North Carolina State University Athletics
Ex-Pack Shortstop Bringing the Heat in Minors
7/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
July 10, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Although others received more acclaim, NC State's Chad Orvella may very well have been the ACC's best defensive shortstop last season. Displaying better than average range, soft hands and a cannon for an arm, the Redmond, Washington native made only 10 errors in 63 games, while also batting a respectable .314. His rare pitching appearances, however, were often an afterthought. Not any more. In his short time with the New York Penn League's Hudson Valley Renegades, Orvella has raised more than just a few eyebrows with his effective work out of the bullpen.
Featuring a fastball that has been clocked as high as 94 miles per hour, Orvella has allowed zero runs and only four hits in 8 and 1/3 innings, while striking out 11 and walking just one. He's also recorded five saves in six appearances.
All this from a player who went 2-3 with an 8.10 ERA in mostly mop-up duty for the Pack this past season. But the team that drafted him in the 13th round (368 overall)--the Tampa Bay Devil Rays--saw something else in the hard throwing righty: 18 strikeouts in only 13 and 1/3 innings.
The Devil Rays, an organization that hasn't exactly become known as a poster child for solid personnel decisions, may have been onto something when they chose to select a full-time shortstop and turn him into a relief pitcher. In making a smashing debut last month, Orvella fanned five of the six men he faced in a two-inning stint.
It's a long, long way from the New York Penn League to the Majors, but Chad Orvella's quest to move up the ladder is off to a great start. Not bad for a guy who some claimed was the ACC's best shortstop just a few months ago.
