CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – The Iowa Hawkeyes players and coaches that arrived for the team’s first get-together this past fall could have been excused if they still had their heads in the clouds, basking months after the fact in the glory of the record-breaking season they had enjoyed in the spring of 2015.
Last year was oh-so special in Iowa City, with the Hawkeyes putting in the books an historic season that saw them win a school record 41 games, advance to an NCAA Regional for the first time since 1990 and win a pair of games there, and come just one victory short of moving on to an NCAA Super Regional for the first time in school history. Iowa last appeared in the College World Series in 1972, before there were Super Regionals.
But when the Hawkeyes assembled for the first time in the fall, players and coaches alike knew there were a lot more questions than answers with an untested group that would take the field this spring. There were a few very key components returning, but there was also the departure of five starting position players, a first-team all-Big Ten starting pitcher and the closer. Four of those players were selected in the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft and played in their first professional seasons last summer.
Just before Iowa took batting practice Monday afternoon ahead of its game with Point University (West Point, Ga.) as part of the Perfect Game College Spring Swing at PG Park South-LakePoint, PG sought out senior two-way all-American and all-Big Ten performer Tyler Peyton to ask him if the Hawkeyes were still sky-high when they met for the first time in early September.
“I think a lot of us had already put it in the past, to be honest,” he said almost matter-of-factly. “It’s a new season and there are a lot of new players on this team, so I felt like we were kind of focusing on what we can do this season to maybe be even better than last year. There’s no doubt that it was probably in the back of our minds and how great of a season it was last year, but it’s in the past now and we just have to focus on this season.”
Veteran head coach Rick Heller is the architect of the turnaround of the Iowa program and he’s in only his third year on the job. The Hawkeyes were 22-27 (10-14 Big Ten) in 2013 in former coach Jack Dahm’s final season, and Heller made strides to 30-23, 10-14 in 2014 and 41-18, 19-5 (conference runner-up) in 2015. He, too, was asked to think back on the mood of his young charges when they first got back together in September.
“It was great coming in because the expectations had been set but on the other side you’ve got a lot of new guys there and you have to build that culture,” he said Monday. “Every team is a new team and you have to develop new leadership, and that’s really where we took the biggest hit. That team last year had some quality leaders on it, and by losing all those guys you’re basically starting all over with that.”
Gone are right-hander and Saturday starter Blake Hickman, a seventh-round pick of the Chicago White Sox in the 2015 draft; right-hander and closer Nick Hibbing, a 16th-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates; center-fielder Eric Toole, a 22nd-round selection of the Colorado Rockies and left-fielder Kris Goodman, who went in the 32nd round to the Miami Marlins. Second baseman Jake Mangler, third baseman Nick Day and designated hitter Dan Potempa also used up their eligibility.
Replacing those guys has proved to be a struggle in the first month of the season while these Hawkeyes get to know each other and become acclimated to a new starting lineup. They improved to 6-8 after their 7-1 victory over Point U. Monday afternoon, a result that evened their PG College Spring Swing record at 2-2. They lost to the University of Nebraska-Omaha and Seton Hall their first two days in the north Atlanta suburbs then beat Savannah State on Sunday.
Despite eight losses in the first 14 games, no one within the program is panicking because everyone within the program knew this team would be a work in progress throughout the early going. And, in fact, there are five seniors on this team that Heller is going to lean on and each one of them is capable of supporting the load.
It starts, finishes and, perhaps, ends with Peyton, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound right-handed pitcher and right-handed hitting first baseman from Grimes, Iowa, who participated in seven PG events while in high school at Dallas Center-Grimes.
He was named a third-team all-American by two separate media outlets after a 2015 season in which the Hawks’ Friday night starter finished 7-4 with a 3.03 ERA and 74 strikeouts and 24 walks in 95 innings pitched. Hitting in the 3-hole, he batted .337 with 13 extra-base hits, 31 RBI and 31 runs scored.
“It’s not an easy job but at the same time it’s fun,” Peyton said of his two-way status. “Not many kids get the chance to hit and pitch at this level and I try to take full advantage of it by trying to do whatever I can. I love the game and I love doing both, and I really don’t think that much about it, honestly.”
The Cincinnati Reds selected Peyton in the 33rd round of last year’s draft but he turned down their offer and decided to return to Iowa City for his senior season. “I believe in this program and I believe in the system,” he said. “It’s a great program and it’s made me feel comfortable here at Iowa, and that’s the reason why I came back because I just wanted to be here for one more year.”
The Iowa coaches were thrilled when Peyton decided to return, but he has been plagued by some soreness and swelling in right elbow and has struggled out of the gate. He started the Hawkeyes’ opener at Dallas Baptist on Feb. 19 when he was healthy and was nothing short of masterful, holding the Patriots to two runs – both unearned – on two hits with six strikeouts and a walk in 6 1/3 innings of work; he was the hard-luck loser in a 5-1 DBU victory.
Peyton made a second start before the soreness set in, skipped a start and then made a third one here Friday in the 7-1 loss to Seton Hall. He gave up four runs in the first inning but got much better after that, finishing with a line of four runs on five hits with three strikeouts and a walk in five innings of work. This season, he is 0-3 with a 5.65 ERA on the mound. His hitting is starting to come around, as well; Peyton went 7-for-16 in the four games here to raise his average to .269.
