Appel signs with Washington Wild Things

Jason Appel is back. To some extent.

After an enigmatic stint with a mysterious ending in the New York-Penn league, Appel signed a one year contract with the Washington, Pennsylvania Wild Things, of the Frontier League.

The Frontier League is a (mostly) rookie league where 12 slots on each team's 24 man roster are reserved for rookies: players with fewer than 150 professional at bats or 50 innings pitched. There are 7 slots on each team for 1-year players, two for 2-year players, and three for "veterans". The league minimum is $600 per month, which means that most likely, Jason will be living with a host family, unless he has other money available.

It's a long way from here to the Majors. There are six Frontier League alums who played in the Majors last year, none bound for the Hall of Fame: D.J. Carrasco, Mike Cervenak, Brendan Donnelly, Josh Kinney, Scott Patterson, and Orioles closer George Sherrill. However, more than 30 recent alums have been signed to play in A or AA ball, which is about 1 player in 20 over a 3 year period.

Having been released by the Rays, Jason must be hoping to dominate the Frontier League, and then sign with another MLB organization to re-start his ascent through the low minors.

Well Done, Nate!

The season is over in Ottawa, which means Nate Hall, after a rough start, can come back to Wilmington very proudly, finishing with a .263 average in 152 at bats, an awesome .367 on base percentage (with 22 walks to only 28 strikeouts, many of which were the first few weeks after he signed), a .316 slugging percentage (6 2B, 1 3B, no HR), and 8 errors at third base (he appeared in 51 games, but I have no idea how many of those were at 3B.)

All in all, an excellent season for his first in pro ball, and with his second half surge, I'm confident that he'll have an opportunity to play professionally again in 2009.

I read that Nate, Mark Carver, Bradley Holt, and Daniel Hargrave will all share a place in Wilmington this winter, where they'll lift weights, hit balls, and work hard towards becoming better players next season.

The New York-Penn League season ends tomorrow, so early next week will be my last regular post, barring any off-the-field news, until spring 2009. Not that anyone's reading this anyways ;)

Power Surge!

Daniel Hargrave is on a tear! He's gotten a hit in 8 of his last 9 games, including his first 2 multi-hit games of the season, and is batting .313 with 3 home runs and 2 doubles in that span. Wow! Way to go, Daniel! It looks like the adjustment to the wood bats is coming, and just in time. There are only another couple weeks left in the season, and by showing such a powerful late surge, I do believe Daniel has done enough to get a look next season.

Carver got into a couple of games this week, getting 1 hit in 6 at bats but drawing 2 walks, and getting the on-base percentage above .300. Peley has been getting most of the playing time lately, as Mendez has struggled since his call-up. All 3 catchers are struggling, and it's unclear to me how the mix will look next season.

Holt pitched, and won, at Auburn on August 14, going 7 innings with 3 hits, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts. He's now at 4-3, 1.98 ERA, and 69 K in 54 IP. Great start! Holt probably has 3 more starts left: August 22 vs. Lowell, August 27 vs. Oneonta, and September 1 at Aberdeen (and then maybe the finale September 6 vs. Aberdeen, but I'll bet they skip that).

Nate Hall continues to rake, raising his average to .252, with a .357 on base percentatge. Given his horrific start, these are very good numbers. With no home runs in 119 at bats, it's a bit hard to imagine that he'll be picked up by any Major League organization, but hopefully he will earn another year with Ottawa, and a chance to continue to improve hitting with the wood bats.

No news on Jeff Hatcher or Jason Appel.

UNCW 6 Update

After rough treatment in Vermont, Bradley Holt has come back with a couple of nice, short starts, yielding one run over six innings at State College, strking out 5, and, six days later, holding Batavia to one run in four innings at home. On the season, Holt has thrown 47-2/3 innings, with 31 hits, 25 walks, and 61 strikeouts. He is 3-3, with a 2.08 ERA. My only worry is the relatively high number of innings he's thrown already since UNCW started playing in January. The short season ends at the end of the month, so Holt has probably only 3, at most 4 more starts, and let's hope they keep the pitch count in those starts way down.

