Checking in on Nebraska prospects at JUCO

[ShortSideOption]

I am going to miss some, but one of my gripes about Erstad is our local recruiting, and us losing track of kids once they head elsewhere that would like to stay home. Guys like Michael Helman and Nolan Hoffman would have came back to play for Nebraska immediately. Guys like the Reetz brothers, all they want to do is play for Nebraska. Guys like Cade Povich, they all would play for Nebraska. Here's a look at what we could potentially be bringing back. On a side note... I also think guys like Gomes, Schwellenbach, Boynton, those guys look like B1G players. Right now we are starting some smaller guys, so it takes a little more for them to be where they need to be nationally. That's nitpicking tho.

Just going after kids I know and two programs I follow:

Cade Povich, South Mountain Community College (Bell West) - 10-1 record with a 1.6 ERA had a lot of complete games and I believe 4 or 5 shoutouts. Will head P5 or at least somewhere southern with no talk from Nebraska. Out of high school, Nebraska was choosing between he and Feekin for the final lefty spot and chose Feekin.

Logan Sartori, Hutchinson CC (Lincoln SW) - .332 average and 20 HRs. Heading to A&M to play infield.

Jake Bunz, Hutchinson CC (Elkhorn South) - 8-1 with a 3.49 ERA. 13.48 Ks/9 innings. 6'5 240 pounds and only a freshman down there. Could see how he develops.

Will Reetz, Hutchinson CC (Elkhorn South) - Batting leadoff at 6'4" 205 pounds, started off hot with 10 HRs but they found the hole in his swing. Needs another year down there batting .250

Zane Schmidt, Hutchinson CC (Kearney High) - Thanks @BasilLongfellow , hitting .385 with 20 HRs. Only a freshman and only 5'10 175 pounds. Catcher so could replace Roskam.

Caleb Balgaard, Iowa Western CC (Michigan) - Hitting .444 and heading to Old Dominion

Cooper Bowman, Iowa Western CC (Rapid City, SD) - Only a freshman but hitting .422. Middle infielder.

Jaden Rolffs, Iowa Western CC (Pella, IA) - Only a freshman but hitting .496 with 12 HRs as a catcher. Also is 6'2 200 so a bit bigger than Schmidt.

Ronald Sweeny III, Iowa Western CC (Woodbury, MN) - .415 BA with 13 HRs, plays first base (again Roskam replacement?) Sophomore so needs to find somewhere to play.

Braedyn McLaughlin, Iowa Western CC (Kansas City, MO) - 7-1 with a 1.7 ERA, 15.72 K's/9. 2018 All-American

Jared Simpson, Iowa Western CC (Clinton, IA) - 7-0 1.91 ERA 11 Ks/9. Only a freshman.



We need some help on starting pitching. Feekin, Perry, and Diedrich will help next year (all lefties) but we need to bring a dominant JUCO starter in my opinion.

 

[BasilLongfellow]

I am going to miss some, but one of my gripes about Erstad is our local recruiting, and us losing track of kids once they head elsewhere that would like to stay home. Guys like Michael Helman and Nolan Hoffman would have came back to play for Nebraska immediately. Guys like the Reetz brothers, all they want to do is play for Nebraska. Guys like Cade Povich, they all would play for Nebraska. Here's a look at what we could potentially be bringing back. On a side note... I also think guys like Gomes, Schwellenbach, Boynton, those guys look like B1G players. Right now we are starting some smaller guys, so it takes a little more for them to be where they need to be nationally. That's nitpicking tho.

Just going after kids I know and two programs I follow:

Cade Povich, South Mountain Community College (Bell West) - 10-1 record with a 1.6 ERA had a lot of complete games and I believe 4 or 5 shoutouts. Will head P5 or at least somewhere southern with no talk from Nebraska. Out of high school, Nebraska was choosing between he and Feekin for the final lefty spot and chose Feekin.

Logan Sartori, Hutchinson CC (Lincoln SW) - .332 average and 20 HRs. Heading to A&M to play infield.

Jake Bunz, Hutchinson CC (Elkhorn South) - 8-1 with a 3.49 ERA. 13.48 Ks/9 innings. 6'5 240 pounds and only a freshman down there. Could see how he develops.

