RE: Fall Ball 2021
It was a picture perfect night for baseball at The Reck, and the crowd of about 100 (including a sizable group tailgating in The Roost) were greeted with the sound system operational-- including music and player announcements.
They played a 6 1/2 inning scrimmage, with the pitchers on both sides dominating. Blue beat Grey 2-1, outing hitting Gray 5-3 (with one of those 3 hits coming in the extra half inning), but Grey pitchers racked up one more strikeout than those in Blue (11 Ks vs. 10 Ks).
Blue pitchers in order were Chandler, Matthews, Linskey and Davis; Grey pitchers were Vincent, Gallant and Zaskoda. Each pitched 2 inning stints, save for Davis who pitched just one inning.
Cooper Chandler (Sr RHP, Pepperdine transfer) pitched a very quick 1-2-3 inning, with two strikeouts, but in the second inning, after getting the leadoff hitter on a pop out, he walked a batter, followed by a passed ball and then an RBI double by Justin Dunlap. 2.0 IP, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 BB, WP, 2 Ks. Chandler pitched like the experienced pitcher he is. His fastball was sitting in the 90-92 MPH range, with a solid curve (82 MPH) and changeup.
Tom Vincent (Redshirt Fr LHP, A&M transfer) struggled with his control. After getting a leadoff strikeout, there was a walk, stolen base, wild pitch, followed by a Guy Garibay RBI single. He walked a second batter and the first inning ended with just two outs and a runner on 1B. In the second, Antonio Cruz led off with an RBI double, but after a strikeout, Cruz was caught in no man's land on a grounder to SS and was tagged out. Connor Walsh followed with a single, then another walks, and the inning ended with a opposite field line out by Woodcox. 2.0 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 3 BBs, WP, 2 Ks. Fast ball sat in the 87 - 89 range.
Caleb Matthews (Fr, RHP) was the third true Freshman pitcher to impress this week (along with Perkins and Shaw). In his first inning, he gave up an infield single and walk, but struck out one and another was caught stealing (Garza again!). He has a 1-2-3 second inning, with an infield pop and two ground outs. 2.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 BB, 1 K. Fast ball sat in the 90 - 92 range, with a "plus" curveball that sat between 76-79. Throws hard for a small guy at 5'10", 169 lbs.
Reed Gallant (Fr, RHP) also struggled with his control. In his first inning he gave up a lead off walk, followed by a sharply hit single by Austin Bulman. He was on the verge of escaping the inning on back-to-back strikeouts, but then slipped trying to field a swinging bunt by Garza which turned into an RBI single. He then walked another batter before getting his third strikeout of the inning. Gallant's second inning was much stronger. After a leadoff walk, he got a ground out, followed by back-to-back strikeouts. 2.0 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. Fastball sitting in the 89-90 range.
Matthew Linskey (Fr, RHP) looked like a different pitcher than the one who couldn't find the strikezone last year. After giving up a leadoff walk and a stolen base, he had back-to-back strikeouts, before a second walk and a fly out. In this second inning, he gave up another walk and strikeout, but struck out two more and got an infield pop. 2.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. His fastball sat in the 89 - 93 range (losing velocity in his second inning of work), and his curve was very effective in the 78 - 80 range. He has the physique of Neimann and Kravetz (6'7", 245 lbs). If Bostick an get him to throw strikes he can be a very, very effective set-up guy or even closer.
Garrett Zaskoda (Fr, RHP) stuggled a bit with his control, but showed a "plus" curveball. In this first inning he walked one, but got two strikeouts and fly out. In the second he got a leadoff strikeout, but then lost his mechanics-- walk, walk, HBP, before leaving the bases loaded with an infield pop and strikeout. 2.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 3 BBs, 1 HBP, 4 Ks
Micah Davis (Fr, RHP) is another guy who couldn't throw strikes last year, but looked really good in his one inning of work. Leadoff walk, followed by a catcher to 1B pickoff (by Hannigan), strikeout, opposite field double by Justin Long who was thrown out by Garibay trying to stretch it into a triple. Davis stayed in to record a fourth out of the inning via strikeout. 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 BB, 2 Ks. He has the liveliest arm I saw tonight-- popping his fastball in at 94 - 95, with a really nice 83 MPH curveball.
And that's a wrap.
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