Which pitcher will be this year’s May surprise?
Each (successful) year under John Cohen there has been a pitcher emerge in May that made a huge impact late in the year.
From 2011 to 2014, Coach Cohen guided the Diamond Dawgs to a Regional….plus two Super Regionals and one College World Series. In each of those years there was a pitcher who came on as a late surprise:
- 2011: Luis Pollorena
- 2012: Ross Mitchell
- 2013: Trevor Fitts
- 2014: Lucas Laster
In 2011, Pollorena didn’t start a game until May 6th vs. Tennessee. He then proceeded to get starts in the final two SEC series as well and gave Cohen enough confidence in him to take the hill vs. Southern Miss in the Regional. There, he pitched his best game of the year: six innings giving up no earned runs. The next weekend he took the hill in the deciding game vs. Florida for a spot in the College World Series.
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In 2012, Ross Mitchell was a seldom-used freshman reliever. That all changed in the SEC Tournament when Ross threw 10.2 innings of scoreless relief including five innings in the championship game vs. Vanderbilt. The Bulldogs became champions that day, and while Adam Frazier was awarded tournament MVP, it could’ve easily been given to Mitchell. He went on to have phenomenal years in 2013 and 2014 as well.
In 2013, Trevor Fitts was a spot reliever who had only made five appearances in SEC games. Then on May 14th he got a start vs. Oral Roberts and the rest was history. He started games against Missouri (SEC Tournament), Central Arkansas (Regional) Virginia (Super Regional) Indiana and UCLA (College World Series). Six starts – five in the postseason during MSU’s longest run in program history.
In 2014, Lucas Laster went from afterthought juco bullpen guy to one of the best pitchers on the team. After a couple of mid-week starts he got himself a position as long reliever (good thing the way MSU used them in 2013 and 2014), then made a start in the SEC Tournament and Regional. He finished the year with a 2.60 ERA in 34.2 IP.
Who will it be this year?
It doesn’t really have to be anyone, but here are a few candidates:
- Ryan Cyr – already pitched a great game in the Governor’s Cup
- Jacob Billingsly – 1.86 ERA but only 9.2 IP
- Blake Smith – he’s had a couple very nice games lately including three plus IP with 0 ER vs. Bama
Mississippi State is playing great right now, but you can never have too many arms!