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February 22, 2008 > Sports > Five years removed from national title, Owls hope this is the year for repeat success

Five years removed from national title, Owls hope this is the year for repeat success

By Ben Jedlovec | Thresher staff

“Rebuilding” is a funny word — it implies new faces, change, uncertainty and a short-term drop-off in performance. If that is the case, then maybe “reloading” describes the 2008 baseball team more accurately.

As the 2007 season closed with arguably the deepest crop of draft-eligible juniors in school history, head coach Wayne Graham and company knew the program was about to run low on ammunition. In order for the team to compete in 2008, the Owls would have to cling onto their prized All-Americans as long as possible while courting a first-rate recruiting class to fill the inevitably empty lineup spots. And it never hurts to get a little lucky.

Nothing Graham could say would make up then-junior Cole St. Clair’s mind. The Owls’ premier closer, hampered by injuries to open the 2007 season, was a seventh-round selection of the Cleveland Indians in the Major League Baseball draft. It was up to him: St. Clair could accept the Indians contract, turn pro and never look back; or, he could return to Rice, finish his economics degree, jump into the starting rotation, take another shot at a national championship and potentially improve his draft stock for next June’s draft. After thorough consideration, St. Clair elected to return to Rice, single-handedly setting the “reloading” tone for the 2008 season.

Pitchers Jon Runnels and Chris Kelley and outfielder Jordan Dodson, all current seniors, joined St. Clair in foregoing pro baseball for one more season, bringing back key figures from the 2007 College World Series team. And maybe this time, unlike the past two heartbreaking seasons, the Owls will return to the glory they experienced in the 2003 National Championship.

“We always expect to get to Omaha, [home of the CWS],” Graham said. “That’s the reason we’ve been there half the time out of the last 12 years. That’s what you shoot for. But first, you have to win one game at a time, win the conference, and host [a regional.]”

Starting pitchers

Sophomore Ryan Berry, whose 3.01 ERA, 125 strikeouts and 122.2 innings pitched led the team last year, has emerged as the staff workhorse. Berry, who features a 90 mile-per-hour fastball, slider, changeup and knuckle-curve, returns as the staff ace and will start tonight’s season opener against Long Beach State looking to improve on his freshman campaign.

“The stuff is all there,” Graham said. “There’s no reason he couldn’t have a year equal to or better than last.”

St. Clair, who maintained a 1.91 ERA over 28.1 IP, makes the transition to the rotation following three seasons in the bullpen, during which he broke David Aardsma’s (Baker ‘05) school record for career saves. He will probably pitch four or five innings in his first few starts and the team will evaluate his progress with each start. St. Clair has reached 90 mph with his fastball, indicating renewed arm strength but leaving room for continued improvement to reach his previous mid-90s velocity.

Returning to round out the weekend rotation junior Matt Langwell, who provided much-needed spot starts and long relief as needed last season, will have every opportunity to establish himself as a premier collegiate pitcher. Graham said Langwell’s new pitching repertoire could put him on a whole new level.

“LAngwell’s stuff is better than last year,” Graham said. “He added a split-finger and he’s got better command of his slider.”

With two mid-week games this season, Rice’s traditionally deep pitching staff will be even more of an asset. Sophomore Mike Ojala impressed during both fall and spring practices and should get regular midweek starts.

“Ojala looks like the most improved pitcher on the staff,” Graham commented. “He could become a top-notch pitcher.”

The final weekly starts will come from a group including Runnels, Kelley, junior transfers Jordan Rogers and Lucas Luetge and freshman Matt Evers. Kelley has been inconsistent in practices but was at times a reliable weekend starter last season. The development of his changeup will be key. Rogers and Luetge feature tremendous movement on their pitches but have struggled with control and consistency. Runnels, a soft-tossing lefty, had perhaps the most impressive fall on the staff and has the ability to work several innings out of the bullpen or make the occasional spot start.

“[Runnels] made an adjustment where he’s throwing with better mechanics,” Graham said. “That fixes everything: better curveball, better fastball, better deception.”

Bullpen

The deep starting rotation allows the remaining starters to fall into useful relief roles. In addition to Kelley, Rogers, Luetge, Evers and Runnels, Graham will have some intriguing options coming out of the bullpen. Junior Bryan Price has perhaps the most dominant repertoire on the staff, when he controls it — Price’s wildness allowed his ERA to balloon to 7.84 last year. But with a 92-94 mph fastball and a devastating hard slider, Price fits the closer’s role perfectly for now.

Despite normally playing infield, sophomore Diego Seastrunk saw innings last fall and this spring on the mound before arm soreness forced him off the mound for a few weeks. With a 92 mph fastball and solid curve, Seastrunk could see meaningful innings out of the bullpen if his arm can tolerate it.

