Terrace hopes arms race translates to state success

Published 9:13 am Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Every time Andrew Watters updates his team’s 2010 pitching statistics he smiles and shakes his head in disbelief.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Watters, the Mountlake Terrace High School baseball team’s 11th-year coach.

Watters has had the pleasure of working with many excellent pitchers over the years at Mountlake Terrace, including right-handers Jake Theis and Kyle Barisic, who in 2008 helped launch the Hawks to the state tournament with masterful mound performances. The Royals selected Theis that year in the 21st round of the Major League Baseball draft.

But the stellar ‘08 pitching staff, spearheaded by Theis and Barisic, wasn’t as good as the one Terrace has this spring, Watters said. Two other right-handers — seniors Aaron Brooks and Andrew Woeck — headline a ridiculously dominant group that last week propelled the Hawks to a district title and state-tournament berth.

Through its first 22 games this season Terrace (17-6) had a team earned-run average of 1.35. That covers 150 innings, spread out among seven players. Brooks (55 innings) and Woeck (572/3 innings), the team’s top two starting pitchers, have led the way. Going into Terrace’s Class 4A District 1 championship game against Kamiak, Brooks had an ERA of 1.15 and Woeck (pronounced Wick) was at 1.09.

“It’s why we’re where we’re at,” said Watters, whose team plays District 3 No. 4 seed Central Kitsap in a first-round 4A state tournament game at 10 a.m. Saturday at Everett Memorial Stadium.

In Terrace’s most recent game, Brooks (the starter) and Woeck (who relieved Brooks in the fifth inning) both pitched and helped the Hawks outlast Western Conference South Division champion Kamiak 4-3 in eight innings. Which one of them will start against Central Kitsap? After the district championship, Watters said he had not decided. But he sure has two outstanding options.

Brooks (7-1) and Woeck (7-3, two saves) have tallied a total of 11 complete games and six shutouts (three apiece). They constantly try to out-perform each other in what has been a constructive, fun inner-team competition, Watters said.

“What’s great about them,” Watters said of Brooks and Woeck, “is that they’re competitive with each other so I really think that the presence of the other has really helped each of them perform at their highest level as this year has gone on.”

Although Brooks (6-foot-5) and Woeck (5-foot-8) enjoy similar success, the ways they achieve it are as different as their physical appearances. Brooks, who recently accepted a scholarship to play baseball for Gonzaga University, uses his long limbs and side-arm delivery to confound hitters. He likes to throw down in the strike zone and works side to side with effective offspeed pitches, Watters said.

Like Brooks, Woeck’s pitch velocity is consistently in the upper 80s and tops out in the low 90s. But the much shorter Woeck, who signed with Western Nevada College, has an over-the-top throwing motion and is good at changing the plane of his various pitches, said Watters. Despite his comparably diminutive frame, Woeck can overpower hitters with high fastballs.

“They’re both very unique in what they have. That’s part of their success for both of them,” said Watters, who compared the pitchers, in terms of their look and style, to Tim Lincecum (Woeck) and a right-handed Randy Johnson (Brooks).

Keegan Volpone, Terrace’s junior catcher, said it’s fun catching Brooks and Woeck (who plays shortstop when he doesn’t pitch and is the team’s leadoff hitter) because “they are two totally different pitchers. Andrew, he’s just straightforward; he’s going to try to overpower you. And Brooks is more of a guy that just fine-tunes everything. They’re both just good at what they do.”

Asked about Volpone’s role in Terrace’s pitching dominance, Watters said the catcher has been crucial: “He’s calling the game for those guys back there.”

Participating in the state tournament for the fourth time since 2001 and the sixth time in program history, the Hawks seek their first state win. They are 0-5 since their debut appearance in 1986, including an 11-5 loss in 2008 against Central Kitsap, the team Terrace plays on Saturday.

Can the Hawks’ pitchers keep up their season-long brilliance and break through at state? Woeck thinks so.

“Me and Brooks are doing a great job out there,” said Woeck, “and if we keep on shutting (teams) out there’s no way we can lose.”

Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.