College World Series Special on ESPN. Created in 1978, the Golden Spikes Award honors the top amateur baseball player in the United States based on their athletic ability, sportsmanship, character, and overall contribution to the sport.

Melendez is the first Longhorn to win the award in the program’s heralded history. Texas boasts the second-most Golden Spikes Award finalists all-time with 11 and is one of three schools to have a finalist in 11 different seasons. He is just the fourth player from the Big 12 Conference to win the coveted award and the first since Alex Gordon (Nebraska) took home the trophy in 2005. Jason Jennings (Baylor) also won the award in 1999, as well as Robin Ventura (Oklahoma State) in 1988.

“Ivan Melendez put together a season to remember for baseball fans,” said USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO Paul Seiler. “He became one of the most feared hitters in college baseball this year thanks to consistent and staggering power numbers, and he made every at-bat a must-see event. We are honored to celebrate Ivan and his record-breaking accomplishments by naming him our forty-fourth Golden Spikes Award winner.”

Melendez finished his redshirt-junior season leading the nation in home runs (32), RBIs (94), slugging percentage (.863), and total bases (214), as well as landing in the top 10 in three other offensive categories: hits (96), on-base percentage (.508), and runs scored (75). He broke Texas’ regular-season home run record in the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament after launching his 29th homer of the year. Melendez followed that up by breaking the BBCOR-era home run record set by fellow Golden Spikes Award winner Kris Bryant in 2013 with his 32nd during the Greenville Super Regional.

A consensus All-America selection, Melendez helped lead the Longhorns to Austin Regional and Greenville Super Regional titles, as well as their second-consecutive College World Series appearance and the third in the last four complete seasons.

Melendez was named the Big 12 Player of the Year after leading the Big 12 in six offensive categories: batting average (.421), home runs (28), RBIs (85), on-base percentage (.531), slugging percentage (.941), and OPS (1.472). Additionally, he earned conference Player of the Week a record five times throughout the regular season.

Melendez joins a group of past winners that include Kevin Kopps (2021), Adley Rutschman (2019), Andrew Vaughn (2018), Brendan McKay (2017), Kyle Lewis (2016), Andrew Benintendi (2015), A.J. Reed (2014), Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Bryce Harper (2010), Stephen Strasburg (2009), Buster Posey (2008), and David Price (2007).

Golden Spikes Award winners have had tremendous success in the Major Leagues. Of the 43 previous winners, six earned Rookie of the Year honors, including Lewis in 2020. Additionally, three have won the Cy Young award, three were named MVP, and 11 have won a World Series championship as a player or manager, combining for 18 championships. Nineteen previous winners have also been named to at least one All-Star Game roster as a player or manager, combining for 59 total selections.

The award winner was selected through the distribution of ballots to a voting body consisting of national baseball media, select professional baseball personnel and USA Baseball staff, and the previous winners of the award, totaling a group of more than 150 voters. Fan voting continued to be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2022 and contributed to the voting total.

Golden Spikes Award Winners:

• 2022: Ivan Melendez - Texas
• 2021: Kevin Kopps - Arkansas
• 2019: Adley Rutschman - Oregon State
• 2018: Andrew Vaughn - California
• 2017: Brendan McKay - Louisville
• 2016: Kyle Lewis - Mercer
• 2015: Andrew Benintendi - Arkansas
• 2014: A.J. Reed - Kentucky
• 2013: Kris Bryant - San Diego
• 2012: Mike Zunino - Florida
• 2011: Trevor Bauer - UCLA
• 2010: Bryce Harper - Southern Nevada
• 2009: Stephen Strasburg - San Diego State
• 2008: Buster Posey - Florida State
• 2007: David Price - Vanderbilt
• 2006: Tim Lincecum - Washington
• 2005: Alex Gordon - Nebraska
• 2004: Jered Weaver - Long Beach State
• 2003: Rickie Weeks - Southern
• 2002: Khalil Greene - Clemson
• 2001: Mark Prior - Southern California
• 2000: Kip Bouknight - South Carolina
• 1999: Jason Jennings - Baylor
• 1998: Pat Burrell - Miami
• 1997: J.D. Drew - Florida State
• 1996: Travis Lee - San Diego State
• 1995: Mark Kotsay - Cal State Fullerton
• 1994: Jason Varitek - Georgia Tech
• 1993: Darren Dreifort - Wichita State
• 1992: Phil Nevin - Cal State Fullerton
• 1991: Mike Kelly - Arizona State
• 1990: Alex Fernandez - Miami Dade CC
• 1989: Ben McDonald - LSU
• 1988: Robin Ventura - Oklahoma State
• 1987: Jim Abbott - Michigan
• 1986: Mike Loynd - Florida State
• 1985: Will Clark - Mississippi State
• 1984: Oddibe McDowell - Arizona State
• 1983: Dave Magadan - Alabama
• 1982: Augie Schmidt - New Orleans
• 1981: Mike Fuentes - Florida State
• 1980: Terry Francona - Arizona
• 1979: Tim Wallach - Cal State Fullerton
• 1978: Bob Horner - Arizona State

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CARY, N.C. – Oregon State’s Cooper Hjerpe, Texas’ Ivan Melendez, and Georgia Tech’s Kevin Parada were named the three finalists for the 2022 Golden Spikes Award by USA Baseball today. This year will celebrate the 44th Golden Spikes Award winner, honoring the top amateur baseball player in the nation who best exhibits exceptional on-field ability and exemplary sportsmanship.

The winner will be announced on June 24 on ESPN during the “College World Series Special” at 8 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. CDT.

“It is an honor to name the three finalists for this year’s Golden Spikes Award as we move another step closer to recognizing the top amateur baseball player in the country,” said USA Baseball Executive Director and CEO Paul Seiler. “Each of these young men is worthy of this recognition after contributing outstanding campaigns for their respective schools this season. Since 1978, the Golden Spikes Award has honored a spectacular collection of athletes and it’s exciting to know that one of these young athletes will soon join this lauded group of people.”

Oregon State sophomore southpaw Cooper Hjerpe boasts a 10-2 record, a 2.40 ERA, and a .182 batting average against for the Beavers this season, and he currently ranks in the top 15 in three pitching categories entering the Super Regionals. Hjerpe’s 155 strikeouts (in 95.2 innings pitched) lead the nation, while his 0.88 WHIP and 7.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio are good enough for eighth and 15th in the country, respectively. He was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week twice this season and earned National Pitcher of the Week honors after striking out 17 against Stanford on April 1. Hjerpe is the third Beaver to be named a Golden Spikes Award finalist, joining Michael Conforto in 2014 and eventual winner Adley Rutschman in 2019.

Big 12 Player of the Year Ivan Melendez led the conference in batting average, home runs, RBIs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS to end the regular season for the Texas Longhorns. Following the NCAA Regionals, he is the national leader in four offensive categories: home runs (30), RBIs (90), slugging percentage (.895), and total bases (204). Additionally, Melendez also ranks in the top 10 in batting average (.404) and on-base percentage (.522). Throughout his redshirt-junior season in Austin, Melendez set a Big 12 record with five Player of the Week selections in 2022. He is the 10th Longhorn to be named a Golden Spikes Award finalist in program history and the first since Kody Clemens got the nod in 2018.

Georgia Tech catcher Kevin Parada has had a stellar sophomore season for the Yellow Jackets, ranking in the top 10 in four offensive categories. He finished his season third in the nation in RBIs (88), sixth with a school-record 26 home runs, fourth in total bases (183), and fourth in runs scored (79). Parada started all 60 of Georgia Tech’s games this season, playing an impressive 55 of them behind the dish, where he posted a .992 fielding percentage and threw out 12 would-be base thieves. In ACC play, Parada led the league in home runs, RBIs, runs, and total bases and ranked second in hits and third in slugging. He has racked up numerous accolades this year, being named National Player of the Week three times and ACC Player of the Week once. Parada is the first Georgia Tech player to be named a finalist since Mark Teixeira in 2000 and the sixth Yellow Jacket overall, including 1994 winner Jason Varitek.

The 2022 winner will look to join a group of recent winners that include Kevin Kopps (2021), Adley Rutschman (2019), Andrew Vaughn (2018), Brendan McKay (2017), Kyle Lewis (2016), Andrew Benintendi (2015), A.J. Reed (2014), Kris Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Bryce Harper (2010), Stephen Strasburg (2009), Buster Posey (2008), and David Price (2007).

Historically, Golden Spikes Award winners have gone on to have tremendous success in the Major Leagues. Of the 43 previous winners, six earned Rookie of the Year honors, including Lewis in 2020. Additionally, three have won the Cy Young award, three were named MVP, and 11 have won a World Series championship as a player or manager, combining for 18 championships. Nineteen previous winners have also been named to at least one All-Star Game roster as a player or manager, combining for 59 total selections.

A final ballot will be sent to the Golden Spikes Award voting body consisting of national baseball media, select professional baseball personnel and USA Baseball staff, and the previous winners of the award, totaling a group of more than 150 voters. From Wednesday, June 8 to Tuesday, June 14, the voting body will cast their final vote for the Golden Spikes Award winner and fan voting will simultaneously be open on GoldenSpikesAward.com.

The presentation of the 44th Golden Spikes Award will take place on Friday, June 24 during the “College World Series Special” on ESPN. To stay up to date on the 2022 Golden Spikes Award visit GoldenSpikesAward.com and follow @USAGoldenSpikes on Twitter and Instagram.

