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Katy Tigers - post game evaluation by Jason Becker
Posted by Chuck Weidig on
Feb 21 2007
at
04:00PM PST
Top-ranked Katy put together a surgical performance in last night’s season-opening 6-0 win over Jersey Village, showing off all four of its top pitchers and showcasing the speed and opportunism that made the Tigers such a dangerous club down the stretch in 2006. Following is a quick look at both Katy and the host Falcons, including my take on the two teams and the individuals that jumped out at me.
Katy
Team Evaluation
As coach Tom McPherson said after the game, the Tigers played lackadaisical baseball. They played the game well because they are a quality team full of quality ballplayers, but they didn’t play with the energy level they are capable of. A lot of that likely had to do with the opponent, which is not a slap at Jersey Village. The Falcons are simply young, not as highly-touted as some other programs in the area, and not a district rival. Katy will likely look like a considerably different club when they play Kingwood next Tuesday or rival Katy Taylor on March 16.
That said, this Katy team is every bit as good as advertised. The Tigers are solid to four pitchers on the mound, they are very strong up the middle, defensively, they are athletic with great speed, and there are some sticks in that lineup. They were my No. 1 team to start the season, and they did not show anything in this game to make me think otherwise.
Prospects
Senior lefthander Aaron Daab started the game on the mound for the Tigers, and he was crisp. Aaron will run his fastball up to 83-84 MPH when he’s really throwing well, but on this first evening of the season he was 79-80. Everything he threw had movement, he showed tremendous command, his breaking ball was good, and his changeup was sharp. He finished with five strikeouts in his two innings, allowing only a leadoff single in the top of the first. He erased that runner with a great pickoff move. Aaron has signed early with Texas A&M.
Sophomore righthander Keifer Nuncio was next, and he has a chance to be pretty special. Right now, Keifer is a long, wiry-framed athlete with a loose, quick arm and a fastball that was 84-86 MPH in this one. Coach McPherson said Keifer will pitch up around 88 MPH once the season gets going, and that’s easy to see. His fastball has good run to it as well. He also threw a good-looking power breaking ball. He had trouble locating with it at first, but he settled in during his second inning of work. He is definitely a follow for the Class of 2009.
Carter Jurica trotted out to the mound next for the Tigers, and he was effective. However, in my mind Carter is a shortstop at the next level. He will work as a more-than-adequate No. 3 in high school, and he could probably pitch at the next level with some work. But Carter is so good as a defender on the middle infield, that will likely be his ticket at Kansas State next year. He has great feet and range, he’s very smooth and quick with his actions and he has a lot of arm strength. He also handles the bat well with some good pop, and he is an above-average runner.
Senior Nick Pepitone was the last pitcher of the evening for Katy, and he is a guy with some upside on the mound. Nick is a real easy thrower. There is no effort when he throws his fastball, and he will run it up there at 83-85 MPH. His breaking ball was OK. He has signed early with Angelina College, and with some work and some innings, he could bring out a lot more of the potential he has up there on the mound. He is a big, strong kid at around 6-4, 220. He also worked very well around the bag at first, and he hit a homerun in the second inning of this one that disappeared into the night. Good power.
As impressive as those four were, senior Michael Fuda was the Tiger who really caught my eye in this game. Michael made a couple of terrific plays at second base, including a ground ball to his back hand side that was headed for centerfield before he made like Speedy Gonzalez and flew over from his position deep on the infield dirt. He snapped up the ball, turned and fired a strike to get the runner by a step. Michael also legged out a pair of infield singles, showing off his lethal speed from home to first. Both were slow rollers the third baseman charged and made a good play on, but Robert Zaragosa just didn’t have a play. Fuda was a step or two from the bag before the junior third baseman ever turned to throw.