Nate Hall is really starting to play well in Ottawa. After a seriously cold start, he's at .243/.322/.262, and has added only a couple of errors to his total (although, it's hard to see how many starts at 3B that was in, as the Rapidz web site has not put up a box score since late July). The .262 slugging percentage (2 doubles, no triples or home runs in 107 AB) is a bit surprising, as I'm sure he's got more pop than that, but I think the combo of wood bats, cold weather, and better pitchers has mostly to do with it.

On August 6, he got a walk-off, game winning base hit, which must have been a great delight for him in his young career.

From the Ottawa Citizen:

Former college player Nate Hall put the wood to the ball to drive in Kyle Geiger with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning last night as the Ottawa Rapidz defeated the Sussex Skyhawks, 4-3, at Ottawa Stadium.

''It's a tough transition from metal (bats) to wood,'' Hall said. ''I call my dad every day, and he tells me to just stick with it.''

Before Hall's heroics, Jereme Milons had singled home Jabe Bergeron with the tying run.
Both runs were scored with two outs.

Good job, Nate! Way to stick with it!

Daniel Hargrave hit a game-tying solo home run a couple of hours ago in the 5th inning at Staten Island off of Yankee farmhand Hector Noesi, a Dominican right-hander just up from the Gulf Coast League. This is Daniel's second home run of the season, and puts his stats at .143/.188/.210, with an improved .188 average and .300+ Slugging for the last 10 games. So he's definitely improving, he now has a career-best 4 game hitting streak (including 2 extra base hits), and is still playing much more often than not. The Phillies are showing patience, and Daniel is starting to come around.

Mark Carver has only played in 2 games this month, but has 4 hits (including a two-bagger) in 9 at bats, bringing his line up to .212/.293/.258, which is beginning to approach respectability. In the last 10 games, he's got 4 multi-hit games, and is at .281/.361/.344 over that stretch, which is actually very good for a catcher in the New York-Penn League. Way to go, Mark!

Meanwhile Miguel Mendez, the spectacular Gulf Coast callup who has been playing nearly every day in place of Carver, is at .231/.286/.282, which is not materially different from Carver's line. Josue Peley, the third catcher, a Venezuelan who I also learned played prep ball in Montreal, played yesterday for the first time since July 16, when he suffered a wrist injury in the batting cage. With Peley's return and Mendez's massive amount of recent playing time, it's a great thing that Carver is heating up the bat.

Jason Appel has still not returned to the Renegades. It has been six weeks since he last played.

I still have no news on Jeff Hatcher.

Miguel Mendez

Miguel Mendez. Is this a name you should know?



He is a 20-year-old undrafted catcher who was just promoted from the Gulf Coast Pirates (rookie league). I suppose he was a Latin American signee. The Gulf Coast League is also called an "instructional" league, where only 60 games per season are played before almost no spectators. It is clearly a step below even the short-season New York-Penn League, which we can think of as "Low A" baseball.



However, Mendez was hitting an eye-popping .400/.477/.727 in the GCL, and has been promoted to fill Chris Simmons' roster spot as Simmons takes on his armed forces commitment (recall that he is an Ary graduate.) Mendez has received starts in both games since his promotion. Are Josue Peley and Mark Carver on the bench for good now? Mendez has started o-for-8, but it seems logical that following such a tear in GCL, he'll get a very long look, to the detriment of the other two catchers.



Hargrave, who hasn't yet had a mult-hit game, had his modest 2 game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-3, and is still sitting in the low .100s, but is still playing just about every day at 2B. I guess you just don't have so many power-hitting middle infielders, and if you think you can develop one, it's worth giving it a real effort. On the other hand, Hargrave wasn't considered by many scouts to be a natural second baseman, that he would have to "find a position". If he's hitting .110, and can't play in the middle infield, I sure hope he can pitch.



