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College  | Story  | 3/8/2017

College Spotlight: Baylor

Jheremy Brown     
Photo: Spencer Moore
 


Perfect Game College Player Database
Weekly Spotlights: Week 1 | Week 2 | Frisco Classic | LSU Spotlight

Every week during the 2017 college baseball season we will be pulling at least one report, and corresponding video when available, of a player entered into the College Player Database. This week will be a little different given Perfect Game's presence at three major college baseball tournaments, including the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic held at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. Below we will share one detailed report of a player from each of the six participating teams (Baylor, LSU, Ole Miss, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech) continuing with the Baylor Bears. All of the reports entered into the database can be found in one, easy-to-find place as linked above, and can also be accessed off of the individual PG player profile pages.

To access all of the reports you will need a College Baseball Ticket (CBT) subscription. To learn more about the CBT and to sign up today please visit this link.


What a start to the 2017 season it has been in year two of the Steve Rodriguez era of Baylor baseball. After helping to secure the program’s first 10-win season in conference play for the Bears since 2013 in his first season, Rodriguez and his team have their eyes set on a bigger goal this spring.

After opening the year at a very impressive 9-0, the Bears found themselves in the middle of what had been dubbed a “mini-Omaha” and proved they were more than capable of performing under the brightest of lights with a 2-1 record. They knocked off a surging Ole Miss club to hand them their second defeat of the season before walking off on another nationally ranked club in Texas A&M with a grand slam from Tucker Cascadden in the bottom of the ninth to close out the weekend.

Freshman catcher Shea Langeliers has more than lived up to the preseason buzz surrounding his name while JUCO transfer Montana Parsons continues to evolve on the mound and showed an impressive three-pitch mix, highlighted by a fastball that touched 95 mph. Senior righthander Nick Lewis knows how to win out of the Friday night role and has a talented, experienced offense to provide run support regardless of who the other team matches up with. 




Montana Parsons, RHP

The final line from Baylor righthander Montana Parsons against LSU at the Shriners Classic in Houston might fool you as he allowed 10 hits and three earned runs over 5 2/3 innings, but most of the damage was done when the athletic junior was well into his pitch count, approaching and surpassing the 100-clip prior to his removal. For most the game the 6-foot-3, 175-pound Parsons was in control and appears to have lived up to his billing for Coach Steve Rodriguez as a transfer from JuCo national powerhouse San Jacinto (Texas). 

Parsons came out of the gates hot showing a full and fast arm which produced a fastball that lived 92-94 mph in the opening frame and even touched a 95 on one gun before settling into the low-90s while still popping 93s with regularity. He lands closed with his strike foot but does a nice job of working over his front side, adding some deception along with plane to his heater when on top of the pitch. With his release point Parsons was able to generate some life to his fastball which he more than once was able to ride in on the hands of righthanded hitters. There wasn’t a whole lot of effort for Parsons to generate the big velocity though he would occasionally dip down to 87-89 mph, giving hitters a different look before bumping back into the low-90s on subsequent pitches. 

Both his curveball and changeup developed throughout his five-plus innings of work, especially his 79-81 mph changeup. After missing up and out with the first changeup offering Parsons found his release point and began locating down in the zone with nice fading life, executing the pitch when he had to which had hitters out on their front side. He didn’t throw his mid-70s curveball as much as the changeup but it’s a solid third pitch with 11-to-5 shape and short depth down in the zone. 


Shea Langeliers, C
Throughout the fall freshman catcher Shea Langeliers generated a lot of buzz on Baylor’s campus and expectations were high for the former 34th-round Toronto Blue Jays pick. It’s safe to say three weeks into the season that he’s more than lived up to the hype as he’s hitting .348-2-7 with two doubles while taking over the everyday duties behind the plate. 

A solid athlete behind the dish, Langeliers shows plenty of flexibility to his actions defensively which couples nicely with the light footwork and soft hands he shows. His catch-and-throw abilities proved to be just as solid as he’s popped consistent times in between innings and delivered a 2.01 in-game with true carry and accuracy down to second base. The arm is a weapon that plays at the collegiate level right now and throughout the weekend's worth of looks there’s nothing that point to the young backstop having to move out from behind the plate at the next level. 

While the offensive numbers speak for themselves it’s important to remember that he’s putting up these stats from the middle of the order so his abilities are known to opposing teams as opposed to seeing a heavy diet of fastballs from the bottom of the order. Though he begins with a wide stance at the plate he’s still able to shift his weight through his lower half while generating very nice bat speed through the zone with just as quick of a hand set. One of his more impressive swings came in the ninth inning of the LSU game as he squared off against hard throwing Caleb Gilbert and showed no intimidation as he put a 95 mph fastball back up the middle without any hesitation. 

The Bears are off to an outstanding start at 11-1 through the first three weeks of the year and without a doubt the play of Langeliers on both sides of the ball is a key part. Scary to think the type of player Coach Steve Rodriguez will have on his hands in a couple more seasons with that much more experience.


Other Baylor players added to College Player Database:

• Tucker Cascadden
• Richard Cunningham
• Kyle Hill
• Nick Lewis
• Kyle Ott
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