North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Fall Baseball Recap
10/19/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The White team, coached by junior outfielder Brian Wright, won the first, third and fifth game of the five-game series, winning by scores of 11-10 in game one and 5-2 in game three. The Red team, coached by senior reliever Josh Miller, took game two 6-3 and game four 11-2, the only blowout of the series. The home team won all five games, and four of the five games turned on late-inning heroics.
"I was thrilled with how our players responded in this series and throughout fall practices," Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent said. "This was a really great series to watch. Our players really played hard and had a great attitude the entire fall. I don't think there's any question that we're a better team than we were a year ago."
In game five of the series, the Red team jumped to a seemingly safe 6-1 lead after scoring twice in the top of the fifth inning and twice more in the top of the sixth (all five series games were seven innings), but the White team rallied for four runs in bottom of the sixth on Pruitt's grand-slam homer to cut the lead to 6-5, then tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh on Hicks's towering one-out solo blast to right-center field. One out later, Riley won the game with a walk-off homer just to the right of the scoreboard in deep center field. The homer was Riley's second of the game and his third in the series.
Riley's first home run, also a solo shot, gave the White team a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, but Eric Mosely led off the top of the third with a double for the Reds and scored on Mike Prochaska's two-out single. That was Prochaska's eighth RBI of the series, which led the team. Sammy Esposito gave the Reds a 2-1 lead with a line-drive homer to left field leading off the top of the third.
The Reds began to pull away in the top of the fifth. Sean Walsh hit a one-out single and went to third on Prochaska's double to left-center. Jamie Shearin's single drove in both runs to make it 4-1. The same three players sparked another two-run rally in the top of the sixth. Walsh reached on a two-out single and scored on Prochaska's triple to right. Shearin followed with a single to score Prochaska, giving the Red team a 6-1 lead.
The Whites struck back suddenly in the bottom of the sixth. Hicks led off with a walk and took second on a single by Daniel Caldwell. Riley then grounded to short, but all hands were safe when the force play at second base was booted for an error. Pruitt followed with his grand slam.
After the Red team went out quietly in the top of the seventh, Hicks and Riley went deep to give the White team the victory.
Series Notebook: Mosely led all players during the Fall World Series with a .500 batting average and 10 runs scored, but the real offensive star was Prochaska, who led the club with three doubles and eight RBIs. Walsh, a senior transfer from Radford, batted .389 with three RBIs, and Shearin hit .350 with a home run and five RBIs.
The only player to hit multiple home runs in the Fall World Series was Riley, a sophomore transfer from Arkansas. Riley batted just .222 for the series, but hit three homers and drove in five runs. Pruitt also drove in five runs, batted .375, and ripped a double and a home run.
On the mound, sophomore righthander Derek McKee worked a staff-high 8 2/3 innings, allowed just five hits and one earned run. He walked three and struck out eight while posting a 1.04 ERA. Daniel Caldwell, another sophomore righthander, allowed six hits, walked one and struck out five in 5 1/3 innings, finishing with a 3.38 ERA. Caldwell also batted .368 with a double, a triple and three RBIs in the series.
Junior lefthander Dan D'Amato allowed 11 hits in 8 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five, posting a 4.32 ERA.
Fall Overview With 12 new players on the roster and as many as seven possible new faces in the everyday lineup, fall practice was perhaps even more important than usual for Avent and his coaching staff. While there still is significant work left to be done in January and early February, the Wolfpack appeared to come out of fall practice a much-improved team over the 30-28 unit that limped through the 2000 season.
"We probably had the best fall practice we've had since we've been here," Avent said. "We had some holes last year that cost us. We had a 30-28 year, which is a down year for NC State, even with our tough schedule. I don't think that we played with the enthusiasm or the confidence or emotion that we should have to be able to survive in such a tough conference."
The biggest shortcoming in 2000 was inexperience. NC State had six freshmen and sophomores record at least 70 at-bats and five more throw at least 40 innings on the mound. Consequently, Avent and his staff decided that an infusion of experience was needed for 2001. Four junior college recruits and a pair of transfers from four-year schools were brought in to join a half-dozen high school recruits. Two more juco players may be coming in January.
The new talent, especially the jucos and transfers, made an immediate impact, and their presence on the roster should result in a very different looking team than the one that finished the 2000 season.
