North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Baseball Summer Notebook
7/11/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Combs Pitches Four-hit Gem For Cape League's Cotuit
NC State rising junior righthander Ryan Combs pitched a four-hit shutout and struck out 11 on July 7 to lead Cotuit to a 2-0 Cape Cod League victory over Chatham at Cotuit's Lowell Park.
Wolfpack teammate Brian Wright scored the game-winning run for Cotuit in the bottom of the fourth inning after lining a single to right field, stealing second, advancing to third on a groundout and scoring on a single by Matt Singer. The Kettleers added another run, also in the fourth, but that was unnecessary insurance for Combs, who evened his record to 2-2 and lowered his ERA to 3.15 with the dominating victory.
Combs, who threw 110 pitches, walked two and struck out 11. Even after sitting through a 10-minute rain delay in the eighth inning, Combs was in complete command. He walked the leadoff hitter in the top of the ninth, but then got the next hitter to ground into a double play and recorded the final out on a strikeout.
The victory was just the fourth complete-game shutout thrown by a Cape League pitcher this summer.
Through games of July 8, Combs had pitched 34 1/3 innings, allowed 30 hits, walked just seven and struck out 29. He ranked fourth in the league in innings pitched and fifth in strikeouts.
Although Whitley was hitless in four trips in the All-Star Game, which the South All-Stars won 11-4, he was having a fine season for New Market. In 24 games played through July 9, Whitley was hitting .306 with five doubles, one triple, one home run, 12 RBIs and four stolen bases in five attempts. He ranked eighth in the league in hitting, 10th in slugging percentage (.398), fourth in base hits (33), was tied for 10th in runs scored (15) and RBIs, tied for second in plate appearances (126), tied for seventh in total bases, tied for third in hit-by-pitch (5) and tied for fifth in sacrifice bunts (4).
In the Coastal Plain League, rising senior righthander Jason Blanton and rising sophomore third baseman Jeremy Dutton both were named to the league All-Star Game, which was scheduled for July 11 at Wilson's Fleming Stadium.
Blanton, who saw limited action with the Wolfpack in the spring, has been one of the two top pitchers in the CPL this summer, posting a 4-0 record with a 1.85 ERA. Blanton had allowed 29 hits, walked 24 and struck out 53 in 43 2/3 innings. As of the July 11 All-Star Break, he was tied for the league lead in victories, was second in the league in strikeouts, and ranked in the top 10 in ERA.
Dutton was struggling at the plate, but was tied for second in the league with 17 walks in 93 plate appearances, and was tied for seventh with eight stolen bases. He was hitting just .197, but had a .344 on-base percentage.
Dr. Andrews' examination proved negative, meaning no bone chips or any other type of structural problems. Caldwell was diagnosed with a strained ulnar collateral ligament, which should be fine with rest. Caldwell should be ready to return to action by fall practice.
Caldwell, pitching for Yarmouth-Dennis, finished his summer season with a 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA. He had made just one appearance, a start at Brewster on June 20. He allowed six runs, four of them earned, on seven hits in six innings of work. He walked one and struck out one.
At Cotuit, rising junior outfielder Brian Wright was hitting .256 (well above the league average) with four doubles, one home run and eight RBIs in 23 games. Wright led the Kettleers with 20 base hits, and had drawn 12 walks and struck out just 10 times.
At Wareham, rising sophomore Mike Prochaska was making progress on the mound while hitting well in part-time duty as a DH and outfielder/first baseman. Playing for former North Carolina coach Mike Roberts, Prochaska had recovered from a very poor start on the mound and had worked his ERA down to 9.31 (from a season high of more than 14.00). He had allowed 13 hits, walked six and struck out six in 9 2/3 innings.
At the plate, Prochaska was hitting .409 with two doubles and a team-high 10 RBIs, despite ranking just ninth on the team with 44 at-bats.
At Yarmouth-Dennis, risiing junior lefthander Dan D'Amato was 1-3 with a 3.68 ERA. D'Amato's main problem continued to be control, which plagued him through much of the spring as well. In 29 1/3 innings for Y-D, D'Amato had allowed just 27 hits, but had issued 22 walks while striking out 21.
Elsewhere in the Coastal Plain League, rising junior outfielder Jamey Shearin was hitting .229 with four doubles, three triples and eight RBIs at Wilson.
At Durham, rising junior lefty Kyle Stephenson was 0-2 with a 3.97 ERA. He had allowed 29 hits, walked 11 and struck out 18 in 22 2/3 innings.