Sophomore catcher Andrew Stumph has picked up right where he left off last year. There are times Andrew still looks like a sophomore, including a passed ball that simply popped right out of his glove and rolled back to the screen, but by and large he caught a good game and showed off that laser he has mounted on his shoulder. He also has some juice in his bat, as evidenced by his seventh-inning triple that he launched on a line over the center fielder’s head and to the wall.By Jason Becker
Katy
Team Evaluation
As coach Tom McPherson said after the game, the Tigers played lackadaisical baseball. They played the game well because they are a quality team full of quality ballplayers, but they didn’t play with the energy level they are capable of. A lot of that likely had to do with the opponent, which is not a slap at Jersey Village. The Falcons are simply young, not as highly-touted as some other programs in the area, and not a district rival. Katy will likely look like a considerably different club when they play Kingwood next Tuesday or rival Katy Taylor on March 16.
That said, this Katy team is every bit as good as advertised. The Tigers are solid to four pitchers on the mound, they are very strong up the middle, defensively, they are athletic with great speed, and there are some sticks in that lineup. They were my No. 1 team to start the season, and they did not show anything in this game to make me think otherwise.
Prospects
Senior lefthander Aaron Daab started the game on the mound for the Tigers, and he was crisp. Aaron will run his fastball up to 83-84 MPH when he’s really throwing well, but on this first evening of the season he was 79-80. Everything he threw had movement, he showed tremendous command, his breaking ball was good, and his changeup was sharp. He finished with five strikeouts in his two innings, allowing only a leadoff single in the top of the first. He erased that runner with a great pickoff move. Aaron has signed early with Texas A&M.
Sophomore righthander Keifer Nuncio was next, and he has a chance to be pretty special. Right now, Keifer is a long, wiry-framed athlete with a loose, quick arm and a fastball that was 84-86 MPH in this one. Coach McPherson said Keifer will pitch up around 88 MPH once the season gets going, and that’s easy to see. His fastball has good run to it as well. He also threw a good-looking power breaking ball. He had trouble locating with it at first, but he settled in during his second inning of work. He is definitely a follow for the Class of 2009.
Carter Jurica trotted out to the mound next for the Tigers, and he was effective. However, in my mind Carter is a shortstop at the next level. He will work as a more-than-adequate No. 3 in high school, and he could probably pitch at the next level with some work. But Carter is so good as a defender on the middle infield, that will likely be his ticket at Kansas State next year. He has great feet and range, he’s very smooth and quick with his actions and he has a lot of arm strength. He also handles the bat well with some good pop, and he is an above-average runner.
Senior Nick Pepitone was the last pitcher of the evening for Katy, and he is a guy with some upside on the mound. Nick is a real easy thrower. There is no effort when he throws his fastball, and he will run it up there at 83-85 MPH. His breaking ball was OK. He has signed early with Angelina College, and with some work and some innings, he could bring out a lot more of the potential he has up there on the mound. He is a big, strong kid at around 6-4, 220. He also worked very well around the bag at first, and he hit a homerun in the second inning of this one that disappeared into the night. Good power.
As impressive as those four were, senior Michael Fuda was the Tiger who really caught my eye in this game. Michael made a couple of terrific plays at second base, including a ground ball to his back hand side that was headed for centerfield before he made like Speedy Gonzalez and flew over from his position deep on the infield dirt. He snapped up the ball, turned and fired a strike to get the runner by a step. Michael also legged out a pair of infield singles, showing off his lethal speed from home to first. Both were slow rollers the third baseman charged and made a good play on, but Robert Zaragosa just didn’t have a play. Fuda was a step or two from the bag before the junior third baseman ever turned to throw.
Sophomore catcher Andrew Stumph has picked up right where he left off last year. There are times Andrew still looks like a sophomore, including a passed ball that simply popped right out of his glove and rolled back to the screen, but by and large he caught a good game and showed off that laser he has mounted on his shoulder. He also has some juice in his bat, as evidenced by his seventh-inning triple that he launched on a line over the center fielder’s head and to the wall.By Jason Becker
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