"What we did was go position by position to see if we had the production that we wanted at that position, and the answer in most cases was no," Avent said. "So we went out and tried to correct that problem as much as we could, either through recruiting or working to make our returning players better. After the fall season, we couldn't be more pleased with the progress we've made and the holes that we've filled. Now, it's just a matter of going out and learning how to win games and keeping that confidence and that mentality that you can win every day you go out on the field.
"I think we have the players in place to get that done, but we haven't lost a game yet, we haven't lost two in a row, and when those things happen during the course of the season you see what kind of ballclub you really have."
Pitching Staff Largely Unchanged
While the everyday lineup figures to be significantly overhauled in 2001, the pitching staff is essentially the same as a
year ago, with only a handful of changes. The most important recruit on the pitching staff won't be available until January
because of major arm surgery, so the focus this fall was on the returning pitchers from a year ago.
"Everything depends on the pitching, and it's basically the same guys back from last year," Avent said. "The only significant new guy we've brought in on the pitching staff is Daryl Minugh, a transfer from Fresno City College in California, who we brought in to be one of our top pitchers. Our sports medicine people have done a really great job of rehabbing him from his injury. The surgery was very successful, but he still hasn't thrown a pitch yet. He probably won't throw from 60 feet until some time in January. That will be a big test right there, but if Daryl Minugh comes back to where he was last fall when we recruited him, then he has a chance to really help us in our weekend rotation."
Even without Minugh, the NC State pitching staff was solid in the fall. The returnees all appear to have improved. Caldwell (2-2 with a 5.79 ERA in 2000), a sophomore righthander, finished last season as the Wolfpack's top starter and could be a mainstay in the weekend rotation once again, but his versatility and ability to adapt to different situations gives Avent some wiggle room in filling out the roles on the staff. Caldwell made five starts and 18 relief appearances last year. The same applies to Prochaska (4-4, 5.67), who started five times in 21 total appearances and is capable of filling just about any role on the staff.
Junior righthander Ryan Combs (5-5, 4.32) made 14 starts last spring and should be back in the rotation, as should junior lefthander Dan D'Amato (5-6, 5.19). Prochaska and Caldwell both will be strong candidates to start, as will McKee (0-1, 6.55) and senior righthander Jason Blanton (1-0, 3.38).
"If you had to go into the season right now, I think the probable starters would be Ryan Combs, Dan D'Amato, Daniel Caldwell, Mike Prochaska and Jason Blanton," Avent said. "Using Prochaska as a starter would allow us to use his bat in the lineup with more consistency. Jason Blanton had a big-time summer in the Coastal Plain League."
The wild card is Minugh. A junior lefthander, Minugh was one of the top junior college pitchers in California before his injury late last spring. He finished the 2000 juco season with a 5-1 record, one save and a 2.25 ERA. He worked 44 innings, allowed just 27 hits and struck out 63 to lead the California juco ranks in strikeouts per nine innings with 12.89. If he is available, it would be a bonus. A big bonus.
In addition to depth in the starting rotation, the Wolfpack has a pair of proven performers at the back end of the bullpen. Senior righthander Josh Miller (5-1, 2.35 with 2 saves) made 27 appearances last season, faced 155 batters, and issued just one walk in 38 1/3 innings. Junior righthander Mike Sollie (4-5, 3.82) had an up-and-down sophomore season a year ago mostly as a starter, but as a freshman in 1999 Sollie was money in the bank out of the bullpen. He will return to that role in 2001.
"Certain guys have certain mentalities, and we've tried to put guys in the roles that best suit their personality and mentality," Avent said. "Even though Mike Sollie was a very solid starter for us last year, I think he is more comfortable in the bullpen. He was in the pen for us as a freshman and had an unbelievable rookie season. Last year he gave us some great starts but was inconsistent. After closing this summer for a championship team in the Cape Cod League, he feels comfortable in that role. He loves it at the end of the game. He loves it when the game's on the line. He's very good with men on base in pressure situations.
"Josh Miller was at the back end of our bullpen last year and did a great job in the late innings for us. Josh is another guy who throws a lot of strikes and is very cool and collected when the game's on the line. He and Sollie are totally different. Miller looks like he's asleep out there, like he couldn't care less, and Mike is very competitive and shows it outwardly. He really thrives on the pressure. They both do. Together, they give us a great 1-2 late-inning punch."
