June 11 , 2007

The draft distraction now goes away

BY PAUL SUELLENTROP

As much as they try to downplay it, the major-league draft is always on the mind of prospects.

That is especially true for juniors. Draftees own leverage in contract talks as a junior. Juniors who don't sign by Aug. 15 can return to school.

Pitcher Travis Banwart went in the fourth round to Oakland, a round lower than he expected. Second baseman Damon Sublett went in the seventh round to the New York Yankees, good news for a lifelong fan. Matt Brown, who hoped to go in the top 10 rounds, went in the 13th round to Cleveland. Several other Shockers, including senior closer Noah Krol, were chosen in later rounds.

"It's been a lot of pressure on my shoulders," Brown said. "Today, I feel 100 pounds lighter. It's been tough and stressful."

Banwart tried to ignore the draft Thursday night by watching the golf movie "The Greatest Game Ever Played." The Athletics called 30 seconds before picking him. His wait dragged a little longer than expected -- he had heard he might go late in the second round.

"I'm totally glad I went to the A's," he said. "That's a good organization."

WSU's juniors said they did their best to tune out the draft in recent weeks. Their efforts weren't always successful.

"It definitely weighed on me when I didn't realize it," Banwart said. "You can't ignore it. Now it's reality. I can just go from here."

Sublett said his father, Keith, is a big Yankees fan.

"He liked them when they were terrible," Sublett said. "It's great for me. I couldn't ask for anything else."

Better batting -- Facing regional pitching, WSU's offensive numbers improved after an inconsistent regular season.

The evidence was everywhere. The Shockers sprayed balls foul to extend at-bats, they placed bunts and moved runners. They weren't perfect, but they were pretty good. They decreased their strikeout rate slightly in the regional and whiffed a mere 10 times in the first three games.

"Your approach is for the team right now," WSU junior Tyler Hill said. "You're not worried about your stats, you're not worried about people looking at you for the draft. All that's done with. So we're just trying to win baseball games now. That's all we focus on."

It hasn't always been like that for the Shockers. However, hitters used their at-bats more efficiently in most regional games.

"That's what we've been talking about all year, is trying to eliminate just throwing away at-bats," WSU assistant coach Jim Thomas said. "If we can have guys compete like that 1 through 9 in the order, it forces the opposing pitcher to throw a lot of pitches. And it wears on them."

Josh Workman walked four times in four games and specialized at fouling off two-strike pitches. Sublett walked four times in five games. WSU hit .337 in the regional, 39 points higher than its regular-season average.

"Our bats came alive, and that's why we're in a super regional," Brown said. "We started to get bunts down, the little things. Bunts are big deals."

Defending their honor -- WSU coach Gene Stephenson became defensive when talking about his team's defense Friday. Specifically, Stephenson was asked about defending the bunt, a vital part of UC Irvine's offensive attack, and throwing out base-stealers.

"I just think we have to do the job we're capable of doing," Stephenson said. "We don't have to do anything special. You know, we can bunt and run, too."

The Shockers did make sure to include focused work on bunt defense at Wednesday's practice, though. Third baseman Conor Gillaspie said the Anteaters' penchant for bunting has been discussed, too.

"Some teams bunt more than others, and this team does," Gillaspie said. "But they're not used to bunting on this (artificial) turf, so maybe that's an advantage for us."

WSU has faced other teams that try to use speed to manufacture runs. The Shockers regularly play Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton. In the Missouri Valley, Evansville and Creighton rely heavily on bunts and speed, as well.

"Bunting, getting guys over, stealing, just being aggressive on the bases," Shocker catcher Tyler Weber said when asked to describe the Anteaters. "They play for one run. They don't try to hit bombs every inning. They just try and get runs any way they can.

"We've played against a lot of those West Coast teams that do stuff like that. We understand where they're coming from and what they're going to do."

It's different -- Irvine pitcher Wes Etheridge has had quite an impact as a newcomer. The 6-foot-1 right-hander is 12-4 with a 2.67 ERA.

He went to Irvine after pitching in last summer's NBC World Series with the Southern California Fire, which made a run into the top 10. He said this experience promises to be much different.

"I only pitched a few innings in the NBC," he said. "I don't even know what we would have won for that. I know what we can win here."

A clear view -- The Shockers' super regional games will be available in high definition on Cox digital cable. Today's game will be on ESPN2 HD, Channel 619. Sunday's game will be on ESPN HD, Channel 620.

Still on the board -- Catchers with good defensive skills and pop in their bat often seem to go quickly in the draft.

That was not the case for Weber, a Shocker junior. He was not drafted, in perhaps the surprise of the draft for WSU. The junior leads the team with 11 home runs and is regarded as a strong defensive catcher.

"I'm not too worried about it," Weber said. "I was a little surprised, but I just come and have another good year next year and go with it then."

No blogs allowed -- The NCAA told media outlets Friday afternoon that statistical or other live representations of super regional games are prohibited unless it's by the media rights holder.

That means blogs, in large part. The Eagle blogged during last week's regional, but will not this weekend even after suggesting a compromise with the NCAA Broadcast Group.

Pack them in -- Mississippi State and Wichita State should finish 1-2 in super regional attendance this weekend.

Eck Stadium's capacity is up to 8,153 and is sold out this weekend. Mississippi State set a super regional record with a crowd of 12,620 on Friday afternoon.

WSU averaged 5,071 for the regional, fourth among the 16 sites. Mississippi State did not host a regional. Arkansas (6,452), Texas (6,200) and Mississippi (5,699) outdrew WSU in the regionals. Arkansas and Texas are out; Ole Miss is on the road this weekend.