Golden Spikes Award Winners:

• 2021: Kevin Kopps - Arkansas
• 2019: Adley Rutschman - Oregon State
• 2018: Andrew Vaughn - California
• 2017: Brendan McKay - Louisville
• 2016: Kyle Lewis - Mercer
• 2015: Andrew Benintendi - Arkansas
• 2014: A.J. Reed - Kentucky
• 2013: Kris Bryant - San Diego
• 2012: Mike Zunino - Florida
• 2011: Trevor Bauer - UCLA
• 2010: Bryce Harper - Southern Nevada
• 2009: Stephen Strasburg - San Diego State
• 2008: Buster Posey - Florida State
• 2007: David Price - Vanderbilt
• 2006: Tim Lincecum - Washington
• 2005: Alex Gordon - Nebraska
• 2004: Jered Weaver - Long Beach State
• 2003: Rickie Weeks - Southern
• 2002: Khalil Greene - Clemson
• 2001: Mark Prior - Southern California
• 2000: Kip Bouknight - South Carolina
• 1999: Jason Jennings - Baylor
• 1998: Pat Burrell - Miami
• 1997: J.D. Drew - Florida State
• 1996: Travis Lee - San Diego State
• 1995: Mark Kotsay - Cal State Fullerton
• 1994: Jason Varitek - Georgia Tech
• 1993: Darren Dreifort - Wichita State
• 1992: Phil Nevin - Cal State Fullerton
• 1991: Mike Kelly - Arizona State
• 1990: Alex Fernandez - Miami Dade CC
• 1989: Ben McDonald - LSU
• 1988: Robin Ventura - Oklahoma State
• 1987: Jim Abbott - Michigan
• 1986: Mike Loynd - Florida State
• 1985: Will Clark - Mississippi State
• 1984: Oddibe McDowell - Arizona State
• 1983: Dave Magadan - Alabama
• 1982: Augie Schmidt - New Orleans
• 1981: Mike Fuentes - Florida State
• 1980: Terry Francona - Arizona
• 1979: Tim Wallach - Cal State Fullerton
• 1978: Bob Horner - Arizona State

VOTE NOW!

CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball today announced the semifinalists for its Golden Spikes Award, moving one step closer to naming the top amateur baseball player of the year. The 44th Golden Spikes Award will be presented on June 24 on ESPN.

Twenty-six different universities are represented by the 2022 semifinalists, and the list includes 11 athletes who have played their way into consideration since the midseason list was announced on April 5.

Additionally, the list of semifinalists is headlined by Jacob Berry (LSU) and Jace Jung (Texas Tech) who are both making their second semifinalist list appearances this year after also earning the honor in 2021. Since 2007, 32 athletes have been named a semifinalist more than once in their careers, including past Golden Spikes Award winners Stephen Strasburg (2009), Mike Zunino (2012), Kris Bryant (2013), Brendan McKay (2017), and Andrew Vaughn (2018).

“We are thrilled to honor these accomplished student-athletes as semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award,” said USA Baseball Executive Director and CEO Paul Seiler. “With the huge wealth of talent in our sport right now, we are excited to recognize the contributions these athletes are making to their teams and schools. Each of these semifinalists showcase the caliber of players within amateur baseball as they each have excelled both on and off the field. We cannot wait to continue watching their journeys this season.”

Joining LSU teammate Berry as a 2022 semifinalist is Dylan Crews (LSU), meanwhile Cal Poly, Oregon State, Tennessee, and Virginia Tech join LSU as the only schools with multiple semifinalists on the list. Those sections include Chase Burns (Tennessee), Gavin Cross (Virginia Tech), Cooper Hjerpe (Oregon State), Brooks Lee (Cal Poly), Trey Lipscomb (Tennessee), Jacob Melton (Oregon State), Tanner Schobel (Virginia Tech), and Drew Thorpe (Cal Poly).

Also earning semifinalist honors in 2022 is Ryan McCarty (Penn State Abington), who put together an unmatched regular season in which he won the NCAA Division III Triple Crown and paced college baseball offensively throughout the year. McCarty finished his historic senior season with the DIII single-season record for total bases (220) and led all of the NCAA in batting average (.529), hits (100), RBIs (91), slugging percentage (1.164), and total bases, while his 29 home runs and 89 runs scored led Division III and tied for the top mark in all of NCAA baseball. He looks to become the first Golden Spikes Award winner from a non-Division I program since Bryce Harper won the award in 2010.

In total, at least one athlete from 12 different NCAA conferences has earned semifinalist honors this year. The Atlanta Coast Conference leads all conferences represented with seven athletes on the list, while six players represent the Southeastern Conference, four hail from the Big 12, and three compete in the Pac-12.

Arkansas’ Kevin Kopps took home the prestigious award most recently in 2021, joining a group of recent winners that includes Adley Rutschman (2019), Vaughn (2018), McKay (2017), Kyle Lewis (2016), Andrew Benintendi (2015), A.J. Reed (2014), Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Bryce Harper (2010), Strasburg (2009), Buster Posey (2008) and David Price (2007).

Beginning with the announcement of the semifinalists, a ballot will be sent to a voting body consisting of baseball media members, select professional baseball personnel and USA Baseball staff, and the previous winners of the award, representing a group of more than 150 voters. As part of this selection process, all voters will be asked to choose three players from the list of semifinalists. On June 8, USA Baseball will announce the finalists, and voting for the winner will begin that same day.

Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2022. Beginning with the semifinalist announcement and continuing through the finalist round voting deadline, fans from across the country will be able to vote for their favorite player on GoldenSpikesAward.com.

The winner of the 44th Golden Spikes Award will be named on Friday, June 24, on ESPN. To stay up-to-date on the 2022 Golden Spikes Award visit GoldenSpikesAward.com and follow @USAGoldenSpikes on Twitter and Instagram.

The 2022 Golden Spikes Award timeline:

• June 6: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists fan voting ends
• June 8: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists announced, fan voting begins
• June 14: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists fan voting ends
• June 24: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award trophy presentation

A complete list of the 2022 Golden Spikes Award semifinalists is as follows:

Name, Position, School, Conference

• Chris Alleyne; OF; Maryland; Big Ten Conference
• Jacob Berry; INF; LSU; Southeastern Conference
• Chase Burns; RHP; Tennessee; Southeastern Conference
• Justin Campbell; RHP; Oklahoma State; Big 12 Conference
• Carlos Contreras; OF; Sam Houston; Western Athletic Conference
• Dylan Crews; OF; LSU; Southeastern Conference
• Gavin Cross; OF; Virginia Tech; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Sonny DiChiara; INF; Auburn; Southeastern Conference
• Kendal Ewell; OF; Eastern Kentucky; Atlantic Sun Conference
• Jake Gelof; INF; Virginia; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Peyton Graham; INF; Oklahoma; Big 12 Conference
• Tanner Hall; RHP; Southern Miss.; Conference USA
• Thomas Harrington; RHP; Campbell; Big South Conference
• Cooper Hjerpe; LHP; Oregon State; Pac-12 Conference
• Gabriel Hughes; RHP; Gonzaga; West Coast Conference
• Jace Jung; INF; Texas Tech; Big 12 Conference
• Dominic Keegan; UTIL; Vanderbilt; Southeastern Conference
• Ryan Lasko; OF; Rutgers; Big Ten Conference
• Brooks Lee; SS; Cal Poly; Big West Conference
• Trey Lipscomb; INF; Tennessee; Southeastern Conference
• Ryan McCarty; INF; Penn State Abington; United East
• Ivan Melendez; INF; Texas; Big 12 Conference
• Jacob Melton; OF/INF; Oregon State; Pac-12 Conference
• Parker Messick; LHP; Florida State; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Kevin Parada; C; Georgia Tech; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Tanner Schobel; INF; Virginia Tech; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Daniel Susac; C; Arizona; Pac-12 Conference
• Drew Thorpe; RHP; Cal Poly; Big West Conference
• Max Wagner; INF; Clemson; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Tommy White; INF; NC State; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Jacob Wilson; INF; Grand Canyon; Western Athletic Conference

It was a comebacker that kept coming.

It was a line-drive hit … that carried 450 feet.

It was a smash so threatening that Mercer pitcher Ryan Lobus spun around and jumped as if the ball would hit under his spikes.

Instead, the blast by Georgia Tech catcher Kevin Parada on March 8 spanked a scoreboard speaker for a home run.

Entering this week, Parada has slugged 23 dingers – many of them to center and right-center, which leaves pitchers frustrated if not fearful and flummoxed.

“I had to face him many times in the preseason, and it’s daunting,” Georgia Tech pitcher Zach Maxwell said. “His plate coverage is so good – there’s nowhere you can go with the ball that he wouldn’t at least foul it off.”

Although Parada’s offense is ahead of his defense, his power bat at a premium position has made him a consensus top-seven-player pick among various 2022 MLB mock drafts.

Parada, who turns 21 on August 3, was briefly ineligible for this year’s draft. When MLB owners and the players union agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement in March, the cutoff for players turning 21 to be eligible for that year’s draft was August 1.

“It’s a funny story because, for about 24 hours, I was feeling really good that we may get this guy back next year,” Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall said of Parada. “But he’s been a great player for us. I will be happy for him when he gets drafted.”

Parada is a Southern California native – Pasadena to be precise – and he grew up rooting for the Angels.

He is the first scholarship athlete in his family. His father, Jason, played club lacrosse at Stanford. His mother, Darlene, played high school softball (and not in college as reported elsewhere).

Parada understands Spanish better than he can speak the language, although he has Hispanic ancestry on his father’s side, specifically from Mexico, Spain and the Philippines.

Former Yellow Jackets catcher Mike Nickeas, who went back to school at Georgia Tech after his four-year major-league career ended in 2015, recommended Parada to Hall.

Parada quickly fell in love with everything Georgia Tech had to offer, essentially removing himself from the 2019 draft. But it wasn’t until he arrived in Atlanta for enrollment that he fully understood his new school’s history.

“Joey Bart was still playing here when I committed, but I didn’t know the depth of how important Georgia Tech was in developing a lot of catchers,” Parada said. “Coach Hall has always talked about how important catchers are to his program, but it wasn’t until I got here that I started to understand the lineage.”

CATCHER U?

Indeed, since Hall arrived at Tech for the 1994 season, the Yellow Jackets have had never gone more than two straight years without having a catcher drafted.

In the past 28 years, they have had 17 catchers drafted, including first-rounders Jason Varitek, Matt Wieters and Bart.

A total of 10 ex-Georgia Tech catchers have been drafted in the top 10 rounds, a list that includes Nickeas.

