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College  | Story  | 5/6/2020

I wish we had met

Mike Rooney     
Photo: Asa Lacy (Texas A&M Athletics)
2020 College Honor Roll | Letter to College Baseball

I Wish We Had Met: April 29

Every year there are teams that grab our attention. Sometimes those teams move us to emotions that surprise us. And that is the fun of being a fan.  

In 2020, there were a bunch of teams that I had on my radar. These groups had something special about them. In the next several weeks, we will look back at some of those clubs. These are teams I never got to meet in person. And I really wish I had.  

Texas A&M

The Aggies current streak of 13-straight Regional appearances is a program record. The previous record was four straight. Clearly skipper Rob Childress has raised the standard in College Station. And with higher standards come higher expectations.  

The 2015 and 2016 teams were arguably the strongest of the Childress era. Unfortunately, both of those clubs experienced Super Regional heartbreak at the hands of TCU. The 2017 unit, while not as talented as its predecessors, did find its way to Omaha compliments of a Super Regional victory over upstart Davidson.

Staying with this program viewpoint, the Aggies were exactly 45-44-1 in SEC play from 2017-19. Very respectable for the nation’s toughest conference but certainly not an uptrend from the 2015 and 2016 teams.

So, would the 2020 season extend that flat trajectory or could something spark a move upward? The greatest concern would be the offense. The 2019 lineup struggled mightily and ended the year with a team OPS of .695. They were worst or second worst in the SEC in most offensive categories. And that was with departed first rounder Braden Shewmake anchoring that lineup.

So despite the return of stud lefthander Asa Lacy and the sterling reputation of new hitting coach Chad Calliet, there existed serious doubts about this Texas A&M unit. Surely the Aggies would pitch at a high level… they always do. But how could this position player group get to the top half of the league?

That conversation begins with centerfielder Zach DeLoach. DeLoach might be College Baseball’s most volatile stock. DeLoach put together a solid freshman year (.264/.351/.366) but his sophomore season would test his fortitude in a major way: he hit exactly .200 over 47 very trying starts.  

It was easy to write DeLoach off at that point but you better have done it quickly. And that is because the most unlikely of all things was about to happen. DeLoach, just days after the Aggies’ season ended, would report to Cape Cod and hit .353.  

That is not a misprint... after hitting .200 in the spring, he would hit .353 in the Cape Cod League. That was good enough to win the Batting Title of our sport’s most prestigious summer league.  

As impressive as that turnaround was, his 2020 season was equally loud: a .421/.547/.789 triple slash with six stolen bases and six home runs in just 18 games. This was no fluke: from those ashes, an elite player had emerged.  

DeLoach was not alone as the team batting average was up to .296. The lineup was older and clearly more confident.

All that said, Asa Lacy needs to be mentioned. The list of SEC aces was a distinguished one in 2020. And it would’ve been easy to lose track of Lacy in that noise. Until he started pitching.

Through his four starts in 2020, no draft prospect had earned more top shelf helium than Lacy. He went from preseason “somewhere in the first round” prospect to a legitimate candidate to go first overall.  

So if we combine a hardened position player group led by a surging star player in Zach DeLoach, and the most intimidating Friday night starter in the country, this looks like a different animal altogether.  

I would have loved to see that play out.  

Eastern Kentucky

If you follow the OVC closely, you know that skipper Edwin Thompson has made a difference at Eastern Kentucky. Two consecutive 30-win seasons confirm that and there had been a distinct move from the bottom of the standings to the middle.  

There was optimism heading into 2020 and that was based on the return of six everyday players in the lineup and 36 starts on the mound from a year ago. Senior right fielder Nick Howie earned First Team All-OVC in 2019 compliments of an impressive .353-11-45 line. Righthander Jacob Ferris and third baseman Logan Thompson had been named to the All-OVC Freshman team.  

All of that is exciting but not extraordinary. Extraordinary is what happened in game four of the 2020 season.  

The Colonels headed to Baton Rouge for a series with SEC power LSU. It’s a pretty simple formula: LSU gets a tune up as SEC play approaches and EKU takes a beating and goes home with some “guarantee” money. That’s the way this is supposed to work.  

The aforementioned game four was the Friday night jaunt of this series. Five EKU pitchers (Brennan Kelly, Louis Davenport III, Jye Deeble, Darren Williams, Jacob Abbott) combined for a three-hit shutout.  Howie and fellow senior A.J. Lewis each chipped in an RBI and the Colonels defeated the mighty Tigers 2-0. That is called a statement victory.  

The cynical among us would say that was just one game. And they are partially correct: LSU came back and won the series. 

What the cynic may have missed however, is the fact that EKU finished 2020 with a 12-2 record. There was something about this team. It seems clear that this group was going to have something to say in the OVC this year. It would’ve been fun.   
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