Holt is Holt. During his last start, he struck out 14 batters in 6 innings (!!), claiming that guys were just swinging at the fastball low and away and missing it. OK, time to promote this guy. He's completely dominant at this level, and leads the entire league in strikeouts, even though his innings are being tightly controlled. I am beginning to expect some really big things for Bradley Holt.



Good news from Ottawa: Nate Hall is heating up! His average sat at .162 after Tuesday night's o-for-2. After riding the pine on Wednesday and an off-day on Thursday, Nate was 3-for-4 on Friday with 2 RBI, and 1-for-4 on Saturday with a SB and a Run scored, as the Rapidz swept New Jersey at home. Good going, Nate!

Hanging by a Thread?

On July 11, playing his 14th game at third base, Nate Hall made his 4th error of the season. Rapidz management apparently felt that was a couple too many, because in the 8 games since then, Jake Daubert has started every game at 3B, and Nate's 4 starts have come at DH. Daubert is at .185/.302/.241, with 1 error, so he's not burning down the house, but it's better than Nate's .170/.250/.191 line with 4 errors. Daubert returned from a two week DL stint on June 23, played mostly DH at that point, and perhaps he's just now feeling well enough to handle the 3B job.

But, on the other hand, from what I can tell, Nate's July 11 error was critical, leading to two unearned runs that cost the Rapidz a rare chance at a win in their game against the Atlantic City Surf, which Ottawa lost 3-2. Ottawa was in last place in the first half of the CanAm season, and they're now 2-6 to begin the second half.

Bottom line: it's not good when you're the DH on the last-place team in the CanAm league that has high player turnover, and you're playing every other day, batting 9th when you play, and hitting .170 with no power. There's just not a lot of job security at that point. Here's to hoping that Nate can start swinging the bat, and play some good 3B if he gets another crack at it.

The UNCW 1?

As the season wears on, it's starting to look like the UNCW 6 will become the UNCW 1.

As Bradley Holt and his 95mph fastball continue to dominate Low-A hitters, the UNCW Low-A hitters are having continued difficulties dealing with Low-A pitching.

Daniel Hargrave became the first UNCW bopper to hit a professional home run, taking one out to left field in Vermont last Wednesday night. While that's his only hit in 16 at bats since July 9, an encouraging sign is 3 walks and 4 strikeouts since then, to go with his first professional stolen base on July 17. Equally discouraging, however, is this season's .330 OPS (.177 OBP + .153 SLG), which is so far from keeping him in the pros for next season as to be nearly hopeless. But all he can do is keep going out there when his name is pencilled into the ninth spot in the Williamsport lineup, and keep trying his best, and I'm sure that's exactly what he'll do.

In terms of playing time for Hargrave, it turns out that Jesus Villegas Andino, who was down from the Advanced-A Florida State League to put Hargrave on the bench for 6 games, was promoted back up to Clearwater, where he's starting to hit and get on base a little bit (good for him!) So, as of right now, there seems to be only one player on the Williamsport team who can play second base, Bryan Frew, the 43rd round Nebraska-Omaha outfielder cum second baseman, who has a .660 OPS, which is actually not bad for a middle infielder in the relatively low run environment of the New York-Penn league. So, Frew is getting the slight majority of the starts at 2B lately, but has been playing outfield when Hargrave starts at second. Hargrave still figures to get plenty of at bats to turn things around.

Mark Carver singled against Jamestown last night, raising his average to .157, with a .450 OPS (.254 OBP + .196 SLG). He's had only 51 at bats all season, which is not enough to tell much, and with 6 walks and 10 strikeouts in his last 40 plate appearances, is showing signs of learning a "good hitter" (his words, when at UNCW) approach as a professional. The massive power he showed at UNCW hasn't been there yet, and one has to wonder if he's just very tired after a very long, emotional collegiate season.

