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College | Story | 3/20/2016

Sat. Recap: Pac-12 catchers shine

Patrick Ebert

Jheremy Brown

Mike Rooney

Photo: GoldenBearSports.com

Weekend Preview | Video Vault | Freshmen dominate to open 2016
Thursday Recap: Jefferies continues to deal
Friday Recaps: Karinchak impresses again | Theroux's blast propels OSU | Richards' walkoff HR lifts Titans

Southern California 5, No. 12 California 4

USC came into this critical game three against the 12th-ranked Cal Bears with an unbelievable 4-7 record in one-run games. This was especially surprising considering that this is a veteran club and the trend was threatening to torpedo the Trojans' season if it continued.

Saturday's 5-4 victory allowed USC to change that tune and capture a critical Pac-12 series from Cal. Cal had won game one behind a stellar performance from ace Daulton Jefferies, making this series win even sweeter for the Trojans.

The two catchers in this game hit third in their respective lineups and that is something that you rarely see. It was fitting because Brett Cumberland of Cal and Jeremy Martinez of USC were the two best hitters in this contest and it wasn't all that close.

One commonality these two players share is that their tools rank in the exact same order. Both are led by their hit tool with arm strength being their second best talent. Neither catcher is a poor receiver or blocker, but those skills are significantly behind their two leading tools.

They are quite different hitters and it is somewhat ironic. Martinez is the bigger physical presence yet his power is more reserved than Cumberland's. Much of that is related to approach as Cumberland is much more of a risk taker than Martinez. Cumberland is also a switch-hitter compared to Martinez hitting from the right side only.

Cumberland was on fire this weekend and he hit his third home run of the series in Saturday’s rubber match. The most impressive part of that feat was that the pitch was a 3-2 changeup and the at-bat had started out 0-2 as Cumberland fought his way back to the full count.

Martinez was 2-for-4 on the day with one RBI but those stats don't tell the whole story. He barreled the baseball all day and had four stellar at-bats. His bat-to-ball skills are elite and Martinez has tremendous instincts in the area of situational hitting. He adjusts with two strikes, uses the whole field when necessary, and most importantly, Martinez has feel for getting his work done early in RBI situations.

With Logan Ice and Brian Serven both having outstanding seasons in their own right, the first team All Pac-12 catcher this year will have really earned it.

Maryland 8, Cal State Fullerton 4

Taylor Bloom took matters into his own hands, again, and his second consecutive complete game allowed Maryland to even their series with Fullerton. Bloom scattered 12 hits and one walk in allowing just two earned runs. Bloom's performance was remarkable in that he did not throw one pitch over 86 mph. On top of that, Bloom threw just one breaking ball all night.

Bloom operates from a sidearm slot and he sinks his 84-86 mph fastball in and out with precision. His changeup ranges from 75-77 mph and its plus deception makes it an out pitch. Bloom's delivery gives the appearance of him almost jumping off the mound at the hitter and there are very few good swings against him.

Shortstop was the other position on display tonight as Kevin Smith (Maryland) and Timmy Richards (Fullerton) continued to dominate the series. Smith had three hits and three runs scored and he uses the right-center field gap as well as any hitter I've seen this year.

In addition to his outstanding approach at the plate, Smith's plus defensive instincts are a separator. In this game, Smith wisely called off third baseman Andrew Bechtold on a critical foul pop up in the third inning. Then in the fourth inning, he turned a 6-3 double play on a ball that ricocheted off of Bloom. It was a play that many infielders would rush and end up with some version of an error. Smith, however, has the internal clock that so many great ones have and he is able to play swiftly but under control at all times.

Richards has quickly become the catalyst for Fullerton and his on-the-field leadership is easily seen from the stands. His HBP in the sixth was a savvy play that allowed the Titans to claw back to 4-2 after Bloom had posted three straight zeroes. Richards had two hits on the night and he is clearly playing with great confidence.

One other name to file away is Maryland's freshman outfielder Marty Costes. Costes blistered two home runs in this game, the first of which hit off of the batter's eye in center field. Costes looks the part of a Division I running back at 5-foot-9 and 200-pounds and he was a three-sport high school athlete in Baltimore. While Costes is a little raw from a baseball skill standpoint, some around the Maryland program have jokingly refered to him as Bo Jackson 2.0 because of his extreme athleticism.

Albany 9, Harford 5

Coming out of a Long Island high school back in 2013, righthander Stephen Woods had a decision to make like other recently drafted high school seniors had; sign a professional contract or honor the commitment to the college you signed a National Letter of Intent with. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound, broad-shouldered Woods opted for the latter despite his sixth-round selection by the Tampa Bay Rays, becoming one of the nine players selected in the top 10 rounds not to sign.

Last spring as a sophomore Woods began to make strides to his overall game, starting 11 games and managed to hold hitters to a mere .198 average against courtesy of his three-pitch repertoire, all of which are capable of producing swings and misses. That arsenal was on full display again Saturday afternoon and though command issues have plagued him in the past and he did issue six walks, that stat is a bit misleading for this performance as he had an extremely tight strike zone to work with in the opening frames and located several pitches that appeared to be painted on either black called against him.

Along with his frame and physicality that’s capable of handling the rigors of a starting role, Woods’ mechanics and overall delivery both suggest starting at the next level though he did enjoy a nice summer working out of the ‘pen on the Cape. Beginning his delivery by lowering his hand set down to his waist, Woods shows a steady tempo and pace throughout which is complemented by a rather short and fast arm action through the backside coming to a three-quarters arm slot. And while the walk totals might paint a picture of scattered fastballs all around the plate, Woods consistently worked on top of his fastball generating plane to the plate while showing the ability to work to either side.