Will Reetz, Hutchinson CC (Elkhorn South) - Batting leadoff at 6'4" 205 pounds, started off hot with 10 HRs but they found the hole in his swing. Needs another year down there batting .250

Zane Schmidt, Hutchinson CC (Kearney High) - Thanks @BasilLongfellow , hitting .385 with 20 HRs. Only a freshman and only 5'10 175 pounds. Catcher so could replace Roskam.

Caleb Balgaard, Iowa Western CC (Michigan) - Hitting .444 and heading to Old Dominion

Cooper Bowman, Iowa Western CC (Rapid City, SD) - Only a freshman but hitting .422. Middle infielder.

Jaden Rolffs, Iowa Western CC (Pella, IA) - Only a freshman but hitting .496 with 12 HRs as a catcher. Also is 6'2 200 so a bit bigger than Schmidt.

Ronald Sweeny III, Iowa Western CC (Woodbury, MN) - .415 BA with 13 HRs, plays first base (again Roskam replacement?) Sophomore so needs to find somewhere to play.

Braedyn McLaughlin, Iowa Western CC (Kansas City, MO) - 7-1 with a 1.7 ERA, 15.72 K's/9. 2018 All-American

Jared Simpson, Iowa Western CC (Clinton, IA) - 7-0 1.91 ERA 11 Ks/9. Only a freshman.



We need some help on starting pitching. Feekin, Perry, and Diedrich will help next year (all lefties) but we need to bring a dominant JUCO starter in my opinion.

Here comes my soapbox.

Look at those players. 11 guys that would make any college baseball team better.

Then we have the Omaha/Lincoln preps of approx 6-8 D1 caliber guys, with usually 2-4 prep players from out of state at that level.

Nebraska is STACKED with baseball talent every year.

If you're going to let Erstad go, this is the reason why you would do it.

But, there are 5-6 reasons I wouldn't send my kid to Nebraska to play baseball before I even consider Erstad as a reason.

 

[ShortSideOption]

Here comes my soapbox.

Look at those players. 11 guys that would make any college baseball team better.

Then we have the Omaha/Lincoln preps of approx 6-8 D1 caliber guys, with usually 2-4 prep players from out of state at that level.

Nebraska is STACKED with baseball talent every year.

If you're going to let Erstad go, this is the reason why you would do it.

But, there are 5-6 reasons I wouldn't send my kid to Nebraska to play baseball before I even consider Erstad as a reason.

Agree... it's interesting since we did so well in 2018, we kind of fell off again in 2019. We have commitments from Diedrich, Cerveny, and Mason in Nebraska. But a guy like Cam Frederick is going to do damage against us in the future, not sure why we didn't offer him as he goes to Creighton. Creighton also has the leading hitter in the state committed for 2019 in Cole Evans. Wibbels is heading to Kentucky, i understand us not offering him.

You still have to go get your Schwellenbach, Schreiber, etc. But we should be taking 5-7 dudes every year from Nebraska.

 

[BasilLongfellow]

Agree... it's interesting since we did so well in 2018, we kind of fell off again in 2019. We have commitments from Diedrich, Cerveny, and Mason in Nebraska. But a guy like Cam Frederick is going to do damage against us in the future, not sure why we didn't offer him as he goes to Creighton. Creighton also has the leading hitter in the state committed for 2019 in Cole Evans. Wibbels is heading to Kentucky, i understand us not offering him.

You still have to go get your Schwellenbach, Schreiber, etc. But we should be taking 5-7 dudes every year from Nebraska.

And some years, your Schwellenbach/Schreiber will be within those 5-7 dudes.

 

[CrnhskrBob]

Agree... it's interesting since we did so well in 2018, we kind of fell off again in 2019. We have commitments from Diedrich, Cerveny, and Mason in Nebraska. But a guy like Cam Frederick is going to do damage against us in the future, not sure why we didn't offer him as he goes to Creighton. Creighton also has the leading hitter in the state committed for 2019 in Cole Evans. Wibbels is heading to Kentucky, i understand us not offering him.