The other two State College catchers are helping Carver get more chances, as Josue Peley is at .204/.295/.241, and Chris Simmons is at .222/.214/.222 in 27 at bats. Peley has a 8:6 K:BB ratio, indicating that he's handling pro pitching much better than the other two (Carver is at 15:6, and Simmons at 9:0).

From Appel, little has been heard. Chuck Carree of the Wilmington Star-News called the Renegades office last week, and got the impression that Appel would not be back this season, and went on to speculate that his professional career has probably ended (with a .368 batting average!) For my part, I still hope Appel can turn around whatever is going on personally, because even a long, happy life deals very few really interesting hands, and it's a shame to muck any of the ones you get.

Nate Hall is now not only the regular third baseman in Ottawa, but seems to be the only third baseman in Ottawa. Felix Escalona, the ex-Yankee, was released on July 8. So, Nate, despite batting .179 with .273/.205 OBP/SLG, is playing solidly enough in the field, and hopefully has a chance to finish the summer in Ottawa.

It's odd that nobody is slugging at all, when these players spent the better part of the spring absolutely knocking the cover off the ball. The Rapidz first baseman, Jabe Bergeron, is batting .358 with a .432 OBP and .537 SLG, which are numbers that will get you noticed, signed by a big league club, and sent to A-ball. Hall has a ways to get there.

This, more than anything else, is probably the hardest thing about climbing the ladder in pro ball, and what is hard to appreciate until you really start following a few specific minor league players: to succeed in pro ball, you have to be special at every level. While Craig Counsell can play 80+ MLB games in 12 consecutive seasons by being a slightly below-average major league player, if you're a slightly below average minor league player, your career will be exceedingly brief, perhaps 3 or 4 years, not more.

If you're a well-below-average minor league player in the low minors, your career will generally last one season, and your place will be taken by the next year's draftees.

It's a lot of pressure, but then it is impossible to succeed at the Major League level without being able to handle pressure, so it must be learned, and in most cases, learned quickly.

Bradley Holt, as I mentioned before, is putting up eye-popping numbers, and is guaranteed promotion for next season. In 28-1/3 innings, he's got 37 K, 12 BB (which is a few more than he'd like, but pretty good for the first time as a pro), with only 1 HR surrendered, a .182 batting average against, and a 1.91 ERA. Even in a low-run environment, these are dominant numbers.

As Holt will probably not throw more than another 10-20 innings before being shut down later this fall, he can rest easily knowing that he did more than what could have been asked of him, and that his pro career, unlike his classmates, is off to a fantastic and promising start.

As for the hitters? Well, they better start to hit. Multi-hit games, extra-base hits, walks, home runs, those better start coming off the bats of Hargrave, Carver, and Hall, and start coming soon, or theirs will be the all-too-familiar career of one season and done, albeit with some great memories, and the truthful boast into old age that "I was a pro ballplayer once..."

Appel Update

From the Poughkeepsie Journal:

Jason Appel left the team earlier this week while Hudson Valley played in Batavia, leaving the Renegades with three outfielders on their roster.

"Jason is no longer here with us," Alvarez said before Saturday's game. "There were some issues that we had to address - personal issues - so he's home, going to take care of this situation."

In a dozen games with Hudson Valley, Appel was hitting .368 (13-for-38) with a double and six runs scored. He last played on June 29, going 2-for-5 at Brooklyn before suffering a sore Achilles tendon, a nagging injury from his college career; from there, he was listed as day-to-day.

Personal issues? At the very start of a pro career? We've all been there, but wow, that sounds like really bad timing. Or bad homesickness, or something. The good news is that "home" for Appel is nearby, so perhaps he will rejoin the team soon. As someone who has let "personal issues" sabotage several of great opportunities in my life, I hope this isn't something that he ends up regretting for a long, long time.

As for the others, Holt had a great start last night, 5 IP, 7 K, No Decision. Hargrave and Carver continue to play sparingly without getting any hits at all.

I was checking the Ottawa Rapidz web site to see how Nate Hall is doing up in Canada, but the Rapidz web site is down. Go figure.

