North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Brackman Ready for Cold Start to Baseball
2/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. – Andrew Brackman readily admits it – he doesn’t like to pitch in cold weather.
In his first two years as a member of NC State’s baseball team that hasn’t been a problem, primarily because he never joined the squad until well after winter had officially turned to spring. You know, after the Wolfpack basketball season was over.
But today, Brackman will get his first full dose of baseball in February, as he takes the mound in the season opener for Coach Elliott Avent and the Wolfpack. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Doak Field at Dail Park, even if the temperature is hovering around 40.
That should at least make the all-star pitcher and one-time hoops player more confortable, since that’s the jersey number he has worn in both sports while at NC State.
Brackman decided last fall that he would concentrate on baseball only this academic year, hoping to rebound from last year’s injury-plagued season and impress professional baseball scouts enough to become a high pick in Major League Baseball’s June draft.
It wasn’t the easiest choice he ever made, and he still feels pangs of regret that he’s not with his basketball teammates any more, particularly sophomore center Ben McCauley. It was especially tough last Saturday, when Brackman and the rest of the baseball team were recognized at midcourt during the basketball team’s amazing upset of No. 3 North Carolina at the RBC Center.
Brackman was among the first students to rush the floor after the game was over, however, and he ran straight to his former teammates to give high-fives and hugs..
“It was a blast,” Brackman said. “I really wanted to be out there with them playing, though. I am so happy for the guys.”
But it’s hard going to basketball games. Brackman thought he would be sitting at center court for every game. But between his training regimen and the challenge of sitting on the sidelines as a spectator, he’s mostly stayed away from basketball.
And here’s one of the reasons why: He went to the upper concourse during last Saturday’s game to get some ice cream and was approached by a fan who thought Brackman should still be playing basketball. “How can you be eating ice cream up here?” the fan shouted.
“It doesn’t really bother me when people come up and say ‘We could have used you the other day,’” Brackman said. “But Saturday, I nearly lost it.”
And the fan nearly got two scoops at 100 miles an hour to the back of the head.
For the most part, Brackman is comfortable with his choice. His basketball teammates say they understand. And after back-to-back wins over Top 25 teams, it made the argument that basketball coach Sidney Lowe and company needed Brackman to be successful was tougher to swallow.
He still has incredible memories of his basketball experiences, especially the win over defending national champion Connecticut that sent the Wolfpack to the Sweet Sixteen in 2005. It was a victory made possible by a late 3-pointer by a 6-11 freshman forward, and a last-second drive by Julius Hodge.
But it’s time to create some different memories, and at the top of the list is the possibility of going to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series. NC State has gone there only once, back in 1968.
“If things go right, we could make it there,” Brackman said.
Brackman, who missed much of last season because of a stress fracture in his hip, says he’s 100 percent healthy now and has been following a strenuous work-out schedule to prepare for the baseball season. Cutting out the constant pounding he does while running for basketball has helped tremendously.
He’s concentrated much of the off-season working on a change-up, giving him four pitches in his repertoire: the much-admired fast ball, a knuckle curve, a slider and a change-up.
“The change-up is coming along great,” he said. “It has helped me 100 percent. I have always known I needed it, but I never found a grip I was comfortable with, and I wasn’t real big on throwing something soft up to the plate and having it ripped right back at me.”
Brackman will be the Friday night pitcher on a staff that is expected to be loaded. New assistant coach Tom Holliday, who has been to the College World Series 16 times as an head and assistant coach during his 32 years in college baseball, says it might be the best pitching staff he’s ever worked with. Following Brackman will be his former Cincinnati Moeller High School teammate Eric Surkamp, a sophomore lefty, and junior Jeff Stallings, who returns after sitting out the last 22 months following Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. Stallings was the Wolfpack’s Friday night pitcher in 2005 before his injury.
Brackman, named first-team preseason All-America by Baseball America, says he’s not thinking about impressing the professional scouts who will hover at Dail Park throughout the season to see him pitch. He’s just trying to see how good he can be after nearly a full year of playing nothing but baseball.
“The whole thing is about going out and getting better,” said Brackman, who was not drafted out of high school because teams knew he was planning to play college basketball and baseball. “No matter where you get drafted, you have to go up through the farm system. You work your way up by how good you are. If I am as good in two months as I am today, then I haven’t made any progress. Every day is about going out and getting a little better.”
So Brackman is comfortable with being a pitcher only these days. For the most part.
“I just want it to be warmer,” he said. “I hate pitching in the cold.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