You still have to go get your Schwellenbach, Schreiber, etc. But we should be taking 5-7 dudes every year from Nebraska.

Do you know for sure if most of these kids went elsewhere, because they did NOT want to play for Nebraska? Just an honest question, because I have no idea why we lose so many talented kids each year.

 

[ShortSideOption]

Do you know for sure if most of these kids went elsewhere, because they did NOT want to play for Nebraska? Just an honest question, because I have no idea why we lose so many talented kids each year.

Well, I know for example Logan Foster who went to A&M from Lincoln Southwest was not coming to Nebraska, he wanted to play in a big boy conference and for Childress. Wibbels wanted to play in the south, nothing we could have done about that one. But Helman (Pius X) and Hoffman (Lincoln SE) who both went to Hutch and ended up at A&M would have walked on to Lincoln. Hard for me to imagine that Cam Frederick growing up in Lincoln would rather go play for Crayton in the Big East than Nebraska in the Big Ten, so i'd cross that one off. I'd say he and Cole Evans we probably didn't even go after. Last year Dylan Phillips led the state in hitting and didn't hear a peep from Nebraska, we even got a second chance when Kansas State switched up coaching staffs, but are we really mad we didn't get him when he's currently hitting .225? He isn't starting in front of Acker, Palensky, or Hagge. We tried getting Wyatt Divis (Lincoln NE) to walk-on, but the Hutch coach told him he'd turn that into an SEC offer. He ended up getting 75% from UT-Arlington.

From what i've been told, most kids still want to play for Nebraska. Reetz brothers, Helman, Hoffman, Povich, etc., they are all coming to Nebraska if offered. You have the one off's like Logan Foster and Sam Wibbles that want to play in warm weather in a big boy conference. My real issue is we don't go after those dudes. I always look at our past classes... take 2017 for example where we should be seeing these guys shining:

Abrahamowicz - Transferred to Bowling Green
Sorenson - Appeared in 2 games, no hits
Hellstrom - Playing well
Watson - Hitting .167 and showing a little power in 22 appearances
Addante - Hitting .200 in 13 appearances
Schreiber - (The pitcher) 8 appearances with a 3.86 ERA

Now let's look at who we passed on in 2017 for high school (good or bad):
Josh Culliver Pitcher from Creighton Prep at Minnesota now - Sitting 3-4 this year with an ERA close to 5
Jackson Berney INF from Holdrege at Creighton now - played in 2 games
Garrett Kocis INF from Millard West at Wichita State - Hitting .306 in 17 games, no HRs

So i'm not really concerned there. But the 2020 class gets pretty ugly:
Max Anderson Millard West - Texas A&M
Garrit Anglim Papio - Wichita State
Caleb Carpenter Lexington - Creighton
Trey Frahm Elkhorn - Kansas State
Noah Greise Millard South - Wichita State
Tyler Palmer Columbus - Nebraska
Tyler Ruhl Norris - Kansas State
Jaxon Simmerman Seward - UNOmaha
Colton Smith Bennington - Creighton
Drew Wessel Millard South - Nebraska

That's 9 dudes going D1 in one signing class. Volleyball and football would dream of that. Only 2 heading to Nebraska, with Max Anderson being the top guy in my opinion. But back to your question that I took forever to answer. We just can't go after the top caliber Anderson and give him what he deserves compared to A&M for scholarship dollars with the restrictions. Everyone else we could get if we wanted, we just choose not to. Which is my biggest beef. We need to do better recruiting locally. We have 8 commits for 2020 and 2 are from Nebraska when we have 9 guys going D1 from in-state.

Kids still want to play here, i've had Helman and Reetz and all of them tell me that. Our 2018 class proves that. But our staff needs to do better there.

 

[ShortSideOption]

Do you know for sure if most of these kids went elsewhere, because they did NOT want to play for Nebraska? Just an honest question, because I have no idea why we lose so many talented kids each year.