4th of July Update

Holt got another start, this time at Hudson Valley, and took the loss, going 3 and 2/3 innings, yielding 4 hits, 4 walks, and 1 earned run while striking out 3. Holt is now 1-2, 2.45 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, with 13 K in 11 IP. They're obviously bringing him along very slowly in terms of innings, and may in fact shut him down before the end of the season, given the 93 innings he's already thrown for UNCW this season. My guess is they won't let him much past 140-150 innings, which means they either keep him on low pitch counts through the end of the season (end of August), or they stretch him out a bit and then shut him down before then. If it were me, I would probably just keep him on low pitch counts and give him the experience of working with the coaches, throwing bullpens, dealing with long bus rides, etc., and keep him until the end of the season.

Since his big 2-for-4, 2B, RBI game on June 26, Carver got in 4 of 5 games since then, going 1-for-14 with 1 BB, 4 K, 2 RBI, and a CS (!!) He's now at .143/.194/.179. Still making the adjustment to the wood bats, I guess. Here's to hoping he picks it up soon.

Hargrave hasn't played since June 29, and is still at .119/.156/.119 with 15 K in 42 AB. Bryan Frew, who was drafted in the 43rd round as an outfielder out of University of Nebraska-Omaha, is trying his hand at second base and is at .261/.340/.348 in 35 AB, which is not really phenomenal, but is certainly quite a bit better than Hargrave's start.

Appel may be hurt, as he hasn't appeared since June 29, but was on a tear at the time. Let's hope he was only on a tear, and doesn't have a tear. Scelfo has been is center field since then, but has gone 1-for-11 with 6 K during the gig, so Appel's job should be waiting for him when he returns.

Nate Hall has had a couple of starts at 3B for Ottawa, and is still looking for his first hit. He's 0-for-7 with an error, a walk, and 4 K. He's undoubtedly still trying to get adjusted to life in Canada, pro ball, and both using wood bats. The team's other third baseman, Felix Escalona, has just over 200 major league at bats for the Devil Rays and Yankees from 2002-5, and is bashing the ball around in Ottawa at .337/.378/.438. Escalona, after spending his only full MLB season with Tampa Bay in 2002, was in Triple A much of 2004-5, and after a horrendous first 70 AAA at bats in 2006, was demoted to AA. When he hit a little worse there than he had been at AAA, the Yankees, deeming him at age 27 to be in decline, released him. Escalona is now trying to revive his career in the CanAm league, so it looks like Hall will probably only play when Felix needs a day off, or needs to return to Caracas to take care of personal business.

No news yet on Jeff Hatcher.

Alive and well in the Big Appel

Appel is tearing it up, now batting .368 with speed. He's got four 2-hit games in a row, and has struck out only 6 times in 38 at bats, which is really good. He also swiped a couple of bags over the weekend, albeit getting caught once.

Poor Hargrave is making a case that he might be a bit overmatched right now. He's hitless in his last 11 at bats, and the average is down to .119, with 15 strikeouts in 42 at bats. He needs to make an adjustment, probably a mental one, as anyone who watched him knows this kid can hit, and knock it with some power.

Carver continues to see sporadic playing time, but had a good weekend when he got into the action.

Holt should get another start Tuesday night.

Hall has only 2 pinch hit at bats in Ottawa, both strikeouts. He'll put one in play soon!

Oh, Canada!

Oh, Canada! I finally found some news on Nate Hall. He just signed with the Ottawa Rapidz of the Canadian American League, a single-A-level, independent minor league with teams ranging from Atlantic City to Quebec City. John Lindsay, doing very well in the Dodgers AAA squad at Las Vegas, is a Can-Am league alum, and Ken Ray, who pitched a bit for the Braves a couple of years ago, is playing in the league.

Nate made his pro debut on June 25, at home against Sussex, and struck out.

An update on the other batters:

Carver got into his first game since 6/21, and went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI, and Run scored at Auburn. Hopefully this will earn him another start real soon.