Here’s the list of Georgia Tech’s drafted catchers since 1994:

1994: Jason Varitek, 1, Mariners

1996: Tucker Barr, 5, Astros

1999: Eric McQueen, 14, Rockies

2001: Bryan Prince, 10, Reds

2001: Jason Basil, 15, A’s

2002: Tyler Parker, 8, Cardinals

2004: Mike Nickeas, 5, Rangers

2005: Andy Hawranick, 48, Cubs

2007: Matt Wieters, 1, Orioles

2008: Jason Haniger, 19, Pirates

2008: Brandon Miller, 33, Red Sox

2010: Cole Leonida, 6, Nationals

2013: Zane Evans, 4, Royals

2015: A.J. Murray, 14, Twins

2016: Arden Pabst, 12, Pirates

2018: Joey Bart, 1 Giants

2019: Kyle McCann, 4, A’s

2022: Kevin Parada, ???

Three other catchers – Tucker Barnhart, Tyler Stevenson and Harry Ford -- could’ve joined this list. However, Georgia Tech signees opted to go pro out of high school. Barnhart signed with the Reds in 2010 after getting drafted in the 10th round. The Reds foiled Georgia Tech again in 2015, signing first-rounder Stevenson; and the Mariners signed first-rounder Ford last year.

Hall believes that Lamar King – a 6-3, 215-pound prep senior from Maryland – is Georgia Tech’s next star catcher.

But that plan may be in jeopardy.

“Lamar is having a tremendous high school season, and there’s a lot of heat rolling in on him,” Hall said. “We are starting to sweat (that he may sign a pro contract out of high school).

“A cross-checker I know told his area scout, ‘If Georgia Tech has a catcher identified, I need to go see him.’”

TRANSFORMING PARADA

As a true freshman last year, Parada made 48 starts, hitting .318 with nine homers, 42 RBIs and a .920 OPS. His 20 doubles led the ACC through the NCAA regionals.

This year, after a winter spent mostly in the weight room with Georgia Tech player-development coach, Parada has turned those two-baggers into leisurely strolls around the bases.

Parada, who is 6-foot-1, now weighs 210 pounds. He estimates he gained 15 pounds due to his weight-training regimen, and the results are obvious.

“I hit a lot of balls off the top of the wall last year,” said Parada, who has a 3.55 grade-point average and is majoring in Business with a focus on Marketing.

“This year, those balls are going over the wall, even though I haven’t changed my swing.”

What has changed is his batting stance, which Parada – asked to define it – calls “interesting.”

As part of that stance, Parada lets his bat hang downward, over his shoulder and away from his body.

After a lot of trial and error, this stance evolved over the winter.

“I tried to put my body in the most athletic position possible,” Parada said. “I know that visually it’s not the appealing (stance) for everyone, but it’s the most comfortable position for my body. I’ve stuck with it, and it’s been working.”

That’s an understatement.

Parada is hitting .363 with nine doubles, 74 RBIs and a 1.193 OPS. He has shown some athleticism, too, going 7-for-8 on steals while also legging out a triple against Florida State.

He ranks third in the nation in homers. He is also close to breaking the school record for homers – he trails only Anthony Maisano (25) and Mark Fisher (24).

A durable player, Parada has played all 49 games for Georgia Tech (28-21).

Parada wears glasses – they have become part of his brand, he said – and he clearly sees the ball well.

It’s his defense that pales in comparison to his prowess at the plate.

After throwing out just 7-for-59 runners attempting to steal last year, Parada went through an offseason throwing program that continues to this day.

Parada’s blocking skills are solid, according to his teammate, Maxwell, who said his catcher’s defense was an issue.

Even so, Parada has made “great gains”, according to Maxwell.

“I can throw him a tough slider in the dirt,” Maxwell said, “and I have full confidence he will corral it.”

To his credit, Parada doesn’t run from questions about his supposed weakness.

“My defense has always been my downfall in the game,” he said. “That’s how people evaluate me.

“I’m always going to have to continue to work twice as hard to get as good as I am at hitting. But I think I’ve really improved the past couple of years, especially at Georgia Tech with guys who throw mid/upper 90s. That’s helped me get better at receiving.”

Another big moment for Parada came this past summer, when he worked with veteran coach Jerry Weinstein of USA Baseball.

Weinstein taught Parada to catch from one knee.

“A lot of people had talked to me about (one-knee catching), but I never understood the ins and outs of it (until this past summer),” Parada said. “Jerry helped break it down and explain why I should do it. I latched on to that, and it’s helped me drastically with receiving.

“It just frees your body up to be able to catch more consistently without having the restrictions you would have with a normal squat, especially when guys are throwing as hard as they are with as much movement. It gives you more freedom with the glove.”

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Lots of pitchers spend their time in the dugout focused only on game-planning for their next half-inning.

Not Parker Messick.

The Florida State Seminoles lefty is the first guy to run onto the field to chest-bump one of his hitters after a home run.

“That’s my run support,” Messick said. “Of course I’m going to be pumped up. The more runs we get, the easier it is for me on the mound.”

Messick doesn’t need much help.

In 12 starts this year, FSU’s Friday night starter is 6-2 with a 2.56 ERA and a nation-leading 128 strikeouts in 77.1 innings. He is holding opponents to a .189 batting average.

A 6-foot, 225-pounder from the Tampa area, Messick grew up rooting for the local teams – Rays, Buccaneers and Lightning, all of whom have, in order, made the World Series (2020), won the Super Bowl (2020 season) and won the Stanley Cup (2020 and 2021) in recent years.

“Not a bad time to be a Tampa fan right now,” Messick admits.

Messick’s brief time in Tallahassee hasn’t been quite that good, with his true freshman season of 2020 getting cancelled by COVID, and the Seminoles knocked out of the Oxford regional in two straight games last year.

Personally, Messick has been impressive. He had a 0.77 ERA, 19 strikeouts and just two walks in 11.2 innings in 2020.

Then, in 2021, he went 8-3 with a 3.10 ERA and 126 strikeouts in 90 innings, becoming just the second player in ACC history to win Pitcher and Freshman of the Year in the same season. He followed that with a summer spent competing for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team.

This year, the 21st-ranked Seminoles are 30-17 overall and 13-11 in the ACC.

FSU is 7-5 with Messick on mound, including losses at Wake Forest, Notre Dame, at Georgia Tech, at Clemson and at Boston College.

So far, Messick’s best performances of the year have come in:

• A win over seventh-ranked Louisville (6 2/3 scoreless innings, five hits, no walks, career-high-tying 14 strikeouts).

• A win over ninth-ranked Texas Tech (seven scoreless innings, two hits, no walks, career-high-tying 14 strikeouts).

• A no-decision against 16th-ranked Notre Dame (eight scoreless innings, two hits, no walks, 11 strikeouts).

Messick’s only dud was at Georgia Tech, where stud catcher Kevin Parada took him deep for a two-run homer. Messick allowed 10 hits and six runs in 2 2/3 innings against Tech.

On Friday night, Messick will face another tough test when sixth-ranked Miami visits Tallahassee.

Messick has a fastball (90-94 mph), a mid-80s slider, a changeup with good vertical depth (80-83) and a mid-70s slurve.

“His best pitch is his changeup,” FSU pitching coach Jimmy Belanger said. “His fastball velocity has been much more consistent this year.

“But his best asset is his character. He does everything right as a student and the way he treats people, and then, on the field, he will do anything to beat you.”

Seminoles players and coaches rave about Messick as a teammate. FSU first baseman Alex Toral, a former Miami Hurricanes star who arrived in Tallahassee this year via the transfer portal, learned extremely early in his Seminoles tenure about Messick as a teammate.

“My first day transferring to Florida State, he got word that I was on my way up,” Toral said. “He called me and said, ‘When you get here, give me a call. I’m going to help you move into your apartment.’

“I was a little bit nervous coming up here to a rival school. But Parker is a team-first guy. He cares about everybody in this locker-room. He’s one of the best teammates I’ve had in my life.”

Messick is also a ferocious competitor.

Toral said he had some 10-pitch to 12-pitch at-bats against Messick this fall. Toral, a lefty batter, isn’t accustomed to getting changeups from a lefthander, but it just showed that Messick isn’t afraid to use any of his pitches on any count.

“He threw all four of his pitches each at-bat,” Toral said. “I couldn’t go up there and hunt one pitch because he threw a different one each time.

“Parker is a guy you don’t want to play against because of his raw emotion. As an opponent, you might look at it in a bad way. But as his teammate, you love it.

“He’s a very special guy.”

Toral added that Messick’s “herky jerky” delivery makes it tough to pick up the baseball.

“A lot of people describe it that way, but it feels smooth to me at this point,” Messick said with a laugh. “I’ve thrown the same way since I was a freshman in high school.

“A lot of people think I throw from a low three-quarter slot, but I really don’t. I have a normal arm slot with a low approach angle.”

Because his stuff is not overpowering, Messick is seen by some scouts as a second-round or third-round pick rather than a higher selection that would perhaps be more commensurate with his production.

Messick is unfazed by any of that, and he said he leans on his Christianity to guide him through the process of becoming a pro.

“Every kid growing up wants to make it to the big leagues and be a first-rounder,” said Messick, who is majoring in Economics with a minor in Business. “But I’m huge in my faith. I believe God is going to take care of that when the time comes. Right now, my main purpose is to lead this team to Omaha.

“If I do that, everything will fall in line.”

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Sam Houston junior outfielder Carlos Contreras doesn’t spend all hours of a day worrying about hitting analytics or his launch angle. You know what he does do? He lives in the batting cage.

Division I Baseball has been littered with surprises both from a team and individual standpoint. And Contreras, who arrived in Huntsville from Cisco (TX) College, would qualify as a surprise — at least his production being as ridiculously impressive as it is right now.

And the best thing about Contreras? Just call him Mr. Old School.

“Here’s the thing about Carlos — he’s a neat story — he’s not into the new stuff in terms of hitting,” Sam Houston head coach Jay Sirianni said. “He’ll spend hours upon hours in the batting cage hitting off a tee, taking balls off a machine and things like that. He’s just one of those old schools guys doesn’t worry about the new stuff — he just hits based on feel.

