analysis: wareham gatemen

Last season: 24-19, second place in West, lost to Y-D in championship
Returning players: 10

OUTLOOK
On paper, this is a very talented group, but success will depend on a lot of different factors. Still, things could shape up nicely. The Gatemen have some depth in their pitching staff and some experience, with two players back from last year. But if all goes according to plan, offense could be the real strength. Russ Moldenhauer, Dustin Dickerson, Jason Ogata, Beamer Weems, Bradley Suttle, Luke Murton and Ike Davis all bring impressive credentials with them. Weems, Suttle and Murton are all in their second year on the Cape, a major advantage. If Dominic De La Osa comes to Wareham instead of signing immediately the Tigers — he was a 10th round pick last week — then the Gatemen will be even more stacked.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Mike Minor – lefthander from Vanderbilt had a big freshman season
Matt Langwell – righthander emerged as one of Rice’s top pitchers
Scott Gorgen – tossed a shutout in the super regionals against Wichita St.
Brad Unger – he’s 6-foot-8

Russ Moldenhauer – plays all over the field and has a solid freshman season for Texas
Dustin Dickerson – highly-touted out of high school, did well at Baylor
Beamer Weems – back for his second summer, he’s one of the top shortstops in the country
Bradley Suttle – has had two huge years for Texas
Ike Davis – all kinds of honors have come his way in two years at Arizona State

ROSTER ANALYSIS

CATCHERS
Russ Moldenhauer – Texas – Freshman – UTL/RHP – 5-11 205
Moldenhauer started most of the season for the Longhorns, no small feat for a freshman. He did fairly well for himself too, hitting .278 with 6 HR and 32 RBI. He appeared to play mostly in the DH spot and by the end of the season, was hitting in the middle of the order. Out of high school, Moldenhauer was a third-round pick. He’s listed in the catcher section of Wareham’s roster.

Bryan Garrity – UMass – Junior – C – 5-11 195
Garrity was the starting catcher for the Minutemen and hit .240 in 44 games.

Josh Phegley – Indiana – Freshman – C – 5-10 220
Phegley struggled with the bat for the Hoosiers, hitting just .232, but to be in Wareham after his freshman year means he has some potential. He hit .592 his senior year in high school on his way to Indiana Mr. Baseball honors.

Matt Anderson – Franklin Pierce – Junior – C – 6-0 220*
Anderson started all 57 games for Franklin Pierce and hit .329 with eight home runs.

FIRST BASE
Dustin Dickerson – Baylor – Freshman – 1B/OF – 6-4 215
Dickerson batted .292 with an OBP of .400 in a starting role for the Bears. Dickerson was a highly-touted recruit out of McGregor, Texas and was rated in the preseason as the seventh-best freshman in the nation by Baseball America. He was a 15th-round pick out of high school.

Luke Murton – Georgia Tech – Sophomore – 1B – 6-4 235
The brother of Cubs outfielder Matt Murton, Luke hit .239 for Tech this season but pounded nine home runs and had 43 RBI. He hit .234 last year for the Gatemen and will be looking to recapture a bit of the form that saw him hit .334 his freshman year with the Yellow Jackets.

SECOND BASE
Jason Ogata – Oregon State – Sophomore – 2B – 6-1 190
Ogata attended LSU last year, had a huge year on the Cape then transferred to Oregon State. For Wareham last year, Ogata hit .316, one of the top averages in the league. He hit .292 for the Beavers this season.

Michael Demperio – Texas – Freshman – 2B – 5-10 170
Demperio played in 33 games for the Longhorns and hit .156. Demperio was a big recruit out of Marietta, Ga.

THIRD BASE
Bradley Suttle – Texas – Sophomore – 3B – 6-3 215
Suttle led the Gatemen in home runs last season after being named a freshman all-american with the Longhorns. He avoided the sophomore slump this season by hitting .359 with 12 HR and 68 RBI. With his size and those numbers, Suttle looks like a big-time player.

Seth Henry – Tulane – Sophomore – 3B – 5-10 180
Henry is also back for another summer in Wareham. Last year, he played second and third base and hit .126. For the Green Wave this season, Henry hit .256.