At Peninsula, rising senior righthander Josh Miller was 1-1 with a league-leading six saves and a 2.35 ERA. He had made 14 appearances, all of them in relief, and allowed 23 hits, walked five and struck out 13 in 23 innings.
In the Valley League, rising sophomore righthander Derek McKee was 2-2 with a 5.95 ERA at Harrisonburg. In eight appearances, seven of them in relief, McKee had allowed 23 hits, walked 12 and struck out 15 in 19 2/3 innings.
Kristopher "Colt" Morton of Kings Academy in West Palm Beach, Fla., signed with NC State following Major League Baseball's annual June draft. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays took Morton in the 36th round, but reports out of Florida said that other teams had expressed interest in him in the first 10 rounds. Morton's strong intentions to attend college apparently scared teams off until the Devil Rays took a flier on him in the 36th round.
Morton joins a strong and growing recruiting class for the Wolfpack. Last fall, Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent and his staff signed Millbrook High School outfielder Joe Gaetti, plus three players from Raleigh's Broughton High School -- catcher Conor Clougherty, first baseman and lefthanded pitcher David Hicks, and shortstop Lee Kimball.
During the April signing period, the Pack inked a pair of junior college pitchers: lefthander Daryl Minugh of Fresno City (Calif.) College and righthander Paul Regan of Polk (Fla.) Community College.
Lefthander Corey Lee (1994-96) was still at Oklahoma City, where he was trying to overcome a disastrous start to the 2000 season. Lee, a former first-round pick of the parent Texas Rangers, was 2-8 with a 9.26 ERA in 18 appearances, all but two of them starts.
First baseman Andy Barkett (1992-95) was struggling with a horrible Richmond team in the Triple-A International League. Barkett signed with the Braves in May after being released by the Texas Rangers. In 41 games with Richmond, he was hitting .212 with six doubles, three home runs and 16 RBIs. The R-Braves, unlike the parent club in Atlanta, were the worst team in the IL, sporting a 27-62 record.
One step below Richmond, at Double-A Greenville, former NC State second baseman Mike Terhune (1996) was the G-Braves' fourth outfielder and was hitting .202 with six doubles and 11 RBIs in 47 games.
Also at Greenville, former major league infielder Doug Strange (1984-86) was hitting .207 in 18 games as the G-Braves' designated hitter. A native of nearby Taylors, S.C., Strange, whose wife gave birth to quadruplets in 1998, signed with the G-Braves earlier this summer.
At Triple-A New Orleans of the Pacific Coast League, shortstop Adam Everett (1996) was hitting .221 with 15 doubles, four home runs and 29 RBIs in his first taste of Triple-A ball. Everett, who transfered to South Carolina after the 1996 season, was the Boston Red Sox' first-round pick in the 1998 June draft, but was traded to the Houston Astros in the deal that sent Carl Everett (no relation) from the Astros to the Red Sox this spring.
Former two-time All-ACC outfielder Jake Weber (1996-98) overcame a slow start at Double-A New Haven of the Eastern League and was hitting .261 with 16 doubles, five triples, two home runs and 36 RBIs in 79 games. He was the Seattle Mariners' sixth-round draft pick in 1998 and was Seattle's minor league player of the year that summer. This is his second season in Double-A ball.
In the Class A Carolina League, righthanded pitcher Rodney Ormond (1996-99) was 1-3 with one save and a 3.89 ERA for the Frederick Keys, a Baltimore Orioles affiliate. Ormond had made 26 appearances, all in relief, and had allowed 45 hits, walked 17 and struck out 40 in 44 innings.
At Fort Wayne in the Class A Midwest League, second baseman Brian Ward (1998-99) was hitting .320 with 16 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 27 RBIs. A San Diego Padres farmhand, Ward played in the Midwest League All-Star Game and contributed a two-run home run.
At Utica of the short-season Class A New York-Penn League, Matt Postell (1996-99) was making a conversion to catcher in the Florida Marlins' organization. Postell, a former first baseman and third baseman, spent the first half of the 2000 season in extended spring training learning his new position. He returned to Utica (where he had a solid 1999 season) and was hitting .308 with four doubles and four RBIs in 12 games.
Also in the NYP, at Lowell, catcher Dan Mooney was hitting .206 with three doubles and six RBIs in 11 games. Because he was a fifth-year college senior, Mooney was eligible to sign as a free agent fdollowing the 2000 college season and signed with the Boston Red Sox. After starting the NYP season as Lowell's starting catcher, Mooney started sharing time with UConn catcher Brian Esposito, Boston's fifth-round pick in this year's draft. Esposito signed with the Red Sox in early July and reported to Lowell.
