North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Pitchers reunite at NC State
2/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 7, 2006
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH -- They really haven't had a chance to hang out much - one of them is pretty busy right now - but the former baseball teammates from Cincinnati's Moeller High School are pretty close. They have been for going on five years.
That's hardly a surprise for a pair of accomplished pitchers who were part of a prep team that won an Ohio state championship and has a history of producing Major League baseball players.
Their differences go beyond the 18 months that separate their ages. One is a power pitcher, intimidating on the mound, especially now that he has bulked up by 40 pounds, which helps him with his moonlighting gig as a basketball player. The other lives somewhere near that baseball cliche, "the crafty lefthander" with a big sweeping curveball. Plus, he only plays one sport.
One knows what the expectations for his second season of college baseball, after establishing himself with a spectacular - though limited - freshman season. The other, who missed much of fall practice because of illness, is trying to find exactly where he fits in Elliott Avent's program, which opened the season this weekend with a three-game series against Delaware State.
But Avent expects right-hander Andrew Brackman and left-hander Eric Surkamp both to be important contributors for this year's edition of the Wolfpack baseball team, which is deep on offense but is still looking to solidify its pitching staff.
 The telephone pole in the middle? Andrew Brackman  |
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"We were really good friends in high school, and I don't think it has changed very much," Brackman said. "I am always busy with this basketball stuff. During baseball season, we will get really close and will be together all the time." Surkamp is a newcomer on a staff that lost a couple of starters and its top reliever, All-America Joey Devine. He missed a good part of fall practice because of a three-week bout with mononucleosis, but he recovered quickly and expects to see action now that the season is underway.
"Hopefully, I can be some kind of contributor by the time the season is over," said Surkamp, who pitched one perfect inning during the Wolfpack's season-opening three-game sweep of Delaware State.
As high school teammates, Brackman and Surkamp were phenomenal, especially during their team's 28-3 run to the 2004 Ohio state championship. Surkamp was 8-0 with a 0.44 earned run average and 81 strikeouts. Brackman, even though he missed three starts because of tendinitis in his elbow, was 7-0 with a 0.58 ERA and 83 strikeouts. For their careers, the duo combined to go 39-2 for the Crusaders.
"They were very competitive to see who could wrack up the most strikeouts, to see who could give up the fewest hits, who had the lowest ERA," said Mike Cameron, the Moeller High coach. "They were very supportive of each other, but they were also very competitive to see who could outdo each other. The ended up with very similar statistics.
"They would be at the top of the best pitchers we ever had here."
That, in itself, is a statement: Moeller has won four state championships since 1972 and has sent 10 players to the Major Leagues, including outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and shortstop Barry Larkin. The only pitcher in the group, however, is Bill Long, who pitched for three teams from 1985-91.
Cameron thinks one day there might be a couple more.
"These two, you have to like their future," Cameron said.
It's not all that unusual to have high school teammates play together in college. Brackman and Surkamp are among the five sets of former prep teammates who now play for the Wolfpack, joining Gib Hobson and Jason Duncan (North Forsyth in Kernersville), Chris Engle and Travis High (Wesleyan Christian Academy in Kernersville), Ramon Corona and Ammer Cabrera (Gulliver Prep School in Miami) and Caleb Mangum and Adam McLaurin at Fuquay-Varina (N.C.)High.
"It is probably not rare having two kids from the same high school, but it is pretty rare having two kids from the same high school in Cincinnati come to Raleigh," Avent said. "We recruited our brains out to get both of them to come here against some really good schools.
"I think what it says is that friends are not going to lie to one another. It meant Andrew Brackman felt that he was at the right place, when he was told so many times that he needed to go elsewhere. For him to feel comfortable enough for him to tell Eric to come here, I think that speaks volumes about our program and what we are doing here."
Avent has high expectations for both pitchers, even though it might take time to integrate both into the rotation. He'll take what Brackman contributed last year - 4-0 record with a 2.09 ERA in 10 games - every season the 6-foot-10 pitcher is wearing red-and-white.
"What he did as a freshman, we will take as a senior," Avent said. "When your performances were as good as his were, the easy thing to say is 'Geez, what is he going to do next year?' Well, we'll take exactly the same thing he gave us last year."
Avent also has high expectations for Surkamp.
"That did kind of hurt Eric's learning curve a little bit, but he was coached so well in high school," Avent said. "Because of what he already knew coming in, it hurt him much less than other people.
"You don't expect too much out of freshmen, of course, especially in this league. But I think Eric is a guy who is going to be capable of helping us this year. How much it happens, depends on what other guys do.
"But we are expecting big things out of him."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
