FanPost

Adam Haseley Earning His Sabres on the Baseball Diamond

Normally a casual observer might look at a player who slashed .256/.355/.326 in an everyday role over a season and think pretty low of him off the bat, especially when you throw in that he led the team in strikeouts at the plate by a wide margin (though he was second in walks, as well). Point out the fact that he was a true freshman, and maybe some transition/growing pains can be to blame, but nothing on paper jumps out to establish such a player as a star, or even a significant contributor to the baseball team. Some might even question why such a player would even be in the lineup frequently, much less be one of only 3 players to start all 52 games this year.

But for this Wahoo team that has been through quite a tumultuous season, Adam Haseley’s contributions should not be overlooked. This team entered the season with sky high expectations after falling heartbreakingly close to a CWS title in 2014, but with lots of holes to fill following the departure of several MLB draft picks, including Mike Papi, Nick Howard, and Derek Fisher, certain players were expected to step up. Unfortunately, the injury bug took over and sidelined potential 2015 1st round pick Joe McCarthy, John La Prise (hit .348 last year), and highly touted first year Jack Gerstenmeier. All three were fully expected to play an extremely prominent role in the offense, and losing them was a big reason for the very slow start to the season.

Haseley started the first game of his college career in right field batting second for the #2 team in the country, an impressive feat for a true freshman to begin with. But by the time the ACC season had gotten into full swing, he had taken over the leadoff spot and moved over to man centerfield every day. It was around this time that the Wahoo Wheels, already loose and held together by freshmen and other players with limited experience, totally came off the Wahoo Wagon. Much excitement surrounded the return of McCarthy and Gerstenmeier on April 15 against W&M, but just 2 days later the Wahoos received a devastating blow when All-American pitcher and potential top 10 draft pick Nate Kirby went down for 2 months (potentially the remainder of the season) with a lat injury. 4 days later, freshman starter Derek Casey also went down, and suddenly the rock solid pitching staff Wahoo fans were expecting was paper thin. Coach O’Connor elected to move Josh Sborz from the closer role, where he had been performing very well, back to the starter role he assumed last year, leaving the Hoos with both a massive hole at closer and still without a tested starter. The season was drawing to a close, we were firmly planted on the bubble of the NCAA tournament, and things were looking pretty bleak.

Since that point, Adam Haseley has started 3 games while only allowing 1 earned run in those starts and has also appeared as a reliever multiple times. He has continued to bat leadoff during this time, switching his role to DH after he has finished his starting pitching duties or moving to the mound from CF when he has started there. He picked up a W out of the bullpen after finishing the 9th inning in a thrilling 10 inning victory against UNC, and subsequently started the final game of that series, which the Hoos won 8-2 to complete the sweep. Haseley even recorded a save in the final game against Duke in the second to last series of the year. So to sum up his counting stats on the year: Haseley has accumulated both 2 wins and a save on the mound in 9 appearances (2.37 ERA), batted leadoff and played CF (notching 2 outfield assists), and has at least one of every offensive stat (55 hits, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 1 HR, 42 runs, 18 RBIs, 5/6 SBs, 28 BB, 6 HBP, 2 SFs, 5 SH) while playing and starting in every single game. He also led the team in ABs and was second in runs, triples, and walks.

These last two weeks of the regular season have held paramount importance for this squad, in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in 12 years under Brian O’Connor. It would be incredibly naïve to ignore the contributions of veterans like Kenny Towns (who I could write for days on considering where he was 13 months ago), Robbie Coman, Connor Jones, and Josh Sborz down the stretch; this team would not be where it is right now without them. But the amount of responsibility heaped onto this true freshman getting his first licks of college baseball would overwhelm just about anyone, and the way he has handled it has been extremely impressive. He, along with Sborz throughout his career, has done absolutely everything that has been asked of him, and done it quite well. His versatility and adaptability are some of the most prominent reasons why this team is playing its best baseball of the season right now.

The regular season has fallen far short of meeting the expectations heaped on this squad by the Wahoo faithful, but it is far from over. And thanks to efforts from players like Adam Haseley, we’ll still have something to root for over the next few weeks. Let's get behind this team to make a big run to Omaha and bring home our third NCAA trophy of the 2014-15 season!

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