Avent will fill out the rest of the bullpen with a mix that includes senior righthander Corey Mattison (2-0, 2.70), who also has extensive late-inning experience, junior lefthander Kyle Stephenson (0-0, 7.11), junior righthander Paul Regan, sophomore righthander Derek McKee (0-1, 6.55), sophomore lefty Nate Cretarolo (0-0, 6.35), freshman lefty David Hicks, and freshman righthander Kameron Nance.
"We've only added four pitchers, and basically we feel that the pitching staff we had last year was good enough," Avent said. "They just had an off year. The key is how much they progressed over the summer and through the fall. I know that (pitching coach) Scott Lawler and (volunteer assistant and former major league hurler) Brad Pennington have worked very hard, looking at film and working on mechanics with all of our pitchers to help them get better, and I think they did show that they're better this fall. They're mostly juniors and sophomores who have been out there under fire. They've had the innings. They should be ready and able to step it up."
Replacing Mooney Behind The Dish
Avent's offseason goal was to field a team this season that would be improved at virtually every position on the field. The
one exception would be at catcher, where graduated senior Dan Mooney simply was irreplaceable. Impeccable defensively and a
dangerous power threat at the plate, Mooney signed as a fifth-year-senior free agent with the Boston Red Sox a week before
baseball's June draft. Now, Avent faces the challenge of replacing the irreplaceable.
"Catching is the one spot we're concerned about because we feel like we lost the best catcher in college baseball," Avent said. "Whoever we have catching this year, I think we're going to constantly take note of the fact that we're not as good behind the plate. But with continued hard work, I believe that our catchers will be fine. We just need to avoid falling into the trap of constantly comparing them to Dan Mooney. That's not fair to them. Our catchers keep getting better and better, and our guys back there busted their butts all fall."
Avent has a quartet of young catchers from whom to choose, beginning with junior Sammy Esposito (.250, 1 home run and 3 RBIs in eight at-bats), a converted second baseman and a career backup. Esposito had a strong fall and hit .313 with a double, a home run and three RBIs in the Fall World Series. A converted infielder, Esposito's catching skills are still a work in progress, but his work ethic and knowledge of the game allowed him to make rapid strides this fall.
Sophomore Justin Riley, a sophomore transfer from Arkansas, was a big-time power hitter in high school in Crestview, Fla., but was slowed by injuries at Arkansas. He has had a pair of shoulder operations, and his arm strength at the end of the fall was still lacking. He does bring experience and big-time offensive potential.
"Sammy Esposito gives us experience even though he's moved from second base to catcher," Avent said. "His work ethic and his dedication to make himself a good catcher have paid off. He lacks some arm strength but makes up for it with smarts and how hard he works at his game and how much pride he takes in becoming a good catcher. He gives us consistency behind the plate.
"Arm strength is something we worry about with Justin Riley, as well as the time that he missed behind the plate because of the shoulder surgeries. It looks like his arm strength is going to come back, although not necessarily to what it was, but I think it's more of a mental thing than a physical thing right now. His time away from catching has made him rusty, and it's a matter of how much of that time he can make up for in the spring."
NC State also recruited a pair of freshman catchers. Colt Morton, a lanky righthanded hitter who stands 6-6, was a 37th-round draft pick by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last June and has the highest ceiling of any of the Wolfpack's backstops. He has a terrific throwing arm, receives and blocks well behind the plate, and could easily develop upper-deck power. Catching as a true freshman is a challenge, however, especially in the ACC, and Morton will be brought along slowly.
Conor Clougherty of Raleigh's Broughton High School also is a true freshman who showed a stong bat in the fall, but needs polish defensively. The younger brother of former Wolfpack All-American Pat Clougherty, Conor also needs time to make the adjustment to college baseball, and like Morton, he will be brought along at his own pace.
"Colt Morton's tools are outstanding," Avent said. "With the tools he possesses, he has a chance to become one of the best catchers in ACC history, both offensively and defensively. But at 6-6, it can be a little tough for him to get down behind the plate and do some of the things that a catcher has to do for the length of a 150-160-pitch game. Colt had a good fall and kept getting better and better. Conor Clougherty also is a true freshman, and we all know how hard it is to catch as a true freshman in this league. Conor keeps working and working and working, and he's going to get better and better."
Juco Questions At Middle Infield Spots
Avent and his coaching staff feel they had an outstanding recruiting class last year, but the true measure of that class
will revolve around one or possibly two junior college shortstops, neither of whom will be able to enroll at NC State until
the spring semester.
