Summer of Swat: Missouri baseball players meet in Championship
By Kyle Jones
The saddest day of the summer has arrived for Missouri baseball. The wood bat baseball season has ended and the crawl towards regular season play can now begin.
It’s time to see how the traveling Tigers ended their season. You can find the last edition of Summer of Swat here.
CJ Cepicky-Danville Otterbots
Cepicky made two appearances during the final week of the season, one in right field and one out of the bullpen. His three at-bats were par for the course with what he has done this summer, one hit and one strikeout.
His bullpen appearance, however, was strong. Cepicky faced the minimum in the ninth inning, nursing a pop out, a strikeout and a fly out.
Cepicky’s summer at the plate was, to be frank, bad. In 89 at-bats he hit .180 with 25 strikeouts. A bright spot would be his ability to draw 26 walks, second most on the team. He will need to work on his plate presence in the offseason.
Brenner Maloney-Danville Otterbots
Maloney didn’t make an appearance in the last week, but overall his summer was similar to Cepicky’s. Not great.
In 25.2 innings pitched he allowed 24 hits and 33 runs, 19 earned. He issued 21 walks, second most on the team, and ended the summer with a 6.66 ERA.
Cepicky will need to work with Tigers pitching coach Brian DeLunas improve dramatically in the offseason in order to be a key asset for Missouri baseball.
The Otterbots ended the season with a 29-24 record, finishing 3rd in the East Division.
Trevor Austin-Greeneville Flyboys
Austin went on a great 9-game hitting streak to end the season, snapped only in the Appalachian League Championship Game. His best performance was probably the regular season finale, where he grabbed 3 hits.
His summer has been strong, 36 hits, including 4 triples, gave Austin a .275 batting average. He has a knack for getting on base, with an on-base percentage of .425.
The trick for Austin will be translating this success into regular season play. He could be a real asset for the Tigers at shortstop if he keeps his form.
Austin Troesser-Greeneville Flyboys
Troesser got roughed up in his final appearance of the year, the first time that has really happened this summer. He allowed 5 runs on 5 hits in 0.2 innings pitched.
Thankfully, that appearance can be considered an outlier, as Troesser had a very good summer. Over 22.2 innings pitched, he only allowed 7 runs, and threw 39 strikeouts.
Troesser could prove to be a bright spot in a struggling Tigers pitching arsenal, he certainly showed off this summer and can only get better with more work being put in.
The Flyboys capped off a great season by finishing 33-16-1, good for first place in the West Division. They went on to win the Appy League Championship over Pulaski game on a walk-off double.