“If he goes out there and something feels right, he just keeps doing it,” he added. “And if it doesn’t feel right, he’ll tweak something. It’s not necessarily a mechanical thing with him — it’s more so a feel thing.”

Whatever Contreras’ approach is right now needs to be continued. The hard-hitting outfielder first caught my attention earlier this season when I was covering Sam Houston against Nebraska. In that game alone, Contreras had three hits and knocked in four runs. He had a smooth and mature offensive approach, and as I wrote at the time, he always seemed to find holes.

A few weeks later in a series against rival SFA, Contreras, a 5-foot-10, 195-pounder, set a school record for RBIs in a game with nine.

He has since continued his successful ways and is one of the nation’s premier hitters. Contreras ranks third nationally in batting average behind Auburn’s Sonny DiChiara and Canisius’s Max Grant with a .430 average. His other numbers are equally impressive.

Contreras has a .473 OBP to go with a 1.227 OPS. The hard-hitting lefthanded hitter also has smacked 12 doubles, six triples, 12 homers and a whopping 76 RBIs, which ranks first nationally. Georgia Tech’s Kevin Parada is two shy at 76, while Texas’ Ivan Melendez is sitting at 68. Both of those guys are Golden Spikes Award finalist types, too.

Contreras continues to show that he belongs in that elite category.

“I think when we recruited Carlos, we saw a guy who could be a hit collector for us,” Sirianni said. “He was going to come here and be able to use the entire field from the word go. The power side, if I’m being honest, has been the most fun and surprising part of his game, though.

“He’s the type of hitter who wants to shrink the zone as much as possible,” he added. “He wants to back stuff up and hit the ball to left with some power. We always felt like he would really, really hit for us. But the power aspect of his game? I think I’d be lying to you if I said we expected him to show up her and hit close to .500 with double digit home runs.

“He just does a really good job with his approach. He’ll be greedy with the first pitch and the first strike at times, but as the bat goes along, he understands what his job is — to drive in the runner. We’ve got a great nucleus of guys, such as Carlos, who only care about the winning side. They just love to compete and win.”

Contreras has traveled an interesting path to where he is today. The slugger began his collegiate career at New Mexico JC. As a freshman, he hit .261 with two homers 10 RBIs. A year later, he transferred to Cisco, where he hit .405 with 13 home runs and 61 RBIs. A strong season, no doubt, but when compared to what he has accomplished at the Division I level this spring? Just decent.

It’s hard to find a comp for Contreras. He’s not loaded with prospect tools, and he doesn’t have a gladiator frame. But boy, is he a pure hitter. I asked Sirianni about his most favorable comp, and he referenced former Nebraska standout slugger Ken Harvey. Harvey, who was 6-foot-2, 225 pounds during his playing days at Nebraska, hit .478 with 23 homers and 86 RBIs in his final season with the Huskers. Contreras will have a tough time besting that home run mark. But that RBI mark? It’s expected.

“He’s pretty similar to Kenny Harvey, but he’s a lefthanded hitter. He’s just one of those guys who is strong enough to get disconnected with his approach and still stay flat long enough to handle the ball,” he said. “It’s not always the prettiest thing in the world, but he can control the bat and he hits it where they aren’t. He just has very good hand and eye coordination.”

Moving forward, Contreras will be a key component to Sam’s postseason hopes. The RPI won’t get into at-large range for the Bearkats, but there is still the WAC tournament, and Sirianni’s club will need Contreras to be as productive as ever.

The other thing that will be interesting to watch about the outfielder is his draft status. Contreras, we mentioned earlier, isn’t oozing tools. But you know what he is? An excellent hitter with great makeup who works his tail off.

There’s something to be said for that.

“There have been some scouts checking in on him for sure. It’s hard to gauge how many after seeing the throng of guys who would come in and see Colton Cowser last year, but there definitely have been some scouts here,” he said. “Here’s what I’ll say about Carlos — hitters will hit.

“Sometimes as an organization, you shouldn’t overthink things. He’s hit with consistency everywhere he has been in his collegiate career. As for our season, it has been a challenge like it has been for everyone else. But we wouldn’t be even close to where we are right now with him. We love having him.”

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It did not take long for Sonny DiChiara to win the hearts of Auburn baseball fans. A larger than life presence with a burly 6-foot-1, 263-pound physique, DiChiara got off to a torrid start with the bat in nonconference play, and by the time Auburn opened SEC play against Ole Miss, DiChiara was already a local folk hero.

Every DiChiara at-bat feels like an event — because of his fearsome righthanded bat, but also because he has college baseball’s most infectious walk-off song. Every time he walks up to the plate to Louis Prima’s “C’é La Luna Mezz’o Mare,” the Auburn fans start clapping along to the beat, waiting to see what fireworks he will provide in the impending at-bat.

“I just told the other guys, I’m like, ‘Sonny just comes in here first year and he beats you with the walk-up song. He already owns the joint,’” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said during that Ole Miss series. “Credit to him. He’s just got a big human personality, and it’s just great. … He has a persona that touches everybody in the park. It’s just natural, it’s infectious, and [his personality has] already come out immediately in [his] first year. Credit to the style that you play, and then just being lovable. He’s got the walk-up song that has already taken over our park. This is the first SEC weekend, but that’s how big his personality is.”

Of course, DiChiara is used to the impact his musical choice has upon a ballpark. It might be a new experience at Plainsman Park this year, but it’s not new to DiChiara.

“I had it in high school, my first game of varsity, that was what I had,” he said. “There’s not really a rhyme or reason to it, but I just liked it and the crowd started clapping to it the first game I had it, so i just stuck with it. The fans have definitely played a huge part in our success. Walking around campus, I’ll get a couple people saying ‘hey’ to me or whatnot. But it’s awesome getting to play in front of 4,500 people or whatever every game.”

DiChiara was already an established power hitter well before his first season at Auburn this spring. He spent his first three seasons at Samford, smashing 21 homers as a freshman and 18 more last year, while hitting .293 in 2019, .328 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and .273 last year. But the SoCon is an offensive league, and there is unquestionably a big step up to the caliber of pitching DiChiara has faced in the SEC — but the big first baseman has not only made that adjustment smoothly, he’s become better than ever.

DiChiara leads all of Division I with a 1.457 OPS, slashing an absurd .448/.601/.856 with 12 homers, 15 doubles and 38 RBIs. He always drew his share of walks, but this year he is controlling the strike zone at a rare level (especially for a power hitter), with 45 walks against just 24 strikeouts. 

“The SoCon was a great baseball conference, but I think one of the major differences is the consistency in velocity,” DiChiara said. “In the SoCon, they’ve got four or five guys that can run it up there, but after that it falls off. So having the consistency in velocity, not having to change from 95 to a guy throwing 80, has helped me. When you see better velocity with a hard slider, it’s easier to react to it.”

Thompson said he had high hopes for DiChiara when the Tigers signed him to replace departed first baseman Tyler Miller, who hit 16 homers last year. But he admitted that DiChiara’s incredible consistency has even exceeded his expectations.

“We brought him in and thought he would be good and needed him to be good, because we brought him in to replace a good player at first base. We got every bit of that and more, which is a pleasant surprise,” Thompson said. “I just think he’s in the middle of the field and he don’t come off of it. That’s a credit to him, and of course probably a credit to [hitting coach] Gabe Gross, but that has absolutely grown from the at-bats we’ve seen in the past competing against him. He doesn’t come off pitches, he has such a plan. He can hit a home run the other way, he can pull a ball to left, but it just seems like he stays in the middle of the field and that’s improved his batting average.”

That up-the-middle approach is central to DiChiara’s identity as a hitter.

“Ever since I can remember playing, and really in high school is when I started taking that left-center to right-center approach, not being the hook guy or the flare guy,” DiChiara said. “Whenever I feel like I’m struggling or not hitting the ball like i usually am, I’m yanking the ball to left or hitting flares to right. So I’m just focusing on staying through the middle.

“When I got here, I just kind of talked with Gabe about my approach, he really seemed to like everything. He said that was the type of player he was too. Over here we just emphasize two-strike hitting and not giving away an at-bat, that’s been a huge emphasis.”

Another big key has been DiChiara’s growth as a defender at first base, allowing Auburn to keep the DH spot free for other players and maximize the lineup’s offensive potential.

“It’s made our team better having him play first base every day,” Thompson said. “Nobody wants to put a liability on the field, especially the infield. His defense has grown a ton, and his ability to keep staying in the middle of the field for as many at-bats. But I’m equally as tickled to death with how he’s better around the bag, catching the routine balls he’s supposed to. Tyler definitely had more range, and most first basemen have more range, but for the range that Sonny does have he’s taken care of the game. He’s a good target, and he’s been able to help our infielders.”

Off the field, DiChiara has a mild-mannered, friendly personality, and it seems clear he would rather talk about his team and the Auburn fans than himself. So while DiChiara’s numbers and his presence might feel Paul Bunyan-sized, his head is certainly not.

“I just think it’s fun loving, it’s easy. There is a level of confidence there,” Thompson said of DiChiara’s clubhouse persona. “I think he’s a lovable type teammate, and he’s got a good rhythm with everybody. There’s no friction with him. At this point there’s been no, like, ‘Hey I got this, I’m the best player, this is my team.’ I think that makes the players love him even more, I think he considers himself just a piece and a player on this team. Not one time has he made it about himself. He likes being on the team, he likes being on the field. He hasn’t tried to make himself the biggest piece, even if he is.

“Over the years there’s always a crowd favorite, you don’t know who it’s going to be. But Sonny absolutely, from day one, it was instant, magical, and his personality, he didn’t force it. It’s not only held up, it seems like it’s continuing to grow. I think even opponents as we go around the league, they like Sonny. They’re over at first base smiling with Sonny. He’s an amazing young man. He’s hard to root against.”

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Years before he was the dominant staff ace for the best team in the Atlantic 10 Conference, Nolan DeVos was a standout performer at Hickory Ridge High School outside Charlotte, racking up strikeouts despite modest stuff. Now listed at 6-foot, 185 pounds, DeVos’ body never screamed “projection,” but Davidson’s coaching staff loved his pitchability and competitiveness, and they took a shot on the local product despite his below-average velocity.