Hargrave went 1-for-6 with a single and 2 strikeouts at Jamestown, so no extra base hits yet for the slugging infielder. Villegas Andino played 3B--could be some kind of infielder rotation working in Williamsport.

Appel picked up 2 hits in 4 at bats at home against Staten Island, batting 8th and playing center field, raising his average to .320. Scelfo played 3B.

Next!

Bradley Holt's second pro start, versus Aberdeen: 5 IP, no hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts. Short-season A ball? Next!

All I really look at for pitchers are the peripherals: strikeout rate, strikeout-to-walk ratio, and home runs allowed ratio. These peripherals are very consistent from year to year, and predict success (high wins, low ERA) much better than any other measures (such as past W-L record or past ERA). In short, there's a lot of luck in baseball, and as a pitcher, walks hurt you, and home runs kill you, but every ball put into play historically has about a 30% chance of turning into a hit, and this doesn't vary much from pitcher to pitcher. So...if you don't walk a lot of guys, and can keep the ball in the park, when you strike a lot of guys out you just aren't going to give up very many hits, or very many runs.

Holt's peripherals after 2 starts are a 5:1 K:BB, 12.7 K:9IP, and 0 HR:9IP. These are better than the best peripherals of any major leaguer. Holt is off to a very good start.

Adventures in the New York-Penn League

Amazingly, all four draftees end up in the New York-Penn league, a short-season, low, low minor league where mud, rainouts, and desperate finances afflict small towns from Lowell, Massachusetts, to Oneonta, New York, to Aberdeen, Maryland. Roger Kahn has written extensively about his (massively unprofitable) experiences owning a team in this league, and it makes for good reading.

Mark Carver, Jason Appel, and Daniel Hargrave signed almost immediately after draft day (June 8), and were placed, respectively, with the State College (PA) Spikes, the Hudson Valley (Wappingers Falls, NY) Renegades, and the Williamsport (PA) Crosscutters.

Carver: has started 1-for-10, with 3 strikeouts, and has not played in 4 days. He seems relegated to a backup role at the moment. There are 2 other catchers on the Spikes, Chris Simmons, a 41st round pick from Army who just signed and has started 2-for-4 in his first game, and Josue Peley, a 20-year-old Venezuelan (Latin American players do not go through the Draft) prospect who has received the lion's share of the playing time, but who has started only 2-for-18. All told, Spikes catchers are hitting .156/.206/.187, so Carver is not exactly getting left in the dust.

Appel: is a Long Island kid, the only Yankee on the 2008 UNCW Seahawks, playing in Wappingers Falls, NY, less than 100 miles from home. Appel started the first six games in center field, and has come in as a pinch runner/defensive replacement since. He's started at .286/.318/.333, which is respectable enough, but has found the bench the last 2 games behind Anthony Scelfo, another left-handed batter who has identical stats but was an 8th round pick, drafted as an infielder. Apparently they are giving him a look as a center fielder.

Hargrave: has started 4-for-27 with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts, but, like Carver, is not really getting left in the dust by his Latin American position mates. Jesus Villegas Andino, a 2007 14th rounder who played shortstop and hit .184/.275/.269 in 32 games for the Gulf Coast League Phillies, came down from Class A Advanced after hitting well there to start last night in Hargrave's place. The plan for him, I think, was probably to have him spend another season in short-season ball, and now that the season has started, they have him there. The Crosscutters seem to have 3 middle infielders, so we'll see if there's some kind of timeshare there.

Holt: the 11th pitcher taken in the Draft, he signed on June 13, and has just recently reported to the Brooklyn Cyclones.

********************* (From MLB.com)
Holt, the No. 33 pick in the Draft, also has a few things he has to work on. At UNC-Wilmington, the 6-foot-4 righty threw about "99 percent" fastballs, and he'll begin developing a secondary pitch when he starts working out with the Cyclones.

