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Player strengthens 2008 pitching roster |
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Wednesday, 27 February 2008 |
by ASHLEY DAVIS
Sports Reporter
At 6 feet 5 inches tall, Garrett Sherrill once had dreams of gracing an NBA court.
“I love basketball,” Sherrill said. “You really don’t see too many guys that are 6 feet 5 inches and white in the NBA though. So I went ahead and decided that baseball was really my best opportunity to go on and play after college.”
A junior, Sherrill is entering his third season with the Appalachian State University baseball team where
his natural athleticism has shown since his freshman year.
Setting a school-record with 96.1 innings pitched, Sherrill recorded seven wins his freshman season,
which was the most since John Meadows in 1990.
 Junior pitcher Garrett Sherrill set a school-record with 96.1 innings pitched his freshman year and has already been named pre-season All-SoCon for baseball this year. Special to The Appalachian
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“Garrett’s freshman year we were thin in pitching and we used him to close a few times,” ASU head
coach Chris Pollard said. “Then last year, about a third of the way into the season, we moved him into
that position again. We just thought he would be most valuable in that role.”
With an older and more experienced pitching staff, Pollard felt comfortable moving Sherrill into a
full-time closing position.
“Last year I was kind of thrown into it, and I struggled a little bit,” Sherrill said. “This summer I played in
the Cape Cod League though and was able to get used to the closer role and get more in-tuned to it.”
What Garrett calls struggles actually translates to six saves on the season, tying for third all-time at
ASU.
“We thought Garrett would be the best man for the job because he has a lot of confidence,” assistant
coach Craig Scheffler said.
Scheffler, the team’s pitching coach, said the coaches noticed Sherrill seemed to like tight situations.
“[Sherrill] is one of the most competitive athletes that I have ever worked with,” Pollard said. “He’s not
very outspoken, so he mostly leads by example. I think that that is the most contagious kind though.”
Already named pre-season All-SoCon and placed on the pre-season 2008 Brooks Wallace Award,
Sherrill said the accolades don’t mean a lot to him.
“I just want to go out there and put my team in the best position to win,” Sherrill said.
Throwing 88-92 mph pitches depending on the day, Sherrill is working to establish his change-up and
get away from his reputation as a fastball, slider guy.
“When you close you want to give it everything you’ve got, every pitch - all three, four pitches,” Sherrill
said. “From the starting point you want to keep one pitch in the bag, but closing it’s just everything you
have.”
Sherrill has been lucky to have no arm problems, and currently sits at No. 3 in career saves at
Appalachian with nine after his appearance against North Carolina State University Saturday where he
sat down three straight batters in the ninth inning.
“Obviously our pitching staff has been our weak point in the past few years,” Sherrill said. “Last year it
got hidden because our offense carried us. I think the pitching staff has gotten older, gotten smarter
though. I really think that we have a good chance to be a strong pitching staff in the conference this
season.”
“[Sherrill] knows that it’s going to be him at the end of the game,” Scheffler said. “And I know that he’s
going to step up to the challenge.”
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