Great expectations
Feisty baseball team surprises with strong regular-season finish

Last year’s trip to the College World Series wouldn’t mean much to the Arizona State University baseball team coming into this season; coach Pat Murphy lost a big chunk of experience and would have to rely on a team loaded with inexperienced players.

Yet one 30-plus-win season (the team’s 44th consecutive), another trip to the NCAA Tournament (its seventh consecutive), the Pac 10 Freshman of the Year later, and what do you know?

The kids are all right.

“When you have that many newcomers and you finish second in the Pac-10 – and if you asked the kids they’d probably be ticked off that they didn’t win the Pac-10 – you’d be safe to say they stepped up,” Murphy said.

ASU finished the regular season with a 36-19 record. Ike Davis, a freshman pitcher and first baseman, was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. He had 65 RBI – a team record for a freshman – and tied for the team lead with nine home runs and 77 hits. And for a school steeped in baseball history, he was the first Sun Devil ever chosen as the Pac-10’s best freshman.

Davis was also named first-team all-Pac 10, along with outfielder Colin Curtis, infielder Eric Sogard and catcher Preston Paramore. Pitchers Daryl Arreola, Tony Barnette and Brett Bordes, along with first baseman Brett Wallace, earned honorable mention honors.

The team made it into the NCAA Tournament, but dropped two games to Baylor in as many days in early June, ending their season with an overall record of 37-21. Murphy pointed to the Sun Devils’ winning history as a factor in the successful regular season, as well as creating hope for future seasons.

“To come back and to play pretty well with a brand new team says something for our tradition,” he said. “I think we have a nice blend – we have a bunch of kids who care. Our tradition carries us. They come in here and they expect to win.”

– By Bill Goodykoontz, a Chandler-based freelance writer.