Frustrating end to 2009
By Steve Behr
 
Appalachian State, despite being seeded sixth in the Southern Conference Tournament, had every intention of winning the event and going to the NCAA Tournament, which begins Friday.

The Mountaineers went into the games winning 26 of their final 32 games of the season and from climbing out of the SoCon cellar into sixth place. They followed with a ninth-inning rally and a 4-1 victory over The Citadel in the first round.

But an offense that had a knack of driving in runs at key times suddenly sputtered. The Mountaineers left 11 runners on base in a 6-5 loss to Georgia Southern, and nine more runners on base in a 5-3 loss to The Citadel.
“It probably would have been easier if we had gotten our butts kicked and came home, because we really played well,” Mountaineers coach Chris Pollard said. “We didn’t get the key hit at the key time. Over the three games, we made one error, struck out 36 and walked five. We pitched and played defense well enough to win the whole thing. We were a key hit away in both (losses) from taking the lead and winning the game.”

Appalachian State will end up staying home while tournament champion Georgia Southern and regular-season champion Elon will play in the NCAA Tournament, which begins Friday.

Pollard said the opportunities to score runs were there. One key situation in the loss to The Citadel happened in the sixth inning when shortstop Nick DeRose made a terrific play to get the Mountaineers out of a jam, and then Appalachian State loaded the bases on the Bulldogs the following inning.

However, Appalachian State came up empty and could not recover.

“Guys were getting their pitches,” Pollard said. “We just missed a couple of them. Guys worked themselves into good counts and then they’d get their pitch and fly out or pop up.”

Now that the offseason has begun, Appalachian State has some work to do. The Mountaineers lose several seniors who played key roles in a team that finished 33-27 this year. They lost All-SoCon centerfielder and leadoff hitter Rand Smith, All-SoCon closer Zach Quate, All-SoCon third baseman Isaac Harrow, shortstop Nick DeRose and starting pitchers Aubrey Edens and Josh Dowdy. They also lose relief pitcher Nick Daniels.

That means the Mountaineers coaching staff has some work to do. First of all, they have to make sure that the current players on the roster are set up in ideal summer baseball situations.

“We’ll have a ton of guys playing summer baseball, so we want to make sure they’re in the right spots,” Pollard said.

Secondly, there is the Major League Amateur Draft, which is coming up. Harrow, Quate and Smith have been mentioned as possible draftees. Second baseman Wes Hobson could also be considered a draft prospect.

Appalachian State could also see a couple of its recruits be drafted. Nate Hyatt, a hard-throwing right-hander from Brevard High School has drawn some interest. So has Starmount ace Tyler Jackson, a left-hander whose fastball has been clocked around 90 miles per hour.

Appalachian State could be a very young team next year should everybody they signed report to campus next fall. Ardrey Kell outfielder Ryan Stetson is still playing in the state 4-A playoffs after the Knights beat Providence, the home of future ASU outfielder Tyler Zupcic. Stetson, Zupcic and Butler catcher Tyler Tewell are three of 16 North Carolina players selected to play in a three-game all-star game against 16 South Carolina players June 11-13 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Hyatt, Tewell and shortstop William Head from Asheville will represent the West team in the West-East All-Star game to be played this summer. Head stole 46 bases for Asheville this spring, five short of the state record, and 100 in his prep career.

The exciting thing is that this will allow us to have the fastest team we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Pollard said of his recruits. We’ll be an aggressive team. These are guys who can really run. It will probably be t he most athletic we’ve been since I’ve been here.”