“He was a guy in high school that was an 84-86 mph guy who could really pitch and locate. You’d watch him pitch and say, ‘Man, I know the ball’s doing something, not sure what it is exactly,” Davidson head coach Rucker Taylor said. “I think we were the only Division I offer; he’s a guy that kind of took a jump his senior year of high school. When he committed, he called and said, ‘Coach, can I drive up?’ This was early in the spring of his senior year, he wanted to drive up with his mother and brother and commit in person: ’Thank you for the opportunity, I want to commit.’ So that’s a little insight into, there’s something a little different here to the character, the family component, the makeup.”

DeVos went on to post strikeout numbers as a high school senior that Taylor aptly described as “astronomical,” leading all North Carolina 4A pitchers with 112 Ks, including a school-record 19 in one outing. He finished his prep career with 183 strikeouts in 115.1 innings along with a 2.37 ERA — and those numbers turned out to be a harbinger of things to come.

DeVos spent his first two years thriving in the Davidson bullpen, posting a 2.61 ERA and two saves in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign and a 1.48 ERA with eight saves and 39 strikeouts in 30.1 innings in 2021. His velocity had already spiked into the low-90s by the start of last season, and as the spring progressed he started flashing some 94s, then some 95s and even 96s. Taylor got reports that he even bumped 97 in the Coastal Plain League last summer.

“He got bigger and stronger when he got here,” Taylor said. “Parker Bangs, our pitching coach, has cleaned up some things mechanically to be a little more efficient, help the breaking ball play. It was fine for high school, but when he got here, especially his freshman fall, it didn’t do a whole lot. He was an 86-87 mph fastball guy who had a little bit of success, but he was kind of a one-pitch guy, and that trick’s not gonna last very long. So the breaking ball has gotten better from him working at it, and the velo has just kept trending up, trending up, trending up. And he’s still got that feel for pitching, that’s maybe a little different than that high school guy who is 91-93 as a 16-year-old who just threw it by guys. He had to pitch a little bit. Once the velo came, that’s allowed him to do some things that are pretty cool.”

It’s fair to say that what DeVos is doing in his third year at Davidson is pretty cool indeed. He has made a seamless transition from the back of the bullpen into the Friday starter role, going 5-1, 2.22 with a whopping 75 strikeouts against just 13 walks in 52.2 innings, earning him a spot on the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.

“For the most part he’s working quick, he’s in the zone a lot, he’s not walking guys, it’s just kind of attack mentality,” Taylor said. “That’s something, we didn’t know how he would transition from the pen but he’s done it this year and he’s been able to go deeper in games than maybe we anticipated originally because he’s been efficient. The slider, when it’s good, it’s above-average, it works for college. Some of the area guys around here have thrown out that it’s a borderline plus pitch for them at times when it’s good. Now that he’s starting, the fastball velo will sit 90-91, he’s touched some 3s and 4s this year, but it’s not quite the same fastball as it was out of the pen. But he’s been able to hold it for six, seven innings and he’s had really good results with it, so we’ll take it.”

DeVos’ fastball also plays above its velocity because “it has rise, ride, whatever term you want to use — it has high spin and efficient spin,” Taylor said. He can pitch at the top of the zone with his heater, but he can also spot up to both sides of the plate, a skill surely developed in high school when he couldn’t just overpower hitters with velo. Taylor said DeVos has also developed a pretty good changeup that he’ll use four or five times per game, mostly with good results.

And DeVos’ contributions go well beyond the numbers.

“I was in school at Vanderbilt with David Price, and when he wasn’t pitching, he was the loudest guy out there. Nolan is like that too — when it’s not his turn to pitch, he is the loudest guy in the dugout,” Taylor said. “He really cares about the other guys. When it’s not game day, he’s a very personable kid, a very likable person. He just kind of bubbles and bounces around, brings some good energy to the pitching staff and the whole team. We’ve had a couple midweeks where we’ve been gone on a weekend, we’ll sometimes leave our weekend guys at home to let them rest, and you can definitely notice when he’s not in the dugout. He provides an extra spark, definitely an energy giver.”

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Cooper Hjerpe pulled up his right knee and coiled it into his chest as he rocked back. He flung his hip forward swinging his leg and stepping halfway down the mound. The Oregon State third-year sophomore pushed off from the first base side of the rubber and began to open up his shoulders. The baseball, hidden to the batter until that point, came streaking out of his left hand from a three-eighths slot in a cross-fire action. It appeared to be starting behind the back of Stanford lefthanded leadoff hitter Brock Jones before crossing over the plane and rising through the zone.

The pitch was designed to be down and in to Jones. Instead, Jones swung through a high fastball that rode in on his hands. Hjerpe had failed to execute the pitch to perfection and still had struck out a preseason All-American. That gave him confidence in his stuff and when he knew it was going to be a good day.

“My heater was moving a lot more that day,” Hjerpe said. “I was getting swings and misses on heaters that were not in the zone. When you don’t execute and still get strikes, it gives you a lot of confidence.”

Pitching with confidence, a moving fastball and two off-speed offerings he refined over the offseason, Hjerpe produced perhaps college baseball’s finest start this season. He tied a school record with 17 strikeouts in eight scoreless innings, striking out the side in each of his final three frames. He allowed only two hits and one walk.

“Every time he’s on the mound, you expect a dominant performance and that’s kind of what we’ve seen all year from him,” said Oregon State outfielder Jacob Melton, who like Hjerpe was on the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list. “It’s exciting for everybody in the ballpark to see him go out and compete. I mean the guy is probably the best collegiate arm that I’ve ever seen in person. He’s just dominant.”

Hjerpe didn’t dominate in the same fashion a week later, but his tone-setting performance in a 9-1 win Friday at USC was just as impressive. As he handed the ball over and exited in the seventh inning, the outfielders, including Melton, convened in center field and agreed Hjerpe hadn’t had his “A stuff.” The lefthander didn’t have all three of his pitches locked in the same as a week prior. But Melton glanced over to the scoreboard and noted the Trojans had six zeros beside their name and had managed only four hits.

Hjerpe struck out nine and allowed four singles on a night he didn’t have his best stuff. He pitched out of jams in the first and sixth inning and retired 13 straight in between. He exited with a 4-0 lead that ballooned into a 9-1 Oregon State victory, earning Hjerpe his seventh win of the season, tied for most in the nation. 

It was a victory Hjerpe likely wouldn’t have picked up a season prior. Five times during the 2021 season he pitched at least six innings with one run or fewer allowed. All five times he failed to go five innings in his following start, giving up 23 combined runs in 16.1 innings.

“Last year if I didn’t have my ace stuff, you didn’t know what you were going to get out of me. I was pretty streaky,” Hjerpe said. “That’s something I worked on in the offseason. I needed to be more consistent because you have to be able to play with your B game. You’re not always going to have your best stuff.” 

Hjerpe has been mostly dominant this season, compiling a 1.70 ERA in eight starts, but even when one pitch isn’t lights out for an appearance, he’s still able to give the Beavers a solid start.

Against USC, Oregon State’s offense provided some early run support, scoring a run in the first inning and three runs in the second. That was more than enough with Hjerpe on the mound. He threw one ball in the first inning and went to a two-ball count on only six of the 24 batters he faced. Five of those at-bats resulted in strikeouts, including the only two times he went to a three-ball count. Hjerpe threw 71 percent of his 91 pitches for strikes.

“When we faced him last year, he didn’t have the same command,” USC head coach Jason Gill said. “It’s tough enough to sit on his fastball coming around the corner in the low 90s from that low arm slot. I thought he kept us off balance. He was throwing the breaking ball in backwards counts at times. I thought he pitched really well.”

"When he had to get out of whatever [jam] he was in, he got out of it. That's a sign of a really good pitcher and that's what he is. That's why there were 30 teams here to see him tonight," Gill said referencing the bevy of MLB scouting personnel in attendance.

What makes Hjerpe tough to hit?

“Everything,” said Melton (.369, 9, 44), having routinely faced off in a marquee left-on-left matchup in intrasquad scrimmages and live batting practice. “Low-slot guy. Spins it pretty well. I mean his slider feels like it’s starting a foot behind you as a lefty and he backs that up with a really good changeup that he can throw to lefts and rights.”

Hjerpe attacks hitters from an unfamiliar angle while hiding the ball well. He gets more than seven feet of extension, which plays up his fastball that has reportedly been as firm as 96 or 97 mph. It sat 89-92, topping out at 93 mph in his start at USC, but his extension makes 92 or 93 feel more like 95 or 96 to the batter. Hitters struggle to pick the ball up and by the time they do, Hjerpe’s high-revolution pitches are already getting on them. 

“Getting on time with the fastball is half the battle, but as soon as he sees you do it once, then he’s going to land offspeed that is plus offspeed,” Melton said. “Live ABs in the fall and the winter off of him are not comfortable. I can tell you that all of us count it as a win if you put the ball in play off him. He’s just a dominant arm, man.”

Hjerpe has 77 strikeouts in 47.2 innings, three shy of the national leaders. He is also top 25 nationally in ERA, WHIP (0.86) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.7) after his six scoreless innings Friday night. Opponents are hitting .180 against the 6-foot-3 lefty from Woodland High in Capay, Calif.

“He’s a student of the game and really his work ethic is second to none,” Oregon State head coach Mitch Canham said. “He’ll sit out there during batting practice and spin breaking balls over and over and over just getting the feel for it, playing catch with his changeup. He’s always playing catch and working on his stuff, so it’s just comfortable when he’s out there. 

“He makes quick adjustments just recognizing what came out of his hand. He’s really good about learning what just happened, building a plan, controlling his body and then committing to it when it comes out of his hand, so it’s just really fun to watch.”

Hjerpe has taken a huge step forward this season after showing flashes of his potential his first two seasons. He struck out 98 in 77 innings over 17 appearances (16 starts) last year but faded in the second half of the season. Hjerpe had a 2.05 ERA and hadn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of his first nine starts. He pitched at least 4.2 innings in eight of those nine starts. He lasted more than 4.1 innings only twice in his final eight appearances and gave up 31 runs in 28.2 innings.