Steffan Wilson – Harvard – Junior – 3B/OF – 6-2 215*
The top prospect in the Ivy League according to Baseball America, Wilson is back for his second summer with the Gatemen. Wilson hit .331 for Harvard.

Scott Savastano – Franklin Pierce – Sophomore – 3B/SS – 6-3 205*
Savastano hit .357 in 19 games for Franklin Pierce.

SHORTSTOP
Beamer Weems – Baylor – Sophomore – SS – 5-10 175
Back for his second season with the Gatemen, Weems should be one of the top infielders in the league. A freshman all-american last year, Weems hit .321 this year for Baylor with nine HR and 59 RBI. He was on the watch-list for the Wallace Award, presented to the top player in college baseball.

Jordy Mercer – Oklahoma State – Sophomore – SS/RHP – 6-3 185
Like Weems, Mercer was a freshman all-american last year, though this will be his first summer on the Cape. For the Cowboys this season, Mercer hit .307 and made just eight errors at shortstop. He also put up good numbers out of the bullpen, posting a 3.81 ERA.

Mike Hollander – LSU – Junior – SS – 5-8 175*
Hollander hit .279 for the Tigers with five HR and 26 RBI. It looks like Hollander played for Cotuit in 2005.

OUTFIELD
Mike Cavasinni – North Carolina – Sophomore – OF – 5-8 155
Cavasinni played just one game last summer in the Coastal Plain League after breaking his collarbone. After a big freshman season, Cavasinni played in 35 games for the Tar Heels this year and hit .237.

Ben Booker – Baylor – Sophomore – OF – 6-3 205
Booker hit .306 for Baylor, fourth on the team. He hit two home runs and drove in 32.

Jarred Bogany – Arizona State – Sophomore – OF – 6-3 200
After transferring from LSU, Bogany played in 52 games for the Sun Devils and hit .190. He was a high-school all-american out of Houston.

Diallo Fon – Arizona – Sophomore – OF – 6-0 200
Fon transferred from Vanderbilt and hit .300 with a .413 OBP this season for the Wildcats. Fon played last summer for Wareham and hit .180.

Ike Davis – Arizona State – Sophomore – OF/1B – 6-4 215
A big-time prospect, Davis is set to make his first appearance on the Cape. He was the preseason PAC-10 player of the year, and though his teammate Brett Wallace beat him out, Davis didn’t really disappoint. He hit .352 with seven HR and 59 RBI. In his freshman year, Davis racked up the accolades, from PAC-10 freshman of the year to a spot on several freshman all-america teams. David played in Alaska last summer.

Dominic De La Osa – Vanderbilt – Junior – OF/INF – 5-11 190*
De La Osa was a 10th-round pick last week so we’ll see if he comes to Wareham. Last summer, De La Osa hit .270 last summer for the Gatemen and this year for Vanderbilt, he hit .378 with 20 home runs.

* – non-roster invitee

PITCHERS

Matt Langwell – Rice – Junior – RHP – 6-2 225
Langwell has been one of the top pitchers for the Omaha-bound Owls. As of June 8,the right-hander had made nine starts – 20 appearances – and posted a 7-1 record with a 1.73 ERA.

Mike Minor – Vanderbilt – Freshman – LHP – 6-3 186
Minor was the No. 2 starter for Vanderbilt, right behind David Price, the first pick in the Major League draft. Minor finished the year with a 9-1 record and a 3.09 ERA. An article in the Nashville City Paper features a quote from head coach Vandy Coach Tim Corbin comparing Minor to former Vandy and Wareham pitcher Jeremy Sowers, who now plays for the Cleveland Indians.

Kendal Volz – Baylor – Freshman – RHP – 6-4 225
Volz made 14 starts for the Bears and went 6-2 with a 5.16 ERA. Opponents hit .321 against him but he did strike out 65, second-most on the team. Volz was highly-touted recruit and Baseball America ranked him No. 11 on their preseason list of the nation’s top 50 freshman. Volz was drafted in the 50^th round out of high school.