For the fall, Avent's shortstops were Raleigh freshman Lee Kimball from Broughton High School and sophomore Jeremy Dutton (.260-1-29), who played third base a year ago and began the fall penciled in at second base. Kimball and Dutton both had outstanding fall campaigns, especially Dutton, who made all the routine plays at shortstop and swung the bat with authority, hitting .389 in the Fall World Series and stinging the ball throughout fall practice.
"Jeremy Dutton had an outstanding fall," Avent said. "I thought he grew up a lot, both as a person and as a ballplayer, and he knew he was going to have to work harder to play in this league. J.D. was forced to play shortstop for us this fall, and he proved to us that no matter what happens in the spring, we'll be covered at shortstop. While J.D. might not be as consistent defensively as you'd like your shortstop to be at times, he is a good offensive shortstop who can make some plays."
If junior college help arrives in January, Dutton could slide over to second base, giving NC State an abundance of quality at that position. Senior Eric Mosely (.324-0-19) started 31 games at second base last season and is the Wolfpack's most consistent defensive middle infielder. Daniel Pruitt, a Durham native and a transfer from Lenoir (N.C.) Community College, started out slowly in the fall, but finished with a rush, hitting .375 with a homer and five RBIs in the Fall World Series. With Dutton possibly moving into the mix, second base figures to be one of the Pack's strongest positions.
"Eric Mosely was probably our most consistent player this fall from the standpoint of what he gives you every day in effort and in trying to make himself better," Avent said. "Eric is one of those rare players whose presence on the field seems to elevate the play of everyone around him, and his teammates love him for it. He's a guy the whole team wants to be successful, and everyone rallies around him. That's important. He proved last year that even though he could have hit for a higher average, he got quite a few RBIs for the hits he had, which shows he's a clutch hitter who can get the big hits you have to have to win ballgames. He's very consistent defensively, and he's worked hard to make himself better.
"We've also brought in Daniel Pruitt, who came in started out very slowly for us, both offensively and defensively, but got better and better every day. He was playing well at the end of the fall. And we know that Jeremy Dutton is capable of giving us outstanding production from either spot in the middle of the infield."
News Faces Possible At Both Infield Corners
Dutton's move to the middle of the diamond was made possible when Sean Walsh transfered from Radford to play third base.
Walsh, a senior, batted .337 with 10 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 40 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 20 attempts for
the Highlanders last season, and he was consistently productive for the Wolfpack in the fall.
Walsh will battle junior Matt Butler for the job at third base. Butler, a transfer from Louisburg (N.C.) Junior College, was the NJCAA Region X Player of the Year as a freshman in 1999 after hitting .448 with 12 doubles, 10 home runs and 41 RBIs. His production dropped slightly this past spring, but he still managed to hit .362 with 13 doubles, six home runs and 44 RBIs. Between them, Walsh and Butler give NC State a pair of excellent options at the hot corner.
"Matt Butler and Sean Walsh both had outstanding falls," Avent said. "I thought Sean Walsh had the most consistent fall of anyone we had, offensively and defensively. He put a very solid effort together, offense, defense and baserunning. Matt Butler is one of those guys who seems to get things done. He's a guy you may not notice during the game, but when you look in the box score, he was 2-for-4 with a double and drove in two runs. He just finds ways to get things done. He's not flashy and you never hear him say a word, but he's one of those guys who does his job and can be very productive. He could be a great six or seven hitter who could drive in a lot of runs for our ballclub."
At first base, David Hicks, the Wolfpack's third freshman from Raleigh's Broughton High School, had a tremendous fall, showing power at the plate and consistent glovework at first base. He also had a tremendous fall in the weight room, cutting body fat, losing weight, and adding muscle mass. He could be a huge surprise for the Pack in the spring.
Hicks will battle Butler and sophomore Mike Prochaska for playing time at first base. Prochaska played 27 games at first a year ago and could see time there, in the outfield and at designated hitter when he isn't pitching. One of the best hitters on the team, Prochaska's bat figures to be in the lineup somewhere.
"Mike Prochaska played first base about 50 percent of the time last year, and David Hicks, a true freshman, had a tremendous fall and a tremendous high school season last spring and a great American Legion season this past summer," Avent said. "How he adjusts to college pitching as a true freshman will determine how much he plays. It's not something that's done that easily, but some guys can make the adjustment quicker than others. If he can swing the bat well enough, he can helps us right away at first base."