Right now, he might only sprinkle in a slider or split-fingered fastball on occasion, a repertoire that still earned him a 19-9 collegiate record in three seasons with the Seahawks and eventually made him the highest drafted player in the program's history.

Even without the extra pitches, the Mets were still pleased with the stuff he brought to his 25-pitch session in the Shea Stadium bullpen on Friday. In fact, if he weren't wearing that uniform for show on Friday, the coaches joked that they'd throw him in that day's game.

"I plan on throwing all three pitches," Holt said. "Everything looked sharp. They told me if I had gone on the mound, and if I was going in today, everything would have been positive."
*********************

Holt's pro debut was on a June 21 start in Aberdeen, where he got his feet barely wet, facing 10 batters in 2-1/3 innings, givng up 2 hits, striking out 4 and walking 1. Both runners he left on base scored after he left. A good start for a promising prospect.

For all their denigration in Moneyball, and the fashion of sabermetrics, MLB scouts are really quite good, and the great majority of players picked within the first 50 picks in a draft have always tended to make the major leagues. So, as the 33rd pick, there is a very, very good chance we'll see Holt in a major league uniform one day. Not bad for a kid who just one season ago had a 5.90 ERA as a UNCW sophomore!

As for Nate Hall and Jeff Hatcher? So far, I've found no information on what either of them are doing. I assume they're playing, or getting ready to play, somewhere, or at least staying in shape. If anyone reading this has any info, please let me know!

Welcome to Seahawks Go Pro

With my serious interest in the 2007-2008 UNC-Wilmington Seahawks Men's Baseball team, and also in the MLB draft, I thought it made sense to start a blog, which perhaps 1 or 2 other people on the planet may be interested in.

The Seahawks had a magical season, well known to those who followed the program. It was magical for me and my family, as well, taking my 2 year old son, Julian, and my newborn daughter, Wallis, to Brooks field for game after game.

The Seahawks won 21 games in a row between February 29 and April 1 (the early part of the season), and after a disappointing early exit in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, the Seahawks used an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament to pull off the single greatest comeback I've seen during my 30+ years watching thousands and thousands of games.

I sat on the steep lawn just behind third base at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, NC (I took the family on a 2 hour drive from Wilmington) watching UNCW losing to Elon, 11-4, in an elimination game during the NCAA Regional.

After so many comebacks, I decided to stay for the last out, not only because it would be the end of the sparkling college careers of most of the UNCW players, but also because there had been so much magic throughout the season, a 7 run deficit seemed only mostly insurmountable.

After a leadoff single by light-hitting shortstop Mike Rooney, UNCW sent up senior Shane French as a pinch hitter to give him one final college at bat, and he popped out to right on the second pitch, getting a nice round of applause from the Seahawk faithful for a college career well done.

Four hits later (mostly hard ground balls that all found holes), it was 11-7 with a Nate Hall on second, and Elon went to the bullpen. The Elon bullpen, right in front of me, had been relaxed, and Thomas Girdwood, the Elon super-closer, had been making jokes with his father, who was seated just to my left. He said "I might get into this one yet," very cavalierly. When he went in, he winked at his father. "I'll take care of this little problem," was the feel.

Indeed.

After Bobby Leeper plated Hall to make it 11-8, Girdwood walked Rhett Miller and Jes Snyder to load the bases. Ouch. Walks in the 9th inning before the tying run is at the plate, of course, are every bit as bad as home runs, perhaps worse if you consider there's a continuation of momentum that doesn't happen after a home run.

Light-hitting Mike Rooney came back up, and hit a hard grounder up the middle, another ball that could have been a game-ending double play if hit near a fielder, but fate smiled as the ball scooted into center to score 2 more, making it 11-10 with runners on first and second.

