Our #3 starter, Ohio State's Alex Wimmers, found himself, on August 5th, on the mound in Luray with a chance to end the championship series with Covington. All Alex did was blast through the Lumberjack lineup for 7 shutout innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 13, including striking out the side in both the 3rd and 6th innings. It was a dominating performance from one of the Valley League's best pitchers.
On the year, Alex finished 5-1, 1.70, with 3 saves, a 0.962 WHIP, 3.2 BB/9, 12.2 K/9, and .174 opponent's batting average. He finished 4th in the league in ERA, tied for 1st in strikeouts, 2nd in opponent's batting average, and (unofficially) 1st in strikeouts per nine innings.
His 11 appearances are as follows- the order is date, opponent, innings pitched, hits, runs, earned runs, walks, strikeouts, win, loss, save, or no decision, and final result:
June 12, Harrisonburg: 2-1-0-0-0-3: Sv (1), W, 5-3
June 15, at Woodstock: 1-0-0-0-0-1: Sv (2), W, 7-4
June 19, New Market: 4.1-1-0-0-2-4: W (1-0), W, 6-5 (Pitched from 2 outs in the 7th through the 11th)
June 22, at Staunton: 1-0-0-0-0-3: Sv (3), W, 2-1
June 25, at Harrisonburg: 5-3-0-0-1-7: W (2-0), W, 4-0
July 1, at New Market: 5.1-4-3-3-4-5: L (2-1), L, 9-1
July 11, at Winchester: 6-6-3-3-1-9: W (3-1), W, 7-3
July 19, at Front Royal: 7-6-2-2-1-10: No decision, W, 5-4 (Left with game tied 2-2)
July 26, at Fauquier: 6.2-2-1-1-7-8: W (4-1), W, 2-1 (1/3 of an inning is missing from the box score?)
July 31, Harrisonburg: 7.2-4-2-1-1-9: No decision, W, 4-3 (Left with 3-2 lead)
August 5, Covington: 7-5-0-0-2-13: W (5-1), W, 4-0 (Championship clinching game)
In the playoffs (the last two games on the grid), Alex went 1-0, 0.61, with a 0.82 WHIP, 1.8 BB/9, and 13.5 K/9 in 14 2/3 innings.
In one of the more odd developments, Wimmers was not voted to either the first team or second team All-League team. I imagine this is because Alex was first a reliever, then a starter, and he didn't neatly fall into either category for some voters. At any rate, Baseball America ranked him as the #2 prospect in the league, which says more about his long-term potential in professional baseball than a league award. Here is BA's writeup:
A hard-throwing righthander whose fastball ranged from 90-93 mph all summer, Wimmers solidified himself as one of the league’s most promising arms when he threw seven shutout innings for Luray in the final game of the championship series, striking out 13 of the 29 batters he faced. He flashed an excellent curveball with hard, late break that he can typically throw for a strike any time in the count. His circle changeup is still a work in progress and is clearly his third-best pitch at this point. Wimmers has good size (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) and a fluid delivery to go along with his power repertoire, causing some scouts to project him as a closer down the line.
At Ohio State in his freshman year, Alex went 0-3, 4.50, with 3 saves, a 1.65 WHIP, 7.0 BB/9, and 11.5 K/9 in 40 innings. His coach views Alex as a potential weekend starter in the Big Ten in the upcoming season- it's clear that Alex Wimmers has a bright future in baseball! (Picture below taken before the August 5 game)
They way this young man pitched down the stretch was close to amazing. Game #3 against Covington bordered on being UN-fair to the Lumberjacks
Posted by: Jerry Carter | January 29, 2009 at 05:05 AM