Baseball Preview: Pitching Community

BASEBALL PREVIEW

Players to watch

Austin Barr, jr., Camas; Chris Bones, sr., Ridgefield; Clint Coulter, jr., Union; Logan Grindy, sr., Camas; P.J. Jones, sr., Mountain View; Connor Perry, sr., Hockinson; Tommy Thorpe, sr., Evergreen; Kody Watts, sr., Skyview; Caleb Whalen, Sr., Union; Kurt Yinger, sr., Camas.

Leagues at a glance

4A GREATER ST. HELENS LEAGUE: Skyview has 11 seniors and eight returning starters. The Storm are led by a Division-I pitcher, Kody Watts, who can also hit. The coaches seem to be in agreement that the Storm are the team to beat. … After making a playoff run last year, Union is making a move from 3A to 4A with a lot of expectations. … Evergreen has returning league player of the year, Tommy Thorpe, who, like Watts, can pitch and hit.

3A GREATER ST. HELENS LEAGUE: Camas finished second in the state last year and returns 10 players from that squad. Camas coach Joe Hallead said that is not necessarily a key to success, though. He has warned his team that there are plenty of examples of teams coming back but then fail to live up to expectations. He is telling his players not to worry about rankings and possible state title runs and just focus on the small steps. … Plus, Hallead said, nobody should be sleeping on Mountain View, a program on the rise that is coming from the 4A ranks. The Thunder, he said, have the tools to be a league champion. … Kelso and Prairie also are traditionally strong programs. … Columbia River, which lost in the state semifinals to Camas last season, graduated all 16 players. That means the Chieftains are the wild card this season. Then there are Hudson’s Bay and Fort Vancouver, proving that any team can win in this league on a particular night. Both of those teams can compete with the top teams in the league.

2A GREATER ST. HELENS LEAGUE: Coaches agree that the north still looks to be the tops in this league, with Mark Morris and R.A. Long of Longview leading the way. R.A. Long played for the state title last year, while Mark Morris’ pitching looks strong. Hockinson returns seven starters and looks to make a move, too. Woodland is young — as many as six freshmen might play varsity — but the Beavers are optimistic that they are heading in the right direction.

1A TRICO LEAGUE: Strange to see a new coach at Ridgefield. Robert Haensel has taken over for Art Osmundson. The rest of the league sees the Spudders as one of the favorites, a strong program moving from Class 2A to 1A. Toledo/Winlock also got a vote for “team to beat,” and Castle Rock usually is right there, too.

A lot of Tommy Thorpe’s family members have attended the University of Oregon. He grew up cheering for the Ducks, wearing the green and yellow.

Cannot say he always wanted to play baseball for the Ducks. After all, Oregon did not have a baseball program for a couple of decades.

But Oregon brought back baseball, and almost immediately got really good at the sport. That was about the same time Thorpe was coming into his own, turning into one of the top high school baseball pitchers in the Northwest.

A perfect match.

Thorpe, a senior left-hander from Evergreen who was the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League’s player of the year in 2010, signed a letter of intent with Oregon baseball in November.

“I put in the time in the weight room and on the field,” Thorpe said. “I’ve always worked hard.”

As good as he is, he is not alone among the elite pitchers in Clark County.

Skyview ace Kody Watts has signed with the University of Portland. (Thorpe and Watts take to the mound today against each other, too.) Over in Camas, two pitchers have signed with Division-I programs: Kurt Yinger is set to attend the University of California Santa Barbara and Ryan Patterson is signed with New Mexico State.

“It doesn’t seem like it happens that often,” Watts said. “It’s pretty rare for four pitchers in the same season.”

Certainly it does not happen every year, but at least one coach believes this might be the beginning of a wave of talent coming out of Clark County. Not just for pitchers, but for all positions in the game.

“I attribute it to our summer program and the high-level programs we have for this area,” Camas coach Joe Hallead said. “They’re getting out of the region and playing tournaments up and down the West Coast. It’s a lot more experience for the kids who play premium baseball. They’re seeing Division I players all summer. When you play in that system, you’re going to get exposure and you’re going to get better.”

Thorpe and Watts made it to the Mariner Cup, where they got to play with some of the best players from Oregon, Idaho, and Washington and even got to pitch at Safeco Field. Watts and Yinger played together on the Vancouver Cardinals in the summer.

Thorpe has been a pitcher since youth ball, and he always loved having the ball in his hand to start every play. Still, he never really knew how good he was until last season, when he won nine games, leading the Plainsmen to a second-place finish in the 4A GSHL.

“My junior year is when I first thought that maybe I was good enough to play D-I,” he said. “I had 87 strikeouts, my strikes-to-ball ratio was pretty good. Also, I just had fun with it.”

He also has learned it is more than just the ability to throw his top pitches. A quality pitcher also must know when to throw a particular pitch.

“If you’re in a curveball count, throw a fastball instead,” Thorpe said. “It gets them off-balance.”

Then, he said, the key is to switch it up again the next time through the lineup.

Evergreen coach Chad Burchett said Thorpe’s ceiling is as high as any pitcher he has coached — and he has coached several Division-I arms.

“He’s a light-hearted guy, but he’s as fierce as they come on the bump,” Burchett said. “We’ve just got to find a way to put up a run and we have a pretty good chance to win.”

In Thorpe’s last outing last week, the Plainsmen did not get that run. Thorpe threw seven innings of shutout ball — he had a no-hitter going into the seventh — and then left the game with the score 0-0. Union hit a grand slam in extra innings for a 4-0 win.

Watts went 6-1 last season with a 1.50 ERA for the Storm. A power-throwing right-hander, Watts said his dream has always been to play professional baseball.

“Seeing all the scouts who come to the games, that gets me anxious,” Watts acknowledged. “I’ve still got to work hard to get there.”

The plan is to go to college next year, but if he is drafted out of high school and if the offer is good enough, well, he is leaving his options open. Really, though, he is just excited to go to UP, to work under coach Chris Sperry and pitching coach Larry Casian.

“I haven’t heard one bad thing ever said about them,” Watts said.

Watts has a couple of no-decisions in two outings this spring for the Storm — leaving both games with the lead.

Skyview coach Eric Estes said he does not want to take away anything from any standout pitcher in the past, but Watts’ ability now and potential are on line with anybody.

“He’s good. He’s really good,” Estes said. “He got kind of an ‘it’ factor.”

Weather permitting, Watts and Thorpe will face each other today in a buzz-worthy matchup.

“I’d rather go up against a fellow D-I pitcher than a team we can usually roll through,” Watts said. “I’d rather take a big challenge and succeed.”

Interestingly, both said they cheer for each other — as well as the other pitchers they know — when they are not facing each other.

“I see them on the scoreboard, and I say, ‘Wow. That’s awesome,’ ” Thorpe said.

Watts said that through summer ball and other baseball activities, the top players all know each other, respect one another.

“I’m always pulling for Tommy and all of them,” Watts said.

The baseball community, specifically the pitching community, is one big family.

One big, talented family this season.