After opening up the game by sitting at 93-94 mph and bumping a 95 or two, Woods throttled it back into more of the 91-93 mph band though the 3s were still prevalent and he still showed 4s and 5s into his last inning of work. The heater flashed some running life when located to his arm side and the overall arm strength was clear as he rarely dipped below 91 mph throughout his time on the mound and held his velocity very well out of the stretch. Though the fastball velocity is amongst some of the best in the entire Northeast, it’s just the beginning of what Woods is capable of as his slider showed above average depth and his cutter was a consistent offering for him.

The cutter was his go-to secondary and the pitch he showed the most while pitching heavily off of his fastball. Thrown in the 84-87 mph range Woods’ cutter showed consistent, late life away from righthanded hitters and almost looked like a slider with the amount of break it featured out of the hand. As effective as his cutter was staying off of barrels, the curveball showed the ability to miss the barrel entirely more often than not. Woods showed comfort throwing the upper-80s count both at the beginning of at-bats and as a put away with two strikes all the while showing late, sharp depth and maintaining his arm slot on the pitch. Those were the three pitches he showed from start to finish and he also flashed a couple of mid-80s changeup, the best of which showed short and subtle fading life at 87 mph.

Starting opposite of Stephen Woods was Hartford’s David Drouin who had some buzz around his name coming out of a New Hampshire in 2013. After a freshman season in which he logged 36 innings on the same staff as eventual first-rounder Sean Newcomb, Drouin missed all of 2015 with Tommy John surgery but appears fully healthy at the onset of 2016. A redshirt-sophomore, Drouin is listed at a strong 6-foot-2, 200-pounds and though he didn’t have his sharpest command he still showed what’s earned him the praise as one of the top draft prospects in the American Conference.

With a simple hip turn at the top and balance throughout his delivery, Drouin did a nice job of generating extension out front which in turn created subtle yet consistent sinking life to his 88-91 mph fastball, bumping 92 in the first inning. The arm action is loose and the ball comes out of the hand cleanly, eluding to the possibility of more velocity in the tank as he continues to garner innings under his belt. He also did a nice job of repeating his mechanics for the most part and showed the same arm action on both his slider and changeup.

Throwing his slider in the upper-70s, the pitch showed with short tilt and some sweep though he would occasionally take a little bit off the pitch and showed like more of a curveball with depth and 11-5 shape. He only threw about a handful of changeups, all to lefthanded hitters, but it was a quality offering at 85 mph with solid fading life and an arm action that mimicked that of his fastball. In all, Drouin has a full three-pitch mix, all of which he can throw for strikes throughout the zone and should continue to refine his overall command with additional innings.

The Hartford coaching staff was high on sophomore shortstop Ben Bengston coming out of the fall and heading into the spring and you can see why in pregame infield. Strongly built at 6-foot-1, 200-pounds, Bengston showed off soft and very quick hands with sound footwork and arm strength that plays well from the 5-6 hole. At the plate he put a couple of nice swings on the ball against Woods, including a sharply hit single to his pull side and a hard line out to right field with which he went with an outer half pitch.

National Notes

• Game two between the Connecticut Huskies and the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos saw an interesting freshman arm come out of each dugout, both of whom performed well for their six innings apiece. In just his second start of the year, Connecticut lefthander Tim Cate gave his team a chance to win as he exited after six innings of work in which he allowed just a single run on five hits to go along with eight punchouts. UCSB’s Noah Davis has been featured in these recaps before as well as the Impact Freshman feature, and while he didn’t factor into the decision he provided another quality start, walking just one in six innings while allowing three earned.

• In what proved to be a shootout of the offenses, it was Wake Forest who came out on top of Virginia by a final of 9-8 as they used a six-run sixth to help pad the lead before scoring the deciding run in the top of the ninth. Sophomore outfielder Stuart Fairchild paced the offense with a three-hit day, including a double to help drive in four runs. It’s also worth noting that slugger Will Craig was back in the lineup after missing a handful of games, though you couldn’t tell by the way he swung the bat as he picked up two knocks and raised his average to .462 on the year. Virginia received solid offensive production from their top two sophomores as well in Adam Haseley, who continued his hot streak and added two more hits to his weekend total, while Pavin Smith went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBI.

• The No. 9 Miami Hurricanes jumped on all-everything sophomore Brendan McKay for four runs over 5 1/3 innings to win game two, and the series, by a scored of 6-3. Michael Mediavilla was once again stellar, moving to 4-0 on the year by allowing just one run over seven innings, and Bryan Garcia recorded his seventh save. Jacob Heyward went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run in the fourth inning that gave Miami a lead they would never relinquish.

• In several key series around the nation with the potential to impact the next update of the Top 25, Oregon State, South Carolina and Clemson all won again on Saturday and claimed their respective series against Arizona State, Arkansas and Boston College respectively.

• Andrew Lantrip and Seth Romero each delivered a complete game in No. 19 Houston’s doubleheader sweep over visiting Grand Canyon. Lantrip was near perfect, allowing just two base hits and no walks while striking out seven, needing just 88 pitches. Romero wasn’t quite as efficient but was nearly unhittable, allowing just one base knock and an unearned run while fanning 13 Grand Canyon hitters.

• No. 15 Mississippi State scored the game-tying and go-ahead runs in the top of the eighth inning on a two-run single by Jake Magnum to take the series against No. 2 Vanderbilt in Nashville. Kale Breaux and Noah Hughes combined to toss three scoreless innings for the Bulldogs to pick up both the win and the save.

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Deep South Region Top Teams

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