Simmons emerging as Big West's best

For some reason – it was either the 50-degree temperatures and chance of showers, or the Yankees-Red Sox game on ESPN – only a couple scouts made it out to Friday’s Big West Conference baseball game between UC Riverside and Cal Poly.
What they missed was another fine showing by the conference’s top pitching prospect, UC Riverside right-hander James Simmons. Here’s what their scouting reports should have noted on Friday:
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound junior improved to 8-2 in a 3-1 win over the Mustangs at Baggett Stadium. Despite struggling to find his slider for much of the night, Simmons struck out eight and walked just one in his third complete game in 11 starts. He gave up a run on six hits in the 120-pitch outing (82 were strikes).
Simmons, projected to go in the top three rounds of the June draft, has a slow, fluid motion and throws with such ease (see video) that many fans were left unimpressed with his stuff. But if you watched Simmons throw from behind the plate, and saw the movement on his fastball (regularly hitting 92-88 mph) and late action on his change and breaking pitches, you came away impressed. His first four strikeouts came on called third strikes, freezing Cal Poly hitters with cutter after cutter.
“Last week I got roughed up pretty good at Washington, so I really focused on locating my fastball better than I did last week,” Simmons said referring to his first loss since March 2. “I was just trying to keep guys off-balanced, mixing away, inside and with the changeup.
“Some days my slider’s there, sometimes it’s not. You just have to kind of figure it out and go with what’s working best for you that night.”

NFL draft predictions for Shotwell, Brown

The NFL Draft is a little over a week away and everybody wants to know where Cal Poly’s top two prospects, LB Kyle Shotwell and CB Courtney Brown, are going to go.
When I last talked to the two former Mustang defenders, neither one was sure where they’d fall in the draft or even what teams were most interested.
The two have talked with a majority of the teams and the general feeling is neither one will be drafted as high as third-rounders Jordan Beck or Chris Gocong before them.
Both are likely second-day picks and could go undrafted all together.
Here’s a look at what various news and scouting services are saying about the two prospects: Most of the scouting services feel Courtney Brown will be taken in Rounds 4-7.
USA Today notes Brown “erased concerns about his lack of athleticism at his pro day and will be one of top non-combine players drafted.”
NFLDraftCountdown has the cornerback as a late-round pick or free agent.
And NFLDraftScout.com has him as a fourth-rounder, ranked 17th among available corners and 127th overall out of all players.
NFLDraftScout.com notes Shotwell’s draft stock is also rising because of pro-day workouts. He is ranked 22nd among outside linebackers and 299th overall, projected as a seventh-round or free-agent pickup.
The site projects former Cal Poly defenders Chris White and Kenny Chicoine in the free-agent category as well. NFLDraftScout.com is releasing a new list of rankings next week in preparation for the NFL Draft on April 28-29.
Scout.com NFL expert Tom Marino, in a team-by-team breakdown, has Shotwell going in the seventh round to the St. Louis Rams.
CBSSportsline.com also lists him a late-round pick.

4/22 Update: Todd McShay of Scouts Inc. has Courtney Brown (link requires ESPN Insider subscription) going to Jacksonville in the fifth round with the 150th overall pick in his mock draft on Apri 17. He did not have Shotwell going in his seven-round draft.

4/23 Update: In his TFY Draft Preview on SI.com, Tony Pauline lists Brown among his hidden gems, going in the fourth round.

Where do you think Shotwell and Brown will be drafted?

Eager for the draft?

Some Cal Poly baseball fans were caught off guard by today’s feature on ace Thomas Eager.
Not by the angle about his emotional approach on the mound, but by the fact that the Mustangs’ emerging ace could be gone after this season.
While Eager is only a sophomore, in terms of eligibility, the right-hander is eligible for the draft this summer. Eager, 21, redshirted in 2005 as a true freshman and is technically in his third year with the program.
According to Major League Baseball rules, any amateur who is 21 or older within 45 days of that year’s draft is eligible for selection.
In most cases, four-year collegiate players aren’t eligible until their junior or senior seasons. Graduating high school seniors and community college players are also eligible for the draft.
So while many Mustangs fans figured Cal Poly’s current pitching staff is built for the future, starting two freshmen and a sophomore this weekend at UC Irvine, the green-and-gold rotation could lose another underclassman to the draft this June.
Eager said he won’t make any decisions until after the draft, but it’s already evident in the eyes of the coaches and scouts that he’s ready for the next level thanks to a low-90s fastball and lethal late-breaking slider.
If Eager does leave Cal Poly early, he would be the eighth underclassman in three years to do so.
And let’s not forget the Mustangs are in danger of losing their top hitter as well, as junior outfielder Grant Desme – on pace to break Cal Poly season records for home runs and RBI – is eligible for the draft this year as well.
4/20 UPDATE: Baseball America had an interesting blog update on Desme this week, where one coach called Demse “the best hitter we’ve seen all year, bar none."

