Crack of the Bat
by David Rawnsley
FRESHMAN WATCH
It's pretty much a given in college baseball, especially at the upper levels, that a freshman is going to have to be either exceptionally talented or very fortunate to play much in their initial season. There is just too much competition against older, more established players, plus often too much to learn about the game, to expect otherwise.
It's possible that that equation might be changing somewhat. Young, talented players have much more opportunity today to grow their baseball skills against top flight competition during the summer and fall than they previously had. Advanced strength and conditioning programs make an 18 year old more physically ready to compete against 21 and 22 year olds than perhaps they were before.
With that in mind, we decided to take a quick look 4-6 weeks into the 2005 college baseball season at how some of the top Perfect Game/World Wood Bat Association alumni are doing in their freshman seasons at some of the country's top baseball programs. Here's a summary of what we found.
Note #1: We haven't looked at every single school and every single player, obviously, in researching this. If there is a worthy freshman who has been left out, please email us at admin@worldwoodbat.com and we will update the list in the future.
Note #2: We are listing the WWBA team(s) that the freshman has played for in the past, not the player's high school.
The best offensive player in college baseball right now might be a freshman. OF Danny Payne (East Cobb Yankees) of Georgia Tech has put up some early season numbers that project to threaten NCAA records. After 18 games (GT is 16-2), Payne is hitting .413, 3, 19 with 36 runs (!), 26 walks (!) and 7 steals. The NCAA record for runs scored in a season is 1.90 per game and 125 for a season.
Payne isn't the only freshman star for the Rambling Wreck. C/RHP Matt Wieters (South Carolina Diamond Devils), the co-MVP of the 2004 WWBA 18U National Championship, is already establishing himself as one of the top 2-way talents in college baseball. Wieters is hitting .383, 2, 16 with a 19/6 walk to strikeout ratio. He also leads Georgia Tech in appearances on the mound with 9 and is 1-0, 4.00 in 18 innings.
During the past week, no freshman had as much impact on their team's success as Hawaii freshman shortstop Joe Spiers (ABD Bulldogs). Spiers was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week after going 7-12 with 7 runs, 7 steals and 3 walks as Hawaii swept previous #12 ranked Florida State in three games. For the season Spiers is hitting .390 with 22 runs scored, 18 steals and 15 walks. He has also made only 2 errors in 20 games on defense.
The 15-4 Florida Gators are getting key contributions from LHP Steven Locke (Florida Bombers/Team Florida USA) and DH Jared Kubin (Baseball America). Locke has stepped into the starting rotation and gone 3-0, 1.31 while only allowing 2 walks and 16 hits in 21 innings. Kubin is hitting .326, 1, 13 and projects huge power in the future.
Another team with 2 star freshmen is the up and coming 12-5 TCU Horned Frogs. Catcher Andrew Walker (Bellaire Offseason Baseball/Columbia Angels) is one of the teams leading hitters at .404, 3, 12. RHP Sam Demel (Houston Kyle Chapman) is the second part of TCU's Houston area connection and is 2-2, 4.50 in 5 starts.
A third Houston native, RHP Sean Morgan (Houston Heat) has stepped in as the closer for 15-3 Tulane, which has been ranked #1 in the country for much of the early season. Morgan is unscored upon in 9 games (10.2 innings) and is 1-0 with 3 saves. Morgan may also assume more responsibility as a hitter in the future and has already picked up a couple of Rbi's off the bench.
Tennessee junior RHP Luke Hochevar has received plenty of early season attention as perhaps the top college draft pick in this year's class. Yet he isn't even leading his own team in strikeouts. That would be freshman LHP James Adkins (Hoosier Bat), who is 3-1, 1.73 with 45 K's in 36 innings, 2 more than the hard throwing Hochevar.
Clemson has got off to a slow start but it would be slower if not for 2B Taylor Harbin (East Cobb Yankees/STM Striker Bats). The 2004 WWBA World Championship MVP is hitting .385, 1, 9 with a team leading 13 runs and 9 doubles. Harbin has only struck out 2 times in his first 52 college at bats.
A great story that you will hear more about in the future on the Perfect Game web site is Virginia Tech outfielder Jose Cueto (Hoosier Bat). Cueto had no college offers before attending the PG Unsigned Senior Showcase last June. After wowing the scouts at that event with his tools and maturity as a player, Miami native Cueto signed with Virginia Tech and has established himself as one of the ACC's best freshman, hitting .375, 3, 11 through the season's first 11 games.
The season's early challenger to Matt Wieters as the top 2-way talent in the freshman class could be Virginia's Sean Doolittle (Twins Scout Team). Doolittle is 1-0, 1.50 in 12 innings as a left handed reliever, while also batting clean up and playing first base (.303, 3, 14) in the 13-6 Cavaliers lineup.
No freshman is striking out hitters like Georgia RHP Josh Fields. Fields was steadily 93-95 last summer at WWBA events for the East Cobb Braves and doesn't seem to have lost his stuff at the next level. He has 16 K's in his first 9 innings out of the Bulldog bullpen. He is also 2-0.
Other Freshman Include:
Oklahoma OF Joe Dunigan (Michigan Panthers/Top Tier/Midland Redskins) .361, 1, 6
Winthrop RHP Tyler Flail (All Star Baseball Academy) 2-1, 0.79
Stanford OF Michael Taylor (Baseball America/Orlando Scorpions) .235, 0, 7 in 17 starts
Texas RHP Kenn Kasperek (PG National) 2-0, 3,18 in 3 starts
South Alabama C Joel Collins (Team Ontario) .333, 0, 11, 0 errors in 16 starts
Alabama IF Cale Iorg (Knoxville Yard Dogs) .338, 1, 13, 12 runs