Well, I know for example Logan Foster who went to A&M from Lincoln Southwest was not coming to Nebraska, he wanted to play in a big boy conference and for Childress. Wibbels wanted to play in the south, nothing we could have done about that one. But Helman (Pius X) and Hoffman (Lincoln SE) who both went to Hutch and ended up at A&M would have walked on to Lincoln. Hard for me to imagine that Cam Frederick growing up in Lincoln would rather go play for Crayton in the Big East than Nebraska in the Big Ten, so i'd cross that one off. I'd say he and Cole Evans we probably didn't even go after. Last year Dylan Phillips led the state in hitting and didn't hear a peep from Nebraska, we even got a second chance when Kansas State switched up coaching staffs, but are we really mad we didn't get him when he's currently hitting .225? He isn't starting in front of Acker, Palensky, or Hagge. We tried getting Wyatt Divis (Lincoln NE) to walk-on, but the Hutch coach told him he'd turn that into an SEC offer. He ended up getting 75% from UT-Arlington.

From what i've been told, most kids still want to play for Nebraska. Reetz brothers, Helman, Hoffman, Povich, etc., they are all coming to Nebraska if offered. You have the one off's like Logan Foster and Sam Wibbles that want to play in warm weather in a big boy conference. My real issue is we don't go after those dudes. I always look at our past classes... take 2017 for example where we should be seeing these guys shining:

Abrahamowicz - Transferred to Bowling Green
Sorenson - Appeared in 2 games, no hits
Hellstrom - Playing well
Watson - Hitting .167 and showing a little power in 22 appearances
Addante - Hitting .200 in 13 appearances
Schreiber - (The pitcher) 8 appearances with a 3.86 ERA

Now let's look at who we passed on in 2017 for high school (good or bad):
Josh Culliver Pitcher from Creighton Prep at Minnesota now - Sitting 3-4 this year with an ERA close to 5
Jackson Berney INF from Holdrege at Creighton now - played in 2 games
Garrett Kocis INF from Millard West at Wichita State - Hitting .306 in 17 games, no HRs

So i'm not really concerned there. But the 2020 class gets pretty ugly:
Max Anderson Millard West - Texas A&M
Garrit Anglim Papio - Wichita State
Caleb Carpenter Lexington - Creighton
Trey Frahm Elkhorn - Kansas State
Noah Greise Millard South - Wichita State
Tyler Palmer Columbus - Nebraska
Tyler Ruhl Norris - Kansas State
Jaxon Simmerman Seward - UNOmaha
Colton Smith Bennington - Creighton
Drew Wessel Millard South - Nebraska

That's 9 dudes going D1 in one signing class. Volleyball and football would dream of that. Only 2 heading to Nebraska, with Max Anderson being the top guy in my opinion. But back to your question that I took forever to answer. We just can't go after the top caliber Anderson and give him what he deserves compared to A&M for scholarship dollars with the restrictions. Everyone else we could get if we wanted, we just choose not to. Which is my biggest beef. We need to do better recruiting locally. We have 8 commits for 2020 and 2 are from Nebraska when we have 9 guys going D1 from in-state.

Kids still want to play here, i've had Helman and Reetz and all of them tell me that. Our 2018 class proves that. But our staff needs to do better there.

Can't believe I forgot about this, but for 2017, Grant Van Scoy was leaving JUCO at SECC Beatrice. He was a 2nd team JUCO All-American. Hit .378 his first year there, and .364 his second year. Now, he only hit .254 his first year, but this year he is mashing hitting .351 and would be pretty great next to Palensky and Acker/Hagge.

We need to do better getting JUCOs honestly. That's what this comes down to. Because people are mad we didn't recruit Van Scoy and then he came to Lincoln and popped us a couple weekends ago. The issue is, no one recruited him out of high school despite hitting over .400 as a junior and senior.

 

[BasilLongfellow]

Hellstrom - Playing well

I like this kid. Watch him throw. See how his right foot "replaces" his left foot? Really well done. I"d like to see him throw on some pitches that are on the outer half.

Good swing. Big kid. We'll see how he develops. Much better film than the '16 catcher.

Just patting myself on the back.

 

[CrnhskrBob]

Can't believe I forgot about this, but for 2017, Grant Van Scoy was leaving JUCO at SECC Beatrice. He was a 2nd team JUCO All-American. Hit .378 his first year there, and .364 his second year. Now, he only hit .254 his first year, but this year he is mashing hitting .351 and would be pretty great next to Palensky and Acker/Hagge.