That fueled an offseason for “a guy that hates to fail at anything,” per Melton. 

Hjerpe went to Driveline Baseball in Washington to work on refining his secondary pitches. He developed a crisp 77-79 slider that he is comfortable throwing to lefties and righties over the loopier, sweeping curveball he had last season that was reserved more for left-handed hitters. He can start the slider behind a left-handed batter and snap it over the inside corner, use it back door against righties for called strikes. Hjerpe can also start it in the middle of the plate and break it down and in to righties or to get lefties flailing on the gloveside offering. 

He also worked to improve his best pitch, watching his 80-82 mph changeup in slow motion to learn how to get more consistency from the pitch. The improved and more consistent secondary offerings have enabled Hjerpe to put hitters away quicker, whether that be via strikeout or a ball put in play.

“Last year, he was unable to get deep into the game because he didn’t have his secondary stuff,” Canham said. “Guys were fouling stuff off and he was working deep into every count. Now we’re seeing him with a lot more three, four pitch at-bats as opposed to five, six, seven. When a guy does that on Friday, eliminating a lot of free bases, it sets the tone for the rest of the guys.”

Hjerpe’s effort against USC set the tone for a weekend where the Oregon State pitching staff did not allow a walk, becoming the first team this season to go three straight games without a walk. The Beavers held off late rally attempts for 3-2 and 7-3 wins in the final two games, earning the Beavers their first-ever sweep of USC in Los Angeles. They improved to 24-7 and are right back in the Pac-12 race at 10-5 after losing the Stanford series the week prior.

"Cooper's mentality, the guys feed off of it. They watch how he prepares," Canham said. "He's not an extremely vocal guy, but his actions and his attitude speak way louder than you can ever do with your voice. I think the guys really feed off of him."

Hjerpe’s ability to go deep in games and set the tone for the weekend has been especially important for the Beavers with expected weekend rotation arms Jake Pfennigs and Will Frisch both injured and Frisch out for the season. Hjerpe has shortened the weekend for Canham, pitching at least five innings in every start. He lasted five innings in only half his 2021 starts and just twice had back-to-back starts of five or more innings.

“That sets us up nicely for the next couple of games," Canham said. "Being able to get that deep into the game multiple weeks in a row, it allows the guys to be fresh and go put out their best stuff Friday, Saturday, Sunday whenever their names are called."

Playing 20 games, much less winning that many contests, has been no easy feat for any team located in the turbulent Midwest through the first month-and-a-half of the 2022 season. Yet, despite the frigid temps and the seemingly regular appearances of rain, snow and ice the past three or four weekends, Southern Illinois has managed to compile a 20-8 record.

Calling Carbondale home, a city over 100 miles southeast of St. Louis on the southern tip of Illinois, has allowed the Salukis to play 20 of those 28 games within the comforts of Itchy Jones Stadium.

While scanning the Southern Illinois roster in search of a hero that has carried this team to that many wins you’ll find a player from an interesting hometown: Metropolis, Ill. While Metropolis – located an hour south of Carbondale – may not be the bustling, urban epicenter that Clark Kent calls home in the DC comic books, you will find a statue of Kent’s alter-ego, Superman, greeting you as you enter town.

One of its former residents, JT Weber, certainly resembles a super hero, at least more so than a mild-mannered newspaper journalist given his 6-foot-2, 210-pound build. And as far as I know, no one has ever seen Weber and Superman in the same room.

“I take a lot of pride in it,” Weber said about staying close to home to play college baseball. “I loved growing up where I did. I never had anything handed to me as far as baseball [opportunities] and facilities go. I was blessed to have two parents that really worked hard for me. My dad played college baseball and my mom played college basketball so from early on they knew what it took to really get to the next level. I spent a lot of time working with them and playing with my friends that were trying to do the same thing.”

Weber is playing his fifth season with Southern Illinois, starting his collegiate career during the 2017-18 school year. It’s been the last two seasons, however, that he has truly stood out, enjoying a breakout 2021 campaign as part of a record-setting Salukis team that started 14-0 and won 40 games for the first time since 1990, and yet still missed the NCAA Tournament.

The SIU offense was particularly impressive, hitting .297 as a team and slugging 84 home runs. Weber had 15 of those homers while slashing .322/.375/.589, leading the team in RBIs (63) and total bases (139).

He was in good company, as he was one of four players that started all 60 of SIU’s games. One more batter, shortstop Nick Neville, appeared in 59 of the Salukis games, and that quintet, along with several other significant contributors, were a big part of Southern Illinois’ success a year ago.

“Last year you’ve probably wondered, ‘was he benefiting from having all those other guys in the lineup who were doing a lot of damage?’,” SIU third-year Head Coach Lance Rhodes said. “He had a lot of protection, you had to throw to JT. But then he comes back, one of the few guys returning that had those big power numbers, and he’s doing it again. It’s not a fluke what he did last year. Credit to him, he’s anchored our lineup this year, he does [still] have protection behind him, but he’s stepped up whether it be verbal leadership, leadership by example or obviously production.”

Despite the departure of players such as Neville, Tristan Peters, Philip Archer and Ian Walters the Southern Illinois offense at worst has held steady. Through games played this past weekend they’re batting .306 as a team, good for 19th best in the nation. They’re tied for 19th in runs scored and their 45 home runs are tied for 16th best.

Not surprising given his 2021 numbers Weber is leading the team is almost every notable category, although he does have considerable help from a new cast of characters. Weber’s .416 batting average is 28th-best in the nation and his 13 home runs are tied for second, one behind the nation’s leader, Virginia third baseman Jake Gelof, who has 14.

Now at roughly the halfway point of the 2022 season his 30 career home runs put him seven away from being the program’s all-time leader.

“It’s been a steady progress over the year,” Weber said. “As I’ve developed as a player [the success] comes with being more comfortable in the box. I’ve had a ton of college at-bats, including summer ball at-bats, and I think it all plays into being comfortable. Last year we had four or five other guys that were right there behind me kind of doing the same thing, which really did make it easy to go out there to play and perform every day. It helped me transition to this year, having the confidence to go out there and repeat the same thing.”

Weber was quick to point out the continued protection he has in the SIU lineup, a program that reloaded quickly largely due to their success mining talent from the junior college level. Batting just behind Weber is shortstop Kaeber Rog, one of five regulars in the lineup this year that were playing at the JUCO level a season ago. Rog is also batting on the sunny side of .400 (.403), leading the team with 14 doubles and tied for first with Weber in RBIs with 31 of his own.

Add in productive holdovers such as Cody Cleveland, Grey Epps and Evan Martin and you once again have a well-oiled offensive machine in Carbondale. Even with that level of overall production in the lineup from top to bottom, it’s Weber’s presence that matters most.

“When you look at what he’s done on the field it’s a direct reflection of who he is as a student athlete and as a person,” Rhodes said of Weber. “When you get a guy like JT that has the work ethic, the demeanor, [etc.], the production usually follows because it doesn’t matter for him if he’s 0-for-5 on a given day or 5-for-5. He shows up the very next day with the same work ethic and routine, you couldn’t tell a difference.”

“He just sets the bar so high for how it’s supposed to be. When you get a guy producing like JT it just doesn’t happen by luck. There’s a lot of guys that would love to have the type of year that he’s having, or the career he’s put together. But there’s only a select few people that are actually willing to put in the work he’s done to be able to make that happen.”

Weber’s career at Southern Illinois began with the 2018 season, arriving onto campus as a promising recruit with intriguing offensive upside. He managed to play 28 games during his freshman year, starting 19 of those contests batting .200 with a pair of home runs. As a sophomore in 2019 he took a considerable step forward, playing in 50 games, 47 of which were starts while batting .261 and finishing the season strong. His third year in school stopped barely before it could get going as he was hitting .261 with six doubles, starting all 18 games SIU played.

His jump leading up to the 2021 season happened to coincide with the abrupt end to the abbreviated 2020 season which gave Weber more opportunities to improve his swing.

“Towards the end of the COVID year I was starting to heat up,” Weber said. “After that spring I used my time to work on my swing. Me and my old shortstop, Nick Neville, really took time to break down our swings and work on it – I made some adjustments and took a leg kick out of my swing. The past two years I’ve had the same consistency in my swing which I think has really helped.

“It was a lot of tee work and a lot of soft toss during the COVID stint. There wasn’t much open or going on so I was feeling out my swing and my stance and where I needed to be. That really helped coming back in the fall making the transition a little easier.”

Rhodes was also quick to recognize the improvements Weber has made, particularly with his swing.

“When I first got here there was a slight mechanical change that he made with his swing,” Rhodes added. “Coming into his third season it was pretty steep, he wasn’t getting a lot of balls in the air. He’s always been a very strong kid, he just wasn’t using his leverage to his advantage. So, we did make a slight tweak, and credit to him, he’s done a lot of the work [to correct it].”

The offensive side of Weber’s game, much like the overall Southern Illinois team, isn’t his only strength. He has also developed into a strong, versatile defender.

He started his collegiate career as a third baseman, moving across the diamond to first base in 2019. Starting in 2020 and carrying over to the 2021 season Weber served as the team’s everyday left fielder, a position he has excelled at. And with so much turnover from 2021 to this year he has made the switch once again, now calling center field home, although he does still play first base from time to time based on team needs.

“Early on in my career as a freshman and sophomore I knew that it would be helpful for me to play multiple positions,” Weber said. “It just adds value to the team and it was able to work out when I moved over to first base and then after that slide in to left field to get more bats into the lineup. I’ve enjoyed playing different positions, I’ve always played multiple positions growing up, I’ve never been a one-position guy. That makes the game more fun and exciting when you can play anywhere on the field.”

Each move has been made as an attempt by Southern Illinois – the last three years with Rhodes at the helm – to put the best team they can offensively on the field. For as good as they have been at the plate they have also stood out defensively.