The Wright Stuff In The Outfield
The fall season turned out to be a showcase for several outfield hopefuls for NC State, and an extra spot was available
during the fall because All-ACC outfielder Brian Wright (.366-12-52) was out of action following elbow surgery to reroute
the ulnar nerve in his right elbow. Wright damaged the elbow during the summer following his junior year in high school and
has been unable to get full extension on his swings ever since. The notion that he could be an even better hitter this
spring is bad news for pitchers around the ACC.
But in Wright's absence, Prochaska, sophomore John Whitley (.309-0-5 in 55 at-bats), junior Jamey Shearin, sophomore Daniel Caldwell and freshman Joe Gaetti of Raleigh's Millbrook High School all showed that they can handle regular action in the outfield. Throw Wright into the mix and that's six capable outfielders and just three openings.
While there will be renewed competition in the spring, one thing is certain: Brian Wright, if healthy, will start in left field. Period.
"Brian Wright didn't play this fall because of elbow surgery," Avent said. "It was a traumatic surgery that takes a lot of rehab. He missed the entire fall, and we're just hoping we can get him back by the spring because he's our top offensive player, an All-ACC outfielder, and the fact that he's played every day for two years and had two summers in the Cape Cod League means that missing the fall won't hurt him as much as it would some players.
"I'm sure once Brian gets released by our medical people he'll make up all the stregnth that he's lost. He's very anxious to get back on the field. He really hated missing this fall. He hated coming out there every day and not being able to get out there and play."
The other two outfield spots no doubt will be the subject of fierce competition in the spring. Whitley and Gaetti are the most likely candidates in center field. Whitley is the team's fastest player and made the Shenandoah Valley League All-star team this past summer. Gaetti is the son of former major leaguer Gary Gaetti, has a good feel for the game, and has solid outfield skills to go along with tremendous power potential at the plate.
Shearin spent most of last season battling injuries and watching as other players moved ahead of him on the depth chart, but he got an opportunity to move into the lineup in right field late in the season and homered in each of the final three games of the season. He continued to play well this summer in the Coastal Plain League and was outstanding in the fall.
Caldwell, also the son of a former big leaguer (pitcher Mike Caldwell), was exceptional in the outfield this fall after playing sparingly there as a freshman. Prochaska is versatile enough to play several positions and should be in the lineup most every day. Making the competition even more interesting is the fact that Avent likes to use his entire roster. That bodes well for everyone vying for playing time in the outfield.
"We could have a real strong outfield offensively this year, but we're very young" Avent said. "In Jamie Shearin you have a junior, but the number of at-bats he's had certainly qualifies him as being young. He's shown us at times that he's capable, but through injuries and inconsistency he hasn't played that much, so you still have to look at him as being inexperienced.
"John Whitley got a number of at-bats last year, but has a ways to go. Joe Gaetti is a true freshman. Then you have Mike Prochaska, who played outfield last year but also is one of our best pitchers, and Daniel Caldwell, who also is one of our top pitchers. It's hard to play in the outfield and pitch, and yet Daniel had a tremendous fall for us swinging the bat, and Mike Prochaska was one of our best hitters last year."
Looking For Offense
Avent and his coaching staff came out of fall practice convinced that the Wolfpack is vastly improved, largely due to a
much better offensive lineup. Given the current environment in college baseball, in which 10 runs a game often isn't enough
to win, a team needs as many good hitters in the lineup as possible. That's not to say that Avent will sacrifice defense
for offense, especially up the middle of the diamond. All other things being equal, however, any competition for starting
spots this spring will most likely be settled by who swings the bat the best. And there are plenty of bats to make the
Wolfpack a formiddable opponent.
"As long as defense doesn't hurt us, we'll try to go with offense at every position," Avent said. "What I mean by offense is production. I'm not really into batting averages. We've got to get on base and drive in more runs than we did last year. If you're batting at the top of the lineup, then your on-base percentage is all I really care about. How you get there is of no concern to me. I'm interested in guys who can get on base. The middle of the lineup, I'm interested in guys who can drive in runs. In the 8-9 spots, if you can be a tablesetter for the top of the lineup, that would be outstanding, but we may look to put some defensive guys toward the end of the lineup.
"I really believe that we have to do a much better job offensively this year, and that's what our focus was most of this fall."