“It was huge getting Tyler back but it just hasn’t gone the way we would have liked just because of the nagging (soreness),” Heller said. “But he’s starting to swing the bat better and this weekend he’s been closer to normal, and hopefully there are no flair-ups and he’ll be back to himself on the mound real soon. There’s nothing structurally wrong … and we’re just happy that it’s nothing serious and he can build on it and get ready to go for conference (play).”
“With all the therapy I’m getting right now I feel like it’s really coming around,” Peyton added. “We’re taking care of the arm and we’re just being careful right now since we’re not in Big Ten play yet. The progress has been really good with the arm and I think before you know it I’ll be 100 percent healthy.”
The other top seniors are outfielder Joel Booker, infielder Nick Roscetti, right-handed starter Calvin Mathews and right-handed bullpen specialist Tyler Radtke. Booker is slashing .368/.413/.526 with a home run and eight RBI; Roscetti is at .368/.463/.526 with a home run and team-highs of 13 RBI and 15 runs; Mathews is 0-1 with a 4.60 ERA in four starts and 15 2/3 innings (he was 5-3 with a 2.45 ERA as a junior) and Radtke has no record and a 0.00 ERA after four appearances and 4 1/3 innings.
“Every senior on this team has a part in the leadership role, and it’s our job to make sure we’re on board with what we want to do,” Peyton said. “At the end of the day we want to be able to say we gave a good effort and we played hard and we played well.”
The young guys are starting to find their grooves as well, no one more so then redshirt sophomore right-hander C.J. Eldred. The son of former Hawkeye standout and 14-year major league veteran Cal Eldred, C.J. is 1-1 with a 1.88 ERA after four appearances (three starts) and a team-high 24 innings pitched; he’s struck-out 17 and walked only two.
Heller decided to put his inexperienced team to the test early this season by taking it down to Dallas for a three-game set against Missouri Valley Conference stalwart Dallas Baptist, a program that has advanced to the NCAA Regionals four of the last five years and reached a Super Regional in 2011. The Hawkeyes lost all three games in the series but Heller didn’t second-guess his decision to take his young team south to play a national power on its home field.
“Anytime you get swept with a bunch of new guys you’re going to have to deal with some confidence issues, and that’s the risk when you go and play a Dallas Baptist right off the bat,” he said. “This year the weather has been so nice in the South I really felt like they were quite a bit ahead of us, but we still played three games where we had a chance to win late in the game. We didn’t get any of them but we competed.”
Peyton concurred: “I feel like it was a great experience. It was great atmosphere down there, a great team in Dallas Baptist. It was a good learning curve and a great way to see some good competition at the beginning of the season. It gave us a good look at what’s ahead of us.”
After Dallas, the Hawks traveled down to the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., where they picked up wins over Dartmouth and Chicago State but lost to Illinois State. From there, they lost two out of three to Southern Illinois, a series played on SIU’s home field in Carbondale, Ill., and then mauled NAIA Northwestern College (Iowa) 28-0 in a game played in Iowa City. That game took place right before they came to LakePoint where they split their four games.
“We’ve gotten off to a slower than what we thought, but we’ve played some good teams and they’re good teams that played well; a lot of time we lost when we played pretty well,” Heller said. “Our bats started out a little slower than what all of us thought but we’ve seen good pitching and hopefully that helps us when we get into conference (play). I think we’re getting better every day and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
This is the second year Heller brought the Hawks to the PG College Spring Swing and he’s found the experience to be an ideal one. He likes knowing he is taking his team to a quality facility and the artificial turf fields that drain rapidly and efficiently make rainouts a rarity. He also likes the fact that his team can face other schools from up north instead of coming south and getting feasted upon by the southern schools that have been practicing and playing outdoors since late January.
Peyton also praised the LakePoint experience, calling the complex “absolutely amazing.” He appreciates that the Spring Swing has given he and his teammates an opportunity to find their footing so that now they can begin to look ahead to a rugged Big Ten Conference season which kicks off for the Hawkeyes with a three-game series against Maryland March 25-27 in Iowa City.
“With young guys or new guys stepping up into their new roles it’s always a challenge at this level but I feel like guys are coming into their own now,” he said. “I feel like we’re starting to see a little bit of confidence build and I think that’s a true sign of maturing and being ready to play.”
Heller knew what to expect from this team early and planned for it, long before that first team meeting back in September. He’s watched this young season unfold over the last three or four weeks on the road and honestly believes his Hawkeyes are getting better every day, just like the 2015 Hawkeyes did.
“We just have to remember this team is different, this is this year and last year was last year,” he concluded. “Those guys left a really good legacy for us but we knew in year-three we were going to turn a lot of guys over and this was going to be a year we’d really have to pick it up and build, and that’s what we’re trying to do.
“We want them to compete and improve each day, and that’s what you have to do when you have some young guys playing. They’ve got to get better and build that confidence and hopefully each day you get better and by the end of the year you’re playing your best baseball.”