3/2/13

Draft 13 – Nick Hurtado, Mark Appel, Kevin Ziomek, FGCU, Kupitka vs Emanuel




This is really sad news.

Corona High School standout 2010 prospect, LHP Nick Hurtado, passed away last night from complications stemming from his 2010 diagnosis of a cancerous tumor found in his left knee.

-Right now, there is no one in the baseball world questioning #4 Stanford (7-2, 0-0) RHP Mark Appel’s decision to not sign last year with Pittsburgh and come back for his senior year. Last night, Appel throw a three-hit complete game shutout against #25 Texas (6-3, 0-0), 2-0. This raised his last two-game stat line to an amazing 18-IP, 1-ER, 6-H, 25-K, 2-BB. Witnesses said that he was in total command of his three pitches and showed a much more aggressive approach to the plate. He has easily vaulted himself back into the top RHP in the draft, maybe the number one pick overall.

-Pitching performance of the Friday Night has to go out to #3 Vanderbilt’s (10-1, 0-0) RP Kevin Ziomek, who simply overwhelmed Illinois-Chicago (3-4, 0-0). The stat line was crazy: 9.0-IP, CG, 0-R, 1-H, 15-K, 3-BB. This makes for 33 strikeouts in 22 innings this season, 26 of which cam in his last two outings (The weekend starter team of Ziomek, Phillip Pfeifer, and Tyler Beede are now 7-0, giving up 5-ER in 48.0-IP, while striking out 62).

-My Cinderella team, #27 Florida Gulf Coast (6-2, 0-0) won again Friday, beating unranked Manhattan (0-4, 0-0), 6-2. It was junior Ricky Knapp that stepped up again, who had a no-hitter through 4.1 and finished an eight inning outing with 7-Ks, 0-ER, and 3-H. His season ERA is now 0.78 with 16-K and 2-BB in 23-IP. Remember, this is a team that has already swept Florida in a series and may not be tested for quite a while.

The featured game Friday night was #1 North Carolina (8-0, 0-0) visiting #12 Rice (6-3, 0-0). It also featured two future projected first round starters,  the Tar Heels’ junior LHP Kent Emanuel (7.0-IP, 1-ER, 8-H, 5-K, 1-BB) and the Owls junior RHP Austin Kubitza (6.2-IP, 1-ER, 4-H, 9-K, 2-BB). The edge went o Kubitza, though the victory went to Emaneul, 2-1.

No comments: