Summer of Swat: How are Missouri baseball players doing as July ends?
By Kyle Jones
This is the last Summer of Swat for the month of July, and Missouri baseball players are wrapping up their action for the month as well.
Let’s check in with how they’re doing in their various summer leagues. You can find last week’s Summer of Swat here.
CJ Cepicky-Danville Otterbots
Cepicky made 5 appearances over the last week, though he didn’t find much luck at the plate, going 2-for-12. Cepicky struck out 7 times, including 3 times against Johnson City on Wednesday.
The numbers don’t lie, Cepicky’s 23 strikeouts this summer have really hurt his team’s chances. To his credit, he does have a knack for drawing walks including 3 more this week.
I don’t know what Cepicky can do to turn things around at the plate, but he needs to before the regular season starts
Brenner Maloney-Danville Otterbots
Maloney’s one appearance last week was a rough one. In his one inning pitched, Maloney allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks. While he did grab 2 strikeouts, those don’t really matter if you get shelled in the process.
Maloney has had some sour luck this summer, allowing 29 runs, but only 15 earned. Maybe some help from his teammates can keep him out of bad situations and allow for better outings. The Otterbots have committed 53 errors this summer.
Trevor Austin-Greeneville Flyboys
Trevor Austin made four appearances last week, but only one of them was good. He went 0-for in two of those games, and struck out 3 times.
Austin deserves credit for his performance against Kingsport or July 28, however, where he went 2-for-3 with a walk.
Consistency is key, and that’s something that Austin did not have last week. If he can be consistently solid at the plate then Missouri baseball fans should get excited.
Austin Troesser-Greeneville Flyboys
Summer of Swat is just about ready to turn into an Austin Troesser fan page, and can you blame me? Troesser had one appearance out of the bullpen last week, and it was another gem.
Two innings pitched and two strikeouts, Troesser once again went through an outing without allowing a hit. That’s 22 innings with only 11 hits allowed.
That’s outstanding, and exactly what Missouri needs.
Tre Morris-Princeton WhistlePigs
It was a week full of hits for Tre Morris, who notched 9. His top performance came against Greeneville where he went a perfect 4-for-4 and also drew a walk.
Strong, consistent hitting is an asset to any team, and if Morris can keep this up then both Missouri and WhistlePigs fans will be happier for it.
Ross Lovich-Pulaski River Turtles
It was an ugly week for Lovich, and this late in the summer that is something you cannot have. He went 0-for in 3 of his 5 games, and only managed 1 hit in each of the other 2 games. He struck out 5 times.
Lovich is in a similar spot to Cepicky. At this point with only a week or so left in the season, there’s not much time to turn things around. Hopefully he can find his swing by the time Missouri baseball season starts.
Garrett Rice-Pulaski River Turtles
Rice had a great week, knocking 9 hits. Those 9 hits brought in 3 RBIs, and helped Pulaski to 3 big wins. The best part of Rice’s week was that he had a hit in every one of his 5 games.
Hitting streaks build confidence, and hopefully that confidence can translate to success later when Rice rejoins Missouri.
Jackson Beaman-Pulaski River Turtles
Beaman had a hit in 3 of his 4 games last week, though multi-hit games weren’t really on the menu for him. During the game where Beaman had his hit streak snapped, Beaman was able to draw 3 walks.
It might not be the big numbers that Rice put up, but Beaman getting on base is always a plus for Missouri baseball fans.