Last year their fielding percentage was .976, committing 52 errors in 60 games, easy math to figure out that’s less than a 1-to-1 ratio, which is always a good number to strive for. This year it’s much of the same, a .975 fielding percentage, good for 48th-best in the nation, with 25 errors in 28 games.

Weber has yet to commit an error this year, making just two defensive miscues a year ago after having a perfect fielding percentage in 18 games during the 2020 season. Eleven of his 13 career errors came from 2018-19 when he was manning the corner infield positions.

He also has 12 assists the past three years as an outfielder, once again proving there’s not much on a baseball field he can’t do.

“He’s just a really good college baseball player that doesn’t have a lot of holes,” Rhodes said. “He could be a super utility guy and be really good at every single thing that he does. And that’s kind of the person he is. He wants to go play basketball? He’s good at basketball. When he throws a football he’s good at football. Just a naturally gifted athlete … he makes the game look good with everything that he does.”

Not surprisingly, Weber is good in the classroom, too. Studying civil engineering, he has interest in construction and project management. He knows full well that as a 23-year-old fifth-year senior, despite posting gaudy numbers on a baseball field, his options may be limited. With fewer round of the draft and fewer professional opportunities due to the reduction of minor league teams it’s wise to have a sound backup plan.

Whether it be as a baseball player, an engineer, a super hero or just your average, everyday upstanding citizen, Weber is poised to enjoy greatness with whatever comes next.

“I give all of the credit to God. He’s blessed me with the abilities and opportunities to be able to do this,” Weber said. “I’m just thankful I’ve been able to be here five years, to be in this community and play the game that I love.”

CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball today unveiled the 2022 Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list, moving closer to naming the top amateur baseball player in the country. The winner of the 44th Golden Spikes Award will be announced on Friday, June 24, on ESPN.

The midseason watch list features 45 of the nation's top amateur players from the high school and college ranks and includes 26 athletes who have played their way onto the watch list since the preseason list was announced on February 15. The Golden Spikes Award Advisory Board will continue to maintain a rolling list of athletes, allowing players to play themselves into consideration for the award before announcing the semifinalists on May 24.

“We are thrilled to recognize these forty-five amateur athletes on the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list for their incredible performances throughout the first half of the 2022 season,” said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball’s Executive Director and CEO. “Each of these athletes has proven themselves worthy of consideration for this prestigious award through both their talent and character. We look forward to seeing what the rest of this exciting season holds before crowning the latest Golden Spikes Award winner in June.”

The watch list is headlined by Jacob Berry (LSU) and Jace Jung (Texas Tech), who were both named Golden Spikes Award semifinalists in 2021. Additionally, eight athletes are making their second appearance on the midseason watch list in 2022 after also being named to the list last season, including Berry, Justin Campbell (Oklahoma State), Dylan Crews (LSU), Jung, Dominic Keegan (Vanderbilt), Brooks Lee (Cal Poly), Parker Messick (Florida State), and Kevin Parada (Georgia Tech).

Tennessee, Texas, and Vanderbilt lead all 34 schools represented with three athletes each on the 2022 midseason watch list while Cal Poly, Louisville, LSU, Oregon State, and Virginia each boast two representatives.

In total, 12 different NCAA conferences have at least one athlete on the list. The Southeastern Conference tops all represented conferences with 12 athletes, while nine play in the Atlantic Coast Conference and five hail from the Big 12.

The 2022 Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list features five athletes that will look to become just the third player from a non-NCAA Division I school to win the award (Alex Fernandez, 1990; Bryce Harper, 2010), including Haydn McGeary (Colorado Mesa) who is representing NCAA Division II this year.

The 2022 midseason watch list also features the highest number of high school baseball players ever. Elijah Green (IMG Academy), Termarr Johnson (Mays High School), Druw Jones (Wesleyan High School), and Dylan Lesko (Buford High School) were all named to the 2022 midseason list after also appearing on the preseason list to start 2022 and are the first athletes from their respective schools to earn the honor.

Arkansas’ Kevin Kopps took home the prestigious award most recently in 2021, joining a group of recent winners that includes Adley Rutschman (2019), Andrew Vaughn (2018), Brendan McKay (2017), Kyle Lewis (2016), Andrew Benintendi (2015), A.J. Reed (2014), Kris Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Bryce Harper (2010), Stephen Strasburg (2009), Buster Posey (2008) and David Price (2007).

On Tuesday, May 24, USA Baseball will announce the semifinalists for the 2022 Golden Spikes Award. The list of semifinalists will then be sent to a voting body consisting of baseball media members, select professional baseball personnel, current USA Baseball staff and the previous winners of the award, representing a group of more than 150 voters. As part of this selection process, all voters will be asked to choose three players from the list of semifinalists. On June 8, USA Baseball will announce the finalists, and voting for the winner will begin that same day.

Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2022. Beginning with the semifinalist announcement and continuing through the finalist round voting deadline, fans from across the country will be able to vote for their favorite player on GoldenSpikesAward.com.

The winner of the 44th Golden Spikes Award will be named on Friday, June 24, on ESPN. To stay up-to-date on the 2022 Golden Spikes Award visit GoldenSpikesAward.com and follow @USAGoldenSpikes on Twitter and Instagram.

The 2022 Golden Spikes Award timeline:

May 24: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists announced, fan voting begins

June 6: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists fan voting ends

June 8: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists announced, fan voting begins

June 14: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists fan voting ends

June 24: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award trophy presentation

A complete list of the 45-player 2022 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list is as follows:

Name, Position, School, Conference

• Hunter Barco; LHP; Florida; Southeastern Conference
• Drew Beam; RHP; Tennessee; Southeastern Conference
• Jacob Berry; INF; LSU; Southeastern Conference
• John Michael Bertrand; LHP; Notre Dame; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Enrique Bradfield, Jr.; OF; Vanderbilt; Southeastern Conference
• Jake Brooks; RHP; UCLA; Pac-12 Conference
• Chase Burns; RHP; Tennessee; Southeastern Conference
• Justin Campbell; RHP; Oklahoma State; Big 12 Conference
• Jonathan Cannon; RHP; Georgia; Southeastern Conference
• Carlos Contreras; OF; Sam Houston; Western Athletic Conference
• Dylan Crews; OF; LSU; Southeastern Conference
• Chase DeLauter; OF; James Madison; Colonial Athletic Conference
• Nolan DeVos; RHP; Davidson; Atlantic 10 Conference
• Sonny DiChiara; INF; Auburn; Southeastern Conference
• Chase Dollander; RHP; Tennessee Southeastern Conference
• Jake Gelof; INF; Virginia; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Elijah Green; OF; IMG Academy
• Pete Hansen; LHP; Texas; Big 12 Conference
• Thomas Harrington; RHP; Campbell; Big South Conference
• Cooper Hjerpe; LHP; Oregon State; Pac-12 Conference
• Gabriel Hughes; RHP; Gonzaga; West Coast Conference
• Jack Hurley; OF; Virginia Tech; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Termarr Johnson; INF; Mays High School
• Druw Jones; OF; Wesleyan High School
• Jace Jung; INF; Texas Tech; Big 12 Conference
• Dominic Keegan; UTIL; Vanderbilt; Southeastern Conference
• Christian Knapczyk; INF; Louisville; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Brooks Lee; SS; Cal Poly; Big West Conference
• Dylan Lesko; RHP; Buford High School
• Karson Ligon; RHP; Miami; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Chris McElvain; RHP; Vanderbilt; Southeastern Conference
• Haydn McGeary; C; Colorado Mesa; Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
• Ivan Melendez; INF; Texas; Big 12 Conference
• Jacob Melton; OF/INF; Oregon State; Pac-12 Conference
• Parker Messick; LHP; Florida State; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Ben Metzinger; C/INF; Louisville; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Connor Noland; RHP; Arkansas; Southeastern Conference
• Kevin Parada; C; Georgia Tech; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Nate Savino; LHP; Virginia; Atlantic Coast Conference
• Nolan Schanuel; INF/OF; Florida Atlantic; Conference USA
• Jordan Sprinkle; INF; UC Santa Barbara; Big West Conference
• Murphy Stehly; INF; Texas; Big 12 Conference
• Daniel Susac; C; Arizona; Pac-12 Conference
• Drew Thorpe; RHP; Cal Poly; Big West Conference
• Jacob Wilson; INF; Grand Canyon; Western Athletic Conference

Jacob Melton didn’t spend last summer on the Cape or in the Northwoods. The dynamic Oregon State outfielder may have ventured to a cape and spent much of the summer in the woods alright, but that would be the cape of a river in the Willamette Valley on the opposite coast of the prestigious Cape Cod League.

Instead of chasing down flies in a summer league outfield, the sweet-swinging 6-foot-3 lefty was using flies to net his next catch, spending five or six days a week fly fishing in Oregon. He was relegated to partaking in one of his favorite hobbies after shoulder surgery to repair his labrum in May ended his 2021 season and sidelined him for the next seven months.

“As soon as I got out of the sling, I was all for [fishing],” Melton said with a grin. “I didn’t have much else to do other than [physical therapy] and rehab, so I had a lot of time to kill over the summer.”

There were a lot of hours alone with just the soundtrack of the babbling brook and wind gently rustling leaves as it danced through the trees. Melton spent those quiet times occasionally analyzing his breakout campaign where he hit .404, 6, 25 in 99 at-bats and helped push Oregon State to a 26-11 start only to watch his injury effectively derail the Beavers’ season.

They lost five of their final six regular-season series and fell in the regional championship at Dallas Baptist, going 11-13 after Melton was shut down. He spent time wondering what could have been, but more often, Melton used his solitude in nature to self reflect and try to better himself as a person.

“This past summer it was definitely tough with the injury, but I appreciate it. Just kind of realized where my feet are at and to enjoy all of it,” Melton said. “It was good in different aspects. Obviously, I would have loved to been able to play over the summer and finish out last season, but I think the way it worked out definitely allowed me to grow as a person and be ready to go this year.”

He came into this season playing not only for himself, but now as one of the older guys on the roster, he felt he owed it to the team’s younger players to be a leader, to play with confidence and to give an emulatable example each time he steps into the box. But first Melton had to get back in the batter’s box. He wasn’t able to do much in the fall, particularly with the bat. He basically had the time from when the team returned to campus after the winter break until opening day to try to rebuild his swing step by step.