Redshirt junior Bobby Bell, returning from Tommy John surgery, is on schedule for a mid-May return, providing another potentially valuable arm to an already deep staff.

Catcher

Redshirt junior Adam Zornes finally gets his chance behind the plate with the departure of three-year fixture Danny Lehmann, who was drafted last year in the eighth round by the Minnesota Twins. Plagued by inconsistency in the past, Zornes has tremendous power potential and is solid defensively.

“Zornes has the possibility of being one of the better catchers in college baseball,” Graham said. “He’s got all of the skills and power to burn. … We would like Zornes to catch as many games as he can.”

Behind Zornes, the situation gets a little hazy. In a somewhat surprising recent development, junior Jess Buenger, who batted .306 with seven home runs last year as the team’s regular second baseman, currently sits as the team’s backup catching option after seeing some action behind the plate. Freshmen Nick DeBiasse and John Hale have adequate bats and have made progress defensively, but may need another year before they are ready to assume a more significant role.

Infield

Senior J.P. Padron came on strong last June, finishing with a .310 batting average and a .451 slugging percentage, and continued to impress throughout the fall and spring practices. With tremendous power potential out of high school, Padron looks poised to be a major force in the middle of the Owls lineup. Originally a third baseman, he is more than capable of handling the regular duties at first base.

When he’s not giving Zornes a day off, Buenger will spend most of his time at second base, where he provides an experienced offensive threat. Buenger’s double-play partner will be freshman Rick Hague, a highly touted high school recruit, who will assume the regular shortstop duties. Already an outstanding defender, Hague’s develop- ment at the plate has impressed the coaches.

“The ability, the tools are there to play the position well, extremely well,” Graham said. “Right now, he’s [former Rice shortstop Paul] Janish with a bat.”

Seastrunk’s impressive freshman campaign ended with a .304 batting average and .338 on-base percentage, and the sophomore will return to play third base in 2008. While he has struggled defensively at times, his offensive contributions are certainly worthwhile.

Redshirt sophomore Jimmy Comerota, who had been stuck behind Brian Friday since the day he arrived on campus, has progressed into a viable player at any infield position and will see plenty of action between third, short, and second.

“Comerota’s a Division-I ballplayer now,” Graham says. “We’re very fortunate to have a D-I ballplayer backing us up at three positions, and he can play them all average or better.”

Redshirt freshman Abel Gonzalez and senior Jordan Dodson, whose eight home runs in 2007 were second on the team, will back up Padron at first, while freshman Michael Fuda is another viable offensive or defensive option at second base.

Outfield

Coming off of a monster 2007 season — a .315 batting average, a .570 slugging percentage and 13 home runs — junior Aaron Luna returns and will be expected to lead the Owls offensively. After jumping between left field and second base last season, he appears to have settled in left for the time being.

Dodson will see the majority of the time in right field, but center field is a little more uncertain. Junior Jared Gayhart, who batted .339 last season in 165 at-bats, was forced into sharing time last season but is capable of producing in a regular lineup spot in centerfield. Also in the mix is freshman Chad Mozingo, whose offensive potential and speed could lead him to be a force in the Owls lineup in future seasons.

Redshirt freshman Doug Simmons and senior Derek Meyers are adequate bats off the bench and defensive replacements in the late innings. Freshmen Nick Natale and Joseph Paylor are less polished but have blazing speed that will have some utility on this team.

What does all of this mean for 2008?

If the Owls hope to return to Omaha and have success at the CWS, Graham said there are three things that will need to come to pass for his team.

“To have a successful season, three things need to happen: You need to stay reasonably healthy, you have to keep improving and you have to have a breakthrough or two surprise you with their growth,” Graham said. “It wouldn’t be such a surprise to us if Zornes were one of the top two or three catchers in college baseball, if Hague could become one of the top five [freshmen] shortstops, if Mozingo could be a bona fide division one star as a freshman, and if Ojala becomes a top-notch pitcher.”

Considering the relative youth of the team, improvement is almost inevitable. If Berry was an All-American as an 18-year-old freshman, imagine what a more experienced Berry will take the mound for Game 1 at Rosenblatt Stadium this year. Watch as St. Clair settles himself into a potentially unbeatable starting rotation. And there’s really no way of marking the freshmen — give them 100 at-bats against D-I pitching, then come to a conclusion.

While both improvement and surprises are nearly inevitable, health is always a wild card. However, despite less than 100 percent from St. Clair and Joe Savery — who was drafted with the 19th pick by the Philadelphia Phillies — last year Rice made its sixth CWS appearance of the Graham era. Depth and flexibility help overcome health issues, and the 2008 squad has both.

“There’s never been a team that’s more unproven,” Graham said. “We feel like we have great potential and more flexibility than normal, but it’s all in the proving. We’re ready to get out and find out what we’ve really got.”

End of article

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