A year ago, the University of Washington baseball team was the surprise of the Pacific-12 Conference season.
Picked for a next-to-last place finish in a preseason coaches poll, the Huskies went 41-17-1, placed second in the 11-team league and reached the championship game of the NCAA Tournament regional round.
Playing in a posh new ballpark, the Huskies were indeed a success story in 2013-14. And now, one year later, they hope to compose an equally triumphant sequel.
Under sixth-year head coach Lindsay Meggs, the 2014 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, the Huskies will try to build on a season that was “a big step forward for us, both on and off the field,” Meggs said. “With our new ballpark and then finishing the season in the regional championship game at (Mississippi), it kind of validated the plan we have for our program.”
Though this year’s squad will be without eight players selected in last spring’s major league draft, there are plenty of top returnees, plus newcomers from an outstanding recruiting class. Already the potential is evident as Washington is 11-5 heading into this weekend’s opening conference series at UCLA.
“We lost so many key people (to the draft), just like anybody who has a big year typically does,” Meggs said. “So we have a lot of holes with a lot of new guys and a lot of young guys. It’s an inexperienced group that’s trying to find a way to win by merely hanging in there.
“As I told our guys, if we’re going to be in this thing it’ll be because we’re playing our best baseball and finding a way to finish in the upper third of the league at the end (of the conference season). We’re a lot less experienced in the field (than a year ago), so we may take it on the chin early in conference play. But if we can survive those first few weeks of conference play … then hopefully at the end we’ll be where we were last spring.”
Among Washington’s returning players are a few from Snohomish County, including starting third baseman Alex Schmidt from Mukilteo’s Kamiak High School and top reliever Brandon Choate from Mountlake Terrace High School. Both are seniors, and both will be counted on both to provide leadership and production.
“(Schmidt) has been in the middle of our batting order since Day 1 while playing third base,” Meggs said. Though Schmidt has started slowly this season, batting .189 (albeit with a .434 slugging percentage) in the team’s first 16 games, “he has all the tools you’d look for at that position as far as being able to drive in runs and throw the ball across the diamond.”
Choate is one of Washington’s top relievers, and in several different roles. “We can close with him, but it’s also tempting to bring him in in the sixth inning if it’s a big moment. He likes to compete, and he’s absolutely a team guy who will do anything in any role to help us,” Meggs said of Choate, who is 1-1 with a 1.12 ERA and two saves this season.
Last season’s trip to the postseason was the first in a decade for Washington, and that experience “was really special,” Choate said. “We did a lot more than anybody expected. We almost made it to our ultimate goal, which is (the College World Series in) Omaha … and getting that close is really driving us this year.”
Repeating last season’s success is no sure thing, “but I definitely think we’re capable of doing it,” Schmidt said. “But we’re always talking about how we’re not trying to be the same team we were last year. We play the game differently. I still think we can get to that type of level of competitiveness and get that far again, if not further, but it’s going to be a different path for us than last year.”
Both Choate and Schmidt feel blessed to be part of a resurgent Washington program, and to play their final two seasons in the school’s beautiful new stadium. With views of nearby Lake Washington and Mount Rainier in the distance, “it’s eye-opening every time you run out there,” Choate said.
“The Washington experience for me is pretty much like a dream come true,” Schmidt added. “I get to play close to home, so my family shows up for most of my games. And the whole atmosphere with the school, the baseball program and the stadium is just electric.”
Meggs, meanwhile, says what happened last year has carried over in terms of recruiting, regional recognition and momentum for the current season.
“Winning attracts winners,” he pointed out. “The fact that we were only four wins away from the College World Series means a lot to people who follow college baseball in the Northwest. And getting our stadium done makes a statement that we not only care about baseball, but that we want to get to the College World Series as badly as they do.”
Put it all together, he said, “and it puts us in position to take that next step.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