“I had a six-week buildup to be able to swing at 100 percent,” he said. “It was really just a struggle to not build any bad habits in that time. I was really just working on the small pieces and ensuring that I was making the small moves right and doing everything right during the buildup to being full go.”

Since getting the full-go clearance, there’s been no stopping Melton.

Opponents have tried just about everything, only to see good pitches lined for base hits and mistakes banged off or over the wall. Melton picked up right where his 2021 season concluded and added more extra-base power with fewer strikeouts. He began the season with a ridiculous streak. Melton opened his fourth-year junior campaign with at least one hit and one run knocked home in each of the first 17 games. He also scored at least one run in 15 of the 17 games.

Melton has already surpassed last season’s numbers, hitting .385, 9, 41 in essentially the same number of at-bats while cutting his strikeout rate more than 10 percent. He drove in three more runs on Wednesday in a 9-8 win at Nevada, including bringing home the go-ahead run on a deep sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning to push the No. 3 Beavers to 19-5 on the season.

“He’s continued to make adjustments and get better and better,” Oregon State third-year head coach Mitch Canham said. “He’s got a ton of power and extremely mobile and athletic and he’s fighting with two strikes and shooting baseballs the other way on a line or leaving the house.

“He can leave the house to any part of the field, can drive singles to any part of the field and then something we haven’t seen him do a whole lot this year is he can put the ball on the ground via bunt and end up on first, but then next thing you know, he’s getting a double out of it because he’s swiping second. He’s got every tool there is and his heart is one of the biggest ones.”

Melton is fourth in the nation in RBIs. He leads the Pac-12 in that category as well as slugging percentage and total bases. He’s second in the conference in hits, home runs and runs while his eight stolen bases are fourth in the league. His offensive impact has been immense, but he’s made an even bigger impact in the locker room helping Canham build the culture that was so important to the championship Oregon State teams of the past two decades.

“He’s a big pillar in this group,” Canham said. “His work ethic, his attitude, his determination, his energy, his confidence. I mean, everything that he does spreads to the rest of the group. He loves his family and this family loves him. There’s not a person in the world that doesn’t get excited watching him walk up to the plate and go to work.”

Opposing pitchers and coaches may disagree with that final statement, but there is definitely a rise in anticipation for the Beavers seeing Melton stroll to the plate to take his left-handed hacks. They have seen him do his “lonely work,” as Canham calls it. The on-your-own, away-from-practice, before and after extra swings in the cage, ground balls taken, towel drills or tee work. Except what might have once been lonely or perhaps partner work between Melton and Wade Meckler often has an audience nowadays.

“Last year, Wade and I pretty much had free rein to the cages. This year, it’s kind of been a struggle to make it in there and get a cage sometimes,” Melton said. “It’s pretty much five or six nights a week we’re up there and there is somebody up there with us every time. It’s really cool to see. It’s a good culture. It’s something we want to build upon and leave here for sure. It’s just the willingness to put in extra work and do whatever you need to better yourself and put yourself in a spot to be ready to perform.

“I think that’s where a lot of our success comes from is just everybody on the roster has put in a lot of hours from our pitching staff, all of our hitters have put in so much extra work to really be in a position to perform on the field.”

Melton has always been a hard worker and the results have followed. He was a two-time first-team All-State in high school hitting .453, 9, 27 as a junior and .513, 8, 28 his senior year, stealing a combined 55 bases his final two years at South Medford (Ore.). He made the All-Northwest Conference first team in his lone season at Linn-Benton CC, hitting .365, 3, 39 with 16 stolen bases. But for the kid that dreamed of wearing the orange and black and says he would be at Oregon State even if he didn’t play baseball (in large part because of his fisheries and wildlife sciences major), his first season was more of a nightmare.

He struck out in his only at-bat on opening day. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in his first career start. He got his first and only hit of the season after entering as a defensive replacement in a blowout. Melton then struck out three more times in his final five at-bats over the next 10 days before the 2020 season became the 2020 season. The campaign was shuttered due to the Covid-19 pandemic with the Beavers sitting on a five-game losing streak and a 5-9 record. Melton finished 1 for 11 with six strikeouts. It became the driving force for the player he has become.

“I didn’t prove anything in 2020 and obviously there needed to be some changes to what I do at the plate,” Melton said. “There wasn’t a lot of confidence, hard to get confidence from 1 for 11 with six strikeouts, but I just used that as fuel to get better and that was motivation to go hit every night, so I’m honestly kind of thankful that season worked out the way it did. Otherwise, I don’t know if I’d have the same motivation to work and do all the same stuff that I do now.”

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Just about one year ago, things were going much differently for Christian Knapczyk than they are right now. It was still early in his Louisville career, but was having a hard time adjusting both offensively and defensively at shortstop. After he made errors in the first two games of a series against Boston College in mid-March, head coach Dan McDonnell pulled him aside.

“He had just won the shortstop job, maybe a week before. And he was really struggling this weekend, and he wasn’t playing great defense, and it was like his introduction to ACC baseball. Literally I put my arm around him and said, ‘Hey man, i can take you out of the game. I don’t want to make you play, you don’t look real comfortable right now,’” McDonnell recalled. “He was very respectful and very polite, but he was like, ‘No no, Coach, don’t take me out, I’m fine. I promise you, I’m fine.’ It wasn’t going good, and I’ll be darned, he hits a triple and we’re losing, I think it was the Sunday game, and we ended up coming from behind and winning. I remember thinking, that’s not easy to do for a lot of players when they’re struggling, much less a freshman. This kid’s a freshman in an ACC weekend, and he came up with maybe the biggest hit of the weekend. The game was on the line late, and I almost took him out. Because I had older infielders, and I just thought, this is not looking good. That’s when it said a lot, and he stuck and he’s played just about every game at short.”

Knapczyk had his ups and downs that freshman year, but he settled in and had a solid offensive campaign, hitting .297/.374/.385 with seven steals. McDonnell rarely sends even his highest profile hitters to play in the Cape Cod League after their freshman years because he doesn’t want them hitting below .200 and destroying their confidence — but Knapczyk’s confidence is one of his greatest assets, so the Cards sent him to play for the Bourne Braves last summer. “And that joker, he held his own up there,” McDonnell said.

More than holding his own, Knapczyk hit .321 with nearly as many walks (14) as strikeouts (17) in 109 regular-season at-bats, then hit .476 in 21 postseason at-bats. He returned to campus in the fall looking like an emerging superstar.

And in the fall, McDonnell wasn’t shy about predicting big things for Knapczyk and veteran third baseman Ben Metzinger, whom he called his “Rowdey Jordan/Tanner Allen” combination at the top of the order, referencing two of the top hitters for the 2021 national champion Mississippi State Bulldogs. So far, that prediction looks spot-on, as Knapczyk and Metzinger have gotten off to huge starts in the two two spots of the order, serving as the catalysts that make Louisville’s explosive offense go. Knapyczyk is hitting .405/.548/.646 with 16 walks against nine strikeouts, showing off his elite bat-to-ball skills and also his plate discipline, all of which makes him an ideal leadoff man. His good speed and superb baserunning acumen makes him an even more disruptive force atop the order, helping him swipe 11 bases in 12 tries.

“He’s a good basestealer, he gets good jumps, and he wants to run. There is no fear,” McDonnell said. 

“He has that quality that the great basestealers have. You get thrown out and there’s no gun shy, he is very aggressive, very confident.”

Metziner behind him also has a knack for grinding out quality at-bats, with 23 walks against 17 strikeouts. He’s hitting .329 with a team-best nine homers — and home runs are not easy to come by at Jim Patterson Stadium, especially in the cold early weeks of the season.

But Knapczyk, despite his 5-foot-9, 165-pound stature, is also driving the ball with more authority this year. After hitting nine doubles, two triples and no homers in 148 at-bats as a freshman, he already has exceeded last year’s extra-base hit total in just 79 at-bats as a sophomore (seven doubles, three triples and two homers).

“I think you get rewarded the better swings you take and the ability to put the bat on the baseball, those guys get rewarded. He’s gotten stronger,” McDonnell said. “I’ve had a lot of questions about him as a leadoff, and I kind of laugh, because I’ve coached a lot of great leadoffs in my day, and that’s what I did as a player. He is way more offensive, I grew up in The Citadel generation there, a blue collar dirtbag hard-nosed type of kid that might not have been a great hitter, but he could get on base, he could steal. I made a living through walking and finding any way to get on. 

“But I don’t tell Knapczyk anything, I don’t make him take. I’ve kind of told our people, ‘Look, I’m just letting him do his thing, and if something isn’t working out I’ll address it.’ But I’ve put no restrictions on him for literally the entire year. For a leadoff, you’re always like, ‘Make sure he’s throwing strikes and make sure you establish the strike zone.’ But with him, I’ve always respected the ability to hit, the hand-eye coordination, and the numbers back it up. And with him less coaching is more.”

Knapczyk’s defense at shortstop remains an area of emphasis, however. He is fielding just .904, with seven errors, and one thing that is helping him is practicing more on taking ground balls from unusual spots so that he’s more comfortable when Louisville shifts. He’s plenty athletic and has good actions, but his arm is better suited for second base than shortstop at the next level. Still, McDonnell feels good about him improving defensively at short as the season progresses — in part because he works so hard at it.

“It’s a high energy kid. It’s just a tough Chicago kid that I’m extremely pleased with. But he’s coachable and he knows there’s areas we’re still working on improvement,” McDonnell said. “He’s a fun kid to coach and a fun kid to watch, I just think he has to be a fan favorite. He has those similar qualities like a Devin Hairston had —when pro guys were here hitting early, Devin was always standing out there at shortstop. Knapczyk is really, when they say a ‘baseball rat’, i worried more because of the body his freshman year, but this year he lived at the facility. He’s always out there with the pro guys, always standing on the field, always in the cages. He doesn’t know the meaning of ‘off day’. He is always at the facility. And that’s not something you can teach, he just loves it.”

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