From D1 Baseball...
Fall Report: UNC Wilmington
Aaron Fitt - September 29, 2020
WILMINGTON, N.C. — Heading into his first season as UNC Wilmington’s head coach in 2020,
Randy Hood expected his young lineup to go through some growing pains, but he believed the Seahawks were deeper on the mound than they had been in years. Pitching kept UNCW afloat in the early going while the young position players found their footing, and all the pieces were starting to click into place when the season was canceled after week four. The Seahawks had opened some eyes with a week three sweep of Kentucky on the road, and they finished the pandemic-shortened campaign 11-5.
“I liked us last year too, it was disappointing because I thought we were really starting to go in the direction I knew those guys could,” Hood said. “This team got four of the nine seniors back, brought in some transfers, kept our whole recruiting class from a freshman standpoint, and I just think we’ve got a lot of good pieces that if we can make it to the spring and get into our schedule, I think I think we’ll be fine.”
Other than lefthander
Zarion Sharpe, who signed as a nondrafted free agent with the Twins, every other key piece of the pitching staff returns, led by battle-tested veterans
Landen Roupp and
Luke Gesell. That duo will provide stability atop the rotation once again, and Hood said Roupp spent the summer working hard to add more strength, so perhaps his fastball could tick up from its 88-92 range by springtime. He already owns a high-end breaking ball with elite spin rate.
Sinker/slider specialist
Gage Herring is another rotation candidate with plenty of starting experience under his belt. Fifth-year senior righty
Breydan Gorham is a valuable strike-throwing swing man with good life on his fastball and a quality slider. Second-year freshman lefty
Troy Langmeyer is also in that midweek starter/long relief group; Hood said he’s been 88-90 with a solid breaking ball this fall. And third-year sophomore righty
Jason Hudak has made a nice jump this fall, inducing ground balls by the bushel with his 89-91 mph sinker. UNCW has had plenty of success over the years with sinkerballers, and both Hudak and third-year sophomore RHP
Will Liverpool fit in that tradition.
At the back end of the bullpen, righthander
Adam Smith (2.38 ERA, 3 SV) should only get better this year now that he’s focusing exclusively on pitching and no longer playing shortstop. Hood said he’s been 90-94 with a good hard breaking ball this fall, and his pro future is clearly on the mound.
Another standout this fall has been East Carolina transfer
Cody Benton, the twin brother of UNCW lefty
Cole Benton and younger brother of former ECU righty Trey Benton. Hood said Cody, a righty, has attacked at 88-91 mph with an ultra-high spin rate breaking ball that has reached 3100 rpm. Cody could also factor into the starting mix, while Cole is a mid-80s pitchability southpaw who should fit into the bullpen. Campbell transfer
Bryce Cota (younger brother of former Seahawk
Clark Cota) is another bullpen lefty with a high-80s heater and a good breaking ball. And Hood is intrigued by sidewinding RHP
Nyk Crumrine, a transfer from the now-defunct Chicago State program.
“He’s just kind of a got a chip on his shoulder kind of kid, has been in juco for three years, Chicago State,” Hood said. “I went and watchnyed video, he threw against Louisville, Auburn, all these schools and just got outs. I said, ‘Hey, we’d love to have you if we can make it work.’ He came over and I think he’s going to help us out, just a different look.”
But the backbone of UNCW’s recruiting class is a big group of physical freshman arms, who will provide immediate help and also serve as a foundation for the next few years.
Ethan Chenault, a lean and projectable 6-foot-5 righthander, was a blue-chip recruit out of Virginia, and he has lived up to his billing this fall, running his fastball up to 95 mph at times. I saw him pitch at 90-93 during a scoreless two-inning stint in Sunday’s scrimmage, along with a promising big-breaking curveball at 73-77 and the makings of a changeup. Chenault has obvious ace potential, and so might RHP
Ryan Calvert, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound ox who earned Maryland PBR player of the year honors as a junior. Calvert showed off advanced feel for pitching in his breezy two-inning outing Sunday, attacking the zone at 88-91 with a very good sinking changeup at 81-84 and a decent 76 mph breaking ball. He works downhill with minimal effort, and it’s easy to envision him throwing considerably harder as he gets older. He also has two-way potential with intriguing lefthanded pop at the plate.
![[Image: Ryan-Calvert.jpg]](https://cdn.d1baseball.com/uploads/2020/09/29130441/Ryan-Calvert.jpg)
UNC Wilmington two-way talent Ryan Calvert (Aaron Fitt)
Several other freshmen impressed on the mound Sunday as well.
Jacob Shafer, a projectable 6-foot-6 righty with a clean arm action, worked at 88-90 and bumped 91 with some running life to his glove side, along with very good feel to spin the breaking ball, which sometimes looked like a power curveball at 76-79 and other times looked more like a slider at 80-82.
Hunter Hodges, a 6-foot-3 righty from Wilmington, showed off a high-spin 87-89 fastball in the 2400 rpm range and a very high spin 78-81 mph slurve that registered above 2800 rpm on multiple occasions. That’s a real out pitch that should earn Hodges key innings right away.
Tyler Strickland is a tall, skinny projection guy who worked at 83-86 on this day but has shown more velocity in the past, along with good feel for his changeup and curveball.
From the left side, Hood is excited about loose-armed freshman lefty
Noah Overton, who sat 85-87 in this look but has pitched at 88-91 and bumped 93 in the past, according to the coaches. Overton also showed the makings of a good slider and solid changeup, and Hood liked the aggressive mentality he showed off during his two perfect innings on Sunday. Mid-80s pitchability lefty
Luke Craig could also carve out a situational role on the staff.
