SEATTLE — With winter winding down, the University of Washington baseball season is already underway. And in a typical year the Huskies would be playing in California, Arizona, Texas or some other warm-weather region for much of their early-season schedule.
But this year, and with spring still about two weeks away, Washington is in the midst of a March-long homestand, including a pair of three-game series later this month against Arizona and Oregon to open the Pacific-12 Conference schedule.
“I think (this home stretch) will be great for us,” said Lindsay Meggs, Washington’s seventh-year head coach. “We still have a lot of question marks and we have to get out there for a month to let the pieces fall where they may. … We need this kind of a stretch to find out who we are.
“We’re still a work in progress (with) a lot of young guys,” he said. “But I like the way we’re playing, and I like our attitude and approach.”
“It’s going to be really nice to be in our home facility in front of our own fans (this month), and to be able to show everybody what we’re made of,” added UW first baseman John Naff, a 2012 graduate of Marysville Pilchuck High School who also played at Everett Community College.
The Huskies opened their season by going 4-3 on a February road trip to Baylor and California-Riverside, and then began what was supposed to be a 16-game March homestand by taking two of three from Santa Clara last weekend, though rain washed out one of four scheduled games. Washington plays host to Pacific next weekend, followed by Arizona and Oregon, and then closes the month with a two-game set against Gonzaga.
The Huskies had their best season under Meggs in 2014 by going 41-17-1, including a runner-up 21-9 Pacific-12 Conference mark, leading to an NCAA regional appearance. Nine players off that team were selected in the major-league draft, leaving Washington thin in talent a year ago and resulting in a 29-25 record with no postseason appearance.
But with the help of a top facility — Husky Ballpark reopened in 2014 after a $15 million renovation — Meggs said he believes UW baseball is on the upswing. His class of incoming freshmen was ranked 15th nationally by Baseball America magazine, and the class due to report in the fall is projected even higher.
“We like the direction we’re going,” Meggs said. “(In recruiting) our mindset is simply to find the best baseball players across the country who are the best students, and then get them on campus and expose them to our culture. … And I think we’ve done that.”
Among this season’s promising freshmen are right-handed pitcher Joe DeMers of Martinez, Calif., who “has been acknowledged by everyone who follows college baseball as one of the premier freshmen in the country,” Meggs said. Also shortstop A.J. Graffanino of Peoria, Ariz., the son of 14-year major league player Tony Graffanino, who “does some things at shortstop that you don’t see too many freshmen do.”
Meggs also landed some top community college players including outfielder M.J. Hubbs of Cave Creek, Ariz., and infielder/designated hitter Gage Matuszak, who are both hitting over .300 in the middle of Washington’s lineup. And Naff, who is batting .290 while starting every game to date.
“The first time I showed up at a game (at Husky Ballpark) I was amazed,” Naff said. “It’s just beautiful. And to have the hitting facilities we have now and the locker room, it’s great. It’s definitely up there with the top (facilities) in the country.”
The Huskies, said Meggs, “are in a great place.” Though this season’s Pac-12 “is, in my opinion, as tough as this league has ever been. … We think we’re a few key moments away from getting back to the regionals, hopefully to a super regional, and knocking on the door to the College World Series.”
The CWS is played every year in Omaha, Neb., and “we want to be an Omaha-type program,” he went on. “In my opinion, and especially this year, I think it’s realistic that you could see eight teams from our league in the postseason. And five or six of those teams, if they’re playing the way they’re capable of playing at the end of the year, have a chance to go to the College World Series and win it.
“I think we can be one of those teams if we’re hitting on all cylinders,” he said. “I feel like this group has the ability to get to the postseason. And if they’re playing the way they’re capable of playing when that time frame rolls around, then anything can happen.”
“I’d say we’re pretty darn close (to reaching the CWS),” agreed pitcher Alex Nesbitt, a 2012 graduate of Mukilteo’s Kamiak High School. “It’s always hard to say at the beginning of the season because you don’t know what’s going to happen, (but) I think this team has potential.
“In 2014 we had such a great run, and I think it showed that UW baseball was on the map and that it was there to stay,” Nesbitt said. And since then, he added, “the culture just keeps continuing to grow.”
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