Blake Dean – LSU – Freshman – LHP – 6-2 185
Dean is listed as a pitcher/outfielder on the Wareham roster, but he didn’t throw an inning for LSU. He did, however, lead the Tigers in batting, finishing with a .316 average. More on Dean in the outfielders section.

Jeremy Bleich – Stanford – Sophomore – LHP – 6-2 185
Bleich made 16 appearances – all starts – for the Cardinal and like many of his fellow Stanford pitchers, he struggled. The tradition-rich Cardinal went 28-28, with a team ERA of 6.01. Bleich finished 2-8 with a 5.56 ERA. He was second on the team in strikeouts. Bleich played for Wareham last summer and put up solid numbers, finishing with a 2.09 ERA.

Brandt Walker – Stanford – Freshman – RHP – 6-2 180
A 21^st-round pick last year out of high school, Walker made just nine appearances this season. I can’t find anything about an injury, so I’m not sure if that was it or if he just didn’t get the innings. Walker allowed 12 runs in 12.1 innings of work.

Matt Petiton – North Carolina – Freshman – LHP – 6-1 195
Another lightly-used freshman, Petiton saw very limited duty for the Tar Heels, allowing four runs in two-thirds of an inning over two appearances. Petiton was a Louisville Slugger All-American out of Garden City High School in New York.

Chris Hicks – Georgia Tech – Sophomore – RHP – 6-4 205
Hicks made 15 appearances for the Yellow Jackets, 11 of them in relief. He closed the year with a 7.29 ERA in 33.1 innings. He struck out 22 but walked 20. Hicks played in Wareham last summer and went 2-1 with a 1.47 ERA in seven appearances.

Andy Oliver – Oklahoma State – Freshman – LHP – 6-4 205
Oliver made 11 starts for the Cowboys and finished 6-1 despite a 5.13 ERA. He struck out 38 in 40.1 innings. Oliver was a 17^th-round draft pick out of high school in Vermilion, Ohio.

Dallas Keuchel – Arkansas – Freshman – LHP – 6-2 190
Keuchel got a lot of work in his first year with the Razorbacks, making nine starts and 15 appearances out of the bullpen. He struck out 49 in 52 innings and finished the year with a 5.88 ERA.

Scott Gorgen – UC Irvine – Sophomore – RHP – 5-10 185
Gorgen had a solid regular season for the Anteaters but really made some noise Saturday when he shut out Wichita State in the first game of a Super Regional series. If the Anteaters make it to Omaha, Gorgen will be late to Wareham. But if Saturday’s start is any indication, he’ll be worth the wait. For the season, Gorgen went 8-2 with a 3.30 ERA and 70 strikeouts.

Brad Unger – Harvard – Junior – RHP – 6-8 245*
His size makes him sound more like a basketball player, and he actually is. Unger was a team captain for the Crimson in the winter and then laced up the cleats for baseball. He was solid, too, finishing the year with a 3-2 record and a 3.66 ERA in 10 appearances. I don’t know what kind of stuff he has, but the baseball/basketball/really tall guy/ivy league storyline is a lot like that of Chris Young, who pitched and played basketball for Princeton. He’s now a San Diego Padre.

Lance Sewell – San Diego State – Sophomore – LHP – 6-3 205*
Sewell was a regular starter for the Aztecs and led the team in strikeouts with 74 in 77 innings. He finished with a 5-6 record but his ERA was 3.16.

Josh Moore – Wheaton College – Junior – LHP – 6-0 175*
Moore put up good numbers for Division III Wheaton and will try to make a splash on a bigger stage with the Gatemen. In 10 appearances for Wheaton, Moore went 8-1 with a 3.13 ERA and struck out 63.

Bill Purdy – Columbia – Junior – RHP – 5-10 185*
Another Ivy-Leaguer trying to make an impression on the Cape, Purdy went 5-4 for Columbia with a 4.89 ERA.

Sam Whelan – Babson College – Junior – RHP – 6-2 185*
Whelan went 6-2 for Babson with a 3.10 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 52 innings.

* – non-roster invitee

RELATED POSTS