Playing the name game at Cal Poly-SLO

Man, that -SLO sure gets people fired up.
So does Cal Poly still have a branding problem?
It appears many of the Cal Poly faithful think so (see comments on the previous post below).
The whole topic came up this week when Cal Poly, this being the San Luis Obispo campus, was mistakenly called Cal Poly Pomona in an ESPN.com Division I softball poll. Cal Poly-Pomona is a DII school that doesn't even field a softball team in the spring.
Not that this is the first time the two schools have been confused.
One of the most memorable blunders came during a media/coaches teleconference in March 2002, when the Big West Conference’s own moderator, Randy Rosenbloom, welcomed Cal Poly head men’s basketball coach Kevin Bromley to the call as the “Broncos head coach.”
“We’re the Cal Poly Mustangs,” Bromley replied in a stern tone. “The Broncos are in Pomona.”
As noted in an earlier post, I've seen Cal Poly referred to as Cal Poly-SLO, Cal State Poly, Cal Polytechnic State and California-San Luis Obispo the last two years alone.
It seems like small potatoes, but those inconsistent references don't sit very well with the folks in Cal Poly's athletic department. The Mustangs fought hard to drop the "-SLO" in the 90s and even address the name game in its media guides on Page 2.

WE ARE CAL POLY:
When referring to any Cal Poly athletic team, please use only "Cal Poly" to denote the school. Please refrain from using names such as "Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo" and "Cal Poly-SLO."

A quick search on the Web finds that Cal Poly-SLO and other variations are still used all the time. We’ve even let the -SLO slip by in The Tribune a couple times in AP text, and I always seem to get an e-mail about it the next day.
• Darrell Jones’ bio with the Arizona Rattlers says Cal Poly-SLO.
• Chris Gocong’s bio with the Philadelphia Eagles says California State Poly, which is a new twist.
• At least the Atlanta Falcons got it right on Jordan Beck’s bio, well at least in the right-hand column. Read the complete bio and you'll see he played at Cal Poly/SLO.

Where is Cal Poly located again?

The Cal Poly softball team can’t catch a break.
Only 17 teams in Division I softball have a better record than the Mustangs, but Cal Poly (30-9, 6-0) is still knocking on the door of the top 25.
The Mustangs just missed the top 25 this week, landing in the 26th spot of this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.
Not that the Cal Poly faithful were complaining. Mustang die-hards are always happy when a Cal Poly team scores some national recognition, that is until they take a closer look at this week’s poll and realize ESPN.com labeled Cal Poly as Cal Poly Pomona.
Oops.
Not only is Pomona a Division II school, the Cal Poly-Pomona Broncos (close enough to a Mustang I guess -- just check their logo above) don’t even field a softball team in the spring.
ESPN.com has since corrected the error.
The miscue brings up an interesting question. Does Cal Poly, this being the San Luis Obispo campus, which I’ve seen referred to as Cal Poly-SLO, Cal State Poly, Cal Polytechnic State and California-San Luis Obispo in recent years, still have a branding issue on its hands?
It sure appears that way.

If at first you don't succeed ...

Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee on Saturday said he will likely stick with Eric Massingham as his starting pitcher for Friday’s Big West Conference baseball game at UC Irvine despite the sophomore’s struggles in last week’s loss to Cal State Northridge.
The right-hander didn’t make it out of the second inning in his debut as a starter, allowing four runs on four hits and four walks.
It was the second time in six days a Cal Poly starter failed to get out of the second inning of a conference series opener. Frankie Reed struggled in the same role at Pacific.
Massingham, who was ineligible for the nonconference portion of the schedule, is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in eight innings. He has pitched 24.2 innings in his career with 12 of his 13 appearances coming as a reliever.
Mustangs pitching coach Jason Kelly said he likes the former De La Salle standout as a starter because he is well rounded and can usually rely on at least three different pitches on a given day.
Cal Poly is hoping Massingham is better adjusted to the starting role the second time around and can overcome any first-inning jitters, which seems to be a problem for the entire pitching staff. The team’s emerging ace, Thomas Eager, gave up five runs in the first inning Saturday when the Mustangs bounced back to win the finale and the series against the Matadors.

Mustangs still looking for a starter

WANTED: Friday night starter
Experience a plus but not mandatory. Must be a team player who is able to work long hours, handle pressure situations in a hard-hitting environment. Great advancement opportunities for left-handers. Interested parties should contact Larry Lee, Head Baseball Coach, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407.

Thirty-four games into the 2007 season, the Cal Poly baseball team still has no idea who its Friday night starting pitcher is. DJ Mauldin was supposed to be the ace, but that plan failed when the Mustangs’ top pitching prospect developed arm problems and never returned after the season opener. Cal Poly recently announced Mauldin is now out for the season.
Mauldin’s spot in the rotation was filled by Matt Nobriga, but the junior transfer went 2-3 with a 5.37 ERA.
Cal Poly started Frankie Reed for the first time last weekend at Pacific, but the freshman failed to get out of the second inning in his debut as a starter.
The Mustangs tried Eric Massingham (1-0, 4.50) on Friday, but the late arrival’s debut as a starter went about as well as Reed’s, and Lee pulled the sophomore five outs into the game.
After the loss, Lee said he was uncertain who would be starting next Friday’s Big West Conference game at UC Irvine.
My guess is they're thinking about starting left-hander Derrick Saito, who is 2-1 with a 1.78 ERA in 25.1 innings of relief work.
If Lee goes with Saito or another new face, it’ll be the third straight weekend a Mustang has made their debut as a starter in a Big West series opener.