We need to do better getting JUCOs honestly. That's what this comes down to. Because people are mad we didn't recruit Van Scoy and then he came to Lincoln and popped us a couple weekends ago. The issue is, no one recruited him out of high school despite hitting over .400 as a junior and senior.

Yeah, I new he is from Beatrice. What a pickup that would have been. Thanks, ***

 

[skerinks]

Does the baseball department have a recruiting guru like the football and basketball departments have? Their sole job being to recruit or to keep eyes on recruits for future offers? I believe we have all had this conversation before about Darin being an okay coach but not a very good recruiter.

 

[ShortSideOption]

Does the baseball department have a recruiting guru like the football and basketball departments have? Their sole job being to recruit or to keep eyes on recruits for future offers? I believe we have all had this conversation before about Darin being an okay coach but not a very good recruiter.

No they do not, and probably won’t get one as we are 750k in the red for baseball even getting Erstad at a bargain. If you pay a head coach the going rate and get a recruiting coordinator we are over a million in the hole.

Silva is recruiting coordinator and Erstad does well. But when you only have a head coach and two assistants, you can’t have one guy who is almost non-existent on the recruiting trail.

 

[ShortSideOption]

Does the baseball department have a recruiting guru like the football and basketball departments have? Their sole job being to recruit or to keep eyes on recruits for future offers? I believe we have all had this conversation before about Darin being an okay coach but not a very good recruiter.

Full disclosure on this... I’ve been thinking since the 2018 season how well the baseball team would be served to pay someone 50-60k a year with Nebraska connections and that’s your sole job, keep track of Nebraska kids. Baseball is a little “odd” in the fact it’s not as social media driven. Many kids don’t announce offers, they only announce commitments, and other things like that. So I don’t think social media is as important as getting ahead on local kids, but it would certainly help. Hell, Erstad went totally twitterless after still having to deal with people after winning coach of the year and a conference title.

 

[BasilLongfellow]

Full disclosure on this... I’ve been thinking since the 2018 season how well the baseball team would be served to pay someone 50-60k a year with Nebraska connections and that’s your sole job, keep track of Nebraska kids. Baseball is a little “odd” in the fact it’s not as social media driven. Many kids don’t announce offers, they only announce commitments, and other things like that. So I don’t think social media is as important as getting ahead on local kids, but it would certainly help. Hell, Erstad went totally twitterless after still having to deal with people after winning coach of the year and a conference title.

I'd have that same person at USSSA tourneys in Omaha, Lincoln, and western Iowa every spring. Agree about baseball being less media driven. If a kid wants to play college baseball, any kid can. Midland Lutheran, Doane, et al aren't turning kids away. Baseball is about relationships. Start those when those kids are 10. Lincoln Sox 10U team's first two hitters are D1 players; you can see that already.

 

[pRED]

Baseball can be tough, as the "next" level of competition can expose a lot of frauds (and I fully understand that's a trigger word). There's a whole complex built around taking money, promoting hopes, and ultimately the numbers up the chain are less prone to manipulation. That's why having someone on staff see prospects for themselves in high caliber competitive situations (multiple times if possible) is a must...and, in season, a full-time job plus. It's hard work, but I think that recruiting is an edge that Erstad-Silva should have and capitalize on more, but the rosters haven't borne that out in a demonstrably regular way. Table setters, mashers and confident strike throwers, hopefully all 6'3", 200 pounds.

 

[BasilLongfellow]

Baseball can be tough, as the "next" level of competition can expose a lot of frauds (and I fully understand that's a trigger word). There's a whole complex built around taking money, promoting hopes, and ultimately the numbers up the chain are less prone to manipulation. That's why having someone on staff see prospects for themselves in high caliber competitive situations (multiple times if possible) is a must...and, in season, a full-time job plus. It's hard work, but I think that recruiting is an edge that Erstad-Silva should have and capitalize on more, but the rosters haven't borne that out in a demonstrably regular way. Table setters, mashers and confident strike throwers, hopefully all 6'3", 200 pounds.

I've always been envious of teams with a 5'8" fast as lightning table setter leading off.