Roseville

The'backstops' here

By Brad D. Bates
C & G Sports Writer

Local baseball talent excels behind plate

It takes a special kind of baseball player to catch.

Wearing the “tools of ignorance” — as a catcher’s gear was dubbed by 1920s catcher Herold “Muddy” Ruel — takes a commitment to absorbing foul balls, diving in front of 80-plus mph pitches and standing strong while runners sprint toward home.

But it’s the truly special players who survive the strife of catching while enjoying and excelling at it.

“They love the game more than most players,” said St. Clair Shores Lake Shore coach Chris Kuppe, who coached current collegiate catchers like Brett Mazmanian and Sam Giordano.

“I tell my pitchers to keep the ball out of the dirt and take it easy on (senior Carl Smith), but he says not to worry, that’s what he’s there for.

“(Catchers) love competition. At what position besides catcher are you in on every pitch and every play but catcher. They love that control.”

Commitment to the game is one of the many traits that make catchers special, and one that would make a team made up of nothing but catchers close to unbeatable.

“If you got nine guys like that, forget it, you’re going to win,” Warren De La Salle coach Brian Kelly said of a team made solely of players like his senior catcher and University of Michigan commit John DiLaura.

It’s a catcher’s mix of physical and mental toughness, along with his athletic gifts, that makes him able to play every position on the field.

“First basemen need to be able to scoop a ball out of the dirt,” Madison Heights Lamphere coach Adam Wooley said.

“Second basemen and shortstops need to have quick hands too, and a third baseman needs that toughness to take all the shots they face. Outfielders need a strong arm to throw balls accurately and on a line. If you have a team of nothing but catchers, you could put them at any position.”

With duties that include calling pitches and directing infield defense, catchers must always have their minds on the game.

“First and foremost, you have to have an arm, but second to that, you need the ability to think the game,” said Bob Walmsley, Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse coach and a former catcher himself.

“The kids I put back there are the ones that I’m able to talk the game with.

“They’re the person that touches the ball so much that you need to have someone back there you can trust.”

Walmsley’s backstop, sophomore Erik Winnega, is one of the new breed of catchers.

Rather than being behind the plate because they can’t move as well in the field, they’re back there because of their athleticism.

“I’ve always been a proponent of that,” Kelly said of playing his most athletic players at catcher. “My first year, my catcher was a 5-8 kid that was 180 pounds, but he could move.”

Athleticism allows a catcher to fully utilize his ability to throw runners out.

“As a coach that’s been here 13 years, the biggest thing I can do is control the running game,” Utica Stevenson coach Joe Emanuele said.

“That’s one area a team can outplay another. When I have a great catcher, that’s what we can do, and (senior) Josh (Andreycak) without a doubt is the best thrower that we have had.”

Andreycak has helped the Titans steal 54 more bases than their opponents, and of Stevenson’s 67 steals, Andreycak has 17.

“We work on ‘pop time,’ which is the time it takes to get from glove to glove — from home to second,” Emanuele said. “If a catcher doesn’t have fast feet, they’re not going to be a good catcher.”

The ability to move behind the plate helps a catcher’s ability to throw runners out on the base paths, but just as important may be blocking errant pitches.

“The best (catchers) I’ve had have been selfless, hard-working kids,” Kelly said. “At the high school level, (blocking) is key to keeping a game under control. Blocking is one skill that takes a kid who is tough and doesn’t mind getting banged up.”

Blocking and throwing out base runners is where a catcher affects games defensively, but on offense, reading pitches sets catchers apart.

“Pitch recognition is the biggest thing in blocking pitches, so you get used to really watching pitches,” said Fraser High senior Anthony Incarnati, who is in his third year catching for the Ramblers.

“You notice pitches so much that you recognize curves and sliders a lot more.”

Which is just another reason a team comprising all the traits that make catchers special would be — well, special.

“A team of catchers would be a very focused team,” said Winnega, who has been catching since he was 8 years old.

“Catchers always have their full attention on the game, and they’re tough. They would have each others back, and everyone there would be a leader.”

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Brad D. Bates at bbates@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1029.