That brought up Shane French, the pinch hitter who, it turns out, would get at least one more college at bat. French quickly drilled a fastball high and deep to right center, a home run at Brooks, but in the much larger expanse of USA Baseball Land, hit high off the padded green wall for a go-ahead, 2 run double. It was 12-11, UNCW. By the time the inning ended, the Seahwaks led 15-11, and when senior Allen Flood struck out future pro Chris Dove to end it, UNCW had completed the greatest comeback I'd ever seen.

A few hours later, powerhouse UNC gave UNCW more than it could handle, sending the Seahawks home and punching their own ticket for the Super Regionals. That's baseball.

But the story doesn't really end there. In fact, my blog really begins here.

Among the upperclassmen pitchers, flamethrower Bradley Holt and soft tosser Jeff Hatcher had fantastic seasons, Holt going 11-1, with a 3.18 ERA in a very strong offensive environment, and Hatcher having a solid 6-2, 4.42 season with nearly a 4:1 K:BB ratio.

Among the senior position players, catcher Mark Carver was named conference player of the year after tying the single season school home run record (21), and setting the school record for runs (71) and RBI (82). Second baseman Daniel Hargrave slugged 18 home runs, also scoring 71 runs, center fielder Jason Appel batted .397 with 100 hits(!) and a .467 on base percentage, and third baseman Nate Hall batted .348 with 13 home runs.

As the draft approached, it seemed possible that all six of those players could be drafted. Holt, it was thought, might have worked his way into the second round with great performances late in the season. Carver was thought perhaps 10th-15th round material; Hargrave and Appel somewhere in the 20s. As for Hall and Hatcher, some felt they would be drafted very late, and others felt they would not.

What actually happened?

Bradley Holt was drafted by the Mets with the 33rd pick overall (1st round compensation round for teams that lost Type A Free Agents), a draft slot that should earn him at least a $1 million signing bonus. While Carver waited and waited, Jason Appel went to the Rays to open the 22nd round, and Hargrave's name was called by the Phillies 23 picks later, in the back half of the 22nd round. Generally no bonus money anywhere near the 22nd round, but hey, it's early enough to claim a starting spot in the low minors. It's a chance.

Carver waited and waited some more, undoubtedly thinking about how a slow last few weeks with all the scouts watching him hit poorly against really good pitching must have hurt his draftability more than most folks realized. 22nd round picks truly do tend to get a bit more of a chance than 33rd round picks.

Because Jeff Hatcher doesn't seem to be "projectable" (he's a very polished college pitcher who is not likely to improve much, and would be likely to get his head beat in as a pro), it was no surprise that he wasn't taken. Nate Hall not being taken, on the other hand, surprises me. Hall had a great season, has no shortage of power, is a true ballplayer, and it strikes me that he could yet get quite a bit better. I guess he'll have to prove it in wood bat summer leagues, and then try to get signed as a free agent. It's the real hard road to the majors for Nate.

Of course, let's not kid ourselves. Fewer than 1 pick from each draft's 22nd round is expected to ever play in the majors, even for one inning. While Holt and his 95mph fastball (with no really good other pitches) project into a potentially superb major league pitcher, and with the bonus money given him he will be given every chance, the other three draftees and the two non-draftees face a serious uphill climb. But it will be fun to follow. And that's just what this blog will do. Follow Mark Carver, Bradley Holt, Jason Appel, Daniel Hargrave, Jeff Hatcher, and Nate Hall on their journey to "The Show." My plan now is to follow them until there's nothing more to say, that is, until no more news about their baseball careers can be found. So, yes, this could turn into a Bradley Holt blog long after I've left Wilmington, and the others have returned, but we'll just have to see where it leads.

I've never met any of these kids, as far as I know, unless one of them served me a plate of fajitas one day at On The Border in Mayfaire, but I feel that I went on a bit of a magical journey with them, and that their story is in some way a little part of my story, at least for this one year where my toddler son, barnacle-baby daughter, and, yes, even my patient and understanding wife, joined me in my deep interest in following the most special athletic product our little town has produced in its long history.

So, if you are one of the two people on this planet who might care about this blog, leave me a comment! I'd love to hear from you!