Clearly, pitching depth should be a strength for the Seahawks, but they also feel very good about the depth of their lineup. Fifth-year senior third
Cole Weiss is the most accomplished returning hitter, a three-year mainstay in the lineup who has hit .305 each of the last two seasons, and he’ll help anchor the heart of the order. Beyond Weiss, UNCW’s lineup is brimming with breakout candidates.
Two older players who looked poised to do bigger things in 2021 are fourth-year junior first baseman
Kip Brandenburg and fourth-year junior center fielder
Noah Bridges. The 6-foot-5 Brandenburg, who sat out 2019 after transferring from North Carolina, will be counted upon to provide righthanded power in the middle of the lineup, along with second-year freshman
Ronald Evans, a 6-foot-2, 258-pound tank with some of the best raw power on the roster. Evans is working his way back from a broken hamate bone, but he figures to see plenty of action at DH or perhaps first base.
Bridges has some of the best raw tools on the team but struggled to make consistent contact over his first two seasons, striking out 74 times as a freshman and 64 times as a sophomore. He was off to a solid start in 2020, hitting .290/.371/.387, though his strikeout rate was still high. Bridges has blazing speed that really plays in center field, where his arm is also a weapon. The key for him is simply to improve his plate discipline, and Hood thinks he’s making progress.
![[Image: Trevor-Marsh.jpg]](https://cdn.d1baseball.com/uploads/2020/09/29130602/Trevor-Marsh.jpg)
UNC Wilmington outfielder Trevor Marsh (Aaron Fitt)
Second-year freshman
Trevor Marsh is also a good defender in center field, though he’ll likely shift to left with Bridges back in the fold. A stocky, strong and athletic 5-foot-10, 190-pound lefthanded hitter, Marsh is a hard-nosed player who does a good job slashing to all fields and has excellent feel for his barrel. He should help make the Seahawks go next spring.
“He played a lot for us as a freshman and I just think he’s kind of got that ‘it’ factor,” Hood said. “He doesn’t say a lot but he was the Legion player of the year coming out of high school, and hopefully he’ll be in the Cape with several others this summer and give him a chance.”
The Seahawks could be very good in the outfield if they go with Marsh, Bridges and third-year sophomore
Brooks Baldwin from left to right, though Baldwin played shortstop on Sunday and looked good at the position. The 6-foot-2 Baldwin is athletic and versatile enough to play all over the diamond, and he’s a switch-hitter who looks primed for a breakout season with the bat. If Baldwin plays short, San Diego transfer
Dillon Lifrieri could play right field. Lifrieri began his collegiate career at Arkansas, where he had a reputation as a speed-oriented player, but he’s bulked up and now shows intriguing righthanded power potential in BP. He’s an interesting sleeper pick to click on this roster.
But Wilmington’s best defensive alignment could be with Baldwin in right and juco transfer
Taber Mongero at shortstop, where he’s an instinctive, quick-twitch defender with good range. Mongero is another baseball rat who works counts and handles the bat from the left side, and he figures to make a big impact on this club.
At second base, look for a big jump from second-year freshman
Jac Croom, the quintessential “dirtbag” kind of player, as Hood called him last year. Watching UNCW scrimmage, Croom will always manage to impress in a variety of subtle ways, because he just does so many different things well. On Sunday, he showed off aggressive baserunning instincts that helped him steal second and third base and then score on a perfect dirtball read. He attacked the ball on defense and made a couple standout plays, highlighted by a pretty sliding stop in the hole to his left, followed by a pop-up throw on the money to first. But the 6-foot, 195-pound lefthanded hitter also looks more physical this year and has emerging power to the pull side and center field.
“He’s gotten a little bit bigger. But he started every day for us last year for 15 games, and I just think he’s great right there at second base,” Hood said. “He’s going to end up being an offensive second baseman that gets drafted and probably will play a lot in pro ball. He won two state championships at New Hanover High School and played in a third when they were runners-up, so he’s a winner.”
![[Image: Matt-Suggs.jpg]](https://cdn.d1baseball.com/uploads/2020/09/29130834/Matt-Suggs.jpg)
UNC Wilmington catcher Matt Suggs (Aaron Fitt)
Croom, Evans, Marsh and
Kevin Pitarra give the Seahawks a quartet of second-year freshmen who are going to serve as linch-pins this year and beyond. Pitarra is yet another gamer from a good baseball family (younger brother of former NC State infielder Stephen Pitarra), and Hood said he’s taken some big jumps in all facets of his game this year, positioning him to serve in a super-utility role as the No. 2 catcher and backup infielder. The top catcher figures to be third-year sophomore
Matt Suggs, whose rifle arm and raw power potential have earned him some interest from scouts. If his receiving skills and offensive approach continue to mature, he could climb up draft boards by June.
“He’s probably got as much raw power as anybody on our team, and I love hitting him in the two-hole because you’ve got a chance to jump on somebody early,” Hood said. “He runs well for a catcher, so it’ll be interesting to see where he fits in with the draft, but a lot of people have been asking about him and talking about him, we’ll see. He had a pretty decent summer in Martinsville (in the Coastal Plain League).”
One other player who stood out Sunday is freshman third baseman
Jack Howell, whose powerful lefthanded swing and quiet approach suggest he could become a star down the road, though he may struggle to find playing time in 2021 behind some experienced players at the corners. Howell also made a nice diving stop on a hot shot down the line and got up to make a strong throw to first base. Keep an eye on him over the next couple of years.
#########
