Behind good pitching, solid fielding, and some clutch hitting by a junior draft prospect, Cal Poly baseball swept UCSB in its final home series of the season last weekend. 

Meyer gets hot

For his part, catcher Nick Meyer was red-hot all week. Meyer went 5-6 in Cal Poly’s Tuesday mid-week game and followed it up with a great series against UCSB. On the week, he went 9-17 with three doubles, five runs, and three RBI’s, including a game-winning RBI double on Saturday afternoon on a pitch around his eyeballs. 

Meyer was named the Big West Field Player of the Week on Monday. 

Meyer, who was named to Team USA during the summer of 2017, was already rated as an above-average defensive catcher. He’s been red-hot at the plate over the past month or two as well, probably solidifying a relatively high-round pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft. 

Senior Day

Trent Shelton has been flat-out terrific all season for Cal Poly. Photo by Owen Main

Sunday was senior day and six players were honored. Austin Dondanville, Kyle Smith, Elijah Skipps, Josh George, Colby Barrick, and Trent Shelton all saw their final games at Baggett over the weekend. 

Shelton pitched a great game on Friday night, a healthy Skipps was a key cog in Cal Poly’s offensive output all weekend, and Dondanville and Smith both saw action on the mound as well. George was the senior day darling, going 3-4 with 2 RBIs in Sunday’s victory. 

So long to some juniors?

As happens every year, Cal Poly will have some juniors drafted this year. The question will be which ones leave. 

The two likely candidates are, in likely draft order, are Alex McKenna and Nick Meyer, though Kyle Marinconz is also a candidate to be drafted and turn pro. If you’d asked me before the season, Michael Clark would have also been high on this list. Last season’s closer, Clark’s role changed this season and his workload was less. After pitching 48 innings in 30 games with a 2.58 ERA last season, Clark’s workload has increased to over 65 innings (nine games started) with a 5.79 ERA. Clark’s k/bb percentage also went from 2.12 in 2017 to 1.84 this year. 

That said, Clark pitched a gem on Sunday afternoon, lasting 7 1/3 innings while giving up just a pair of earned runs en route to the win. It was Clark’s longest and probably most productive outing of the season. 

We’ll wait to see where and how these guys get drafted and what decisions they make as far as coming back to school. If it was their last weekend series at Baggett, it was pretty special. 

A great finish

The level of play this weekend could be seen as bittersweet. This team has talent that has been playing much closer to their true talent level over the course of Big West play. 

As they’ve been prone to do over the past few years, Cal Poly is playing its best baseball at the end of the season. As has also happened in recent years, that great baseball doesn’t have any postseason implications. For the third time in four years since the program hosted a regional in 2014, Cal Poly put up a losing non-conference record this season, including losses to Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, New Mexico, a series split to Pacific, a mid-week split with San Jose State, losing two of three at home to San Diego State, losing three of four at Nebraska, and being swept at home by UCLA.  

With the exception of UCLA, Nebraska, and Maybe San Diego State, a regional team doesn’t have that many losses against middling or low level Division I teams on the west coast. The Big West wasn’t really great this season either. Preseason favorites like Long Beach State and UCSB flamed out, but losses in series at CSUN and a sweep in Fullerton took Cal Poly out of the race. The conference will only have a single program — Cal State Fullerton — in this year’s NCAA Tournament. 

Under construction

While the bleachers were ready for the home season in 2018, the second phase of construction – demolition of the current clubhouse — looks like it’s starting soon. On Friday, fans noticed some portable buildings far down the first base line at Baggett. The project had originally been scheduled for groundbreaking right after last season, but I believe that the new clubhouse will still be under construction during the 2019 season and be ready for 2020. 

Photos below from Friday night’s game by Owen Main. Find more photos at photos.fansmanship.com, or you can show love by contributing to the cause via Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

Josh George (Junior, OF)

Josh George was an everyday contributor in 2017. By Owen Main

Season synopsis

In his first two years in San Luis Obispo, George dealt with various injuries. In 2017, George played in all 56 games for the Mustangs, starting 49 of them. George was a contributor to the lineup, hitting .249 with nine doubles, a triple, and 24 RBI’s. He was 7-11 on stolen bases and didn’t make an error in the outfield all season.

George probably didn’t have quite the junior season he thought he’d have, but he contributed to the Mustangs’ 16-8 Big West season. 

Senior Contribution

So one thing I think about in an offseason are big-picture team constructions that can lead to big-time success. Having a big-time upper-class point guard is something that you can traditionally look at in college basketball. Senior quarterbacks who coaches trust in college football are a pretty good bet for good seasons. 

In baseball, having a few seniors who are big contributors and who other younger players can take advice and mentorship from is something that probably matters. Cal Poly’s regional host roster a few years ago included Jordan Ellis, Chris Hoo, and Jimmy Allen. Maybe Josh George can up his game in the offseason before his final season and help shepherd some new guys into the fold at the same time.  

Austin Dondanville (Sophomore, Pitcher)

Season synopsis

Coming into the 2017 season, Dondanville was a pitcher who was one of many with a chance to contribute out of the bullpen. The sophomore from De La Salle High School finished the season with 15 appearances — all out of the bullpen. That number was fourth most on the team out of the ‘pen. 

Dondanville was pretty reliable, going 1-0 on the season with a 3.67 ERA  and a 1.07 WHIP. He struck out 32 and walked just 7 hitters in 29 innings. 

The more the better?

 While Cal Poly had to use a lot of guys throughout the season, Dondanville might be the only pitcher they could have used a little more. Trent Shelton, Michael Clark, and Slater Lee were all very good out of the pen. Dondanville was too, though he was used only about 2/3 as much. 

Stretching out

Dondanville has been starting so far this summer for the San Luis Obispo Blues in the CCL. Perhaps it means the Mustangs will try to use him as a starting pitcher next season. With their top two starters from 2017 gone, having some options for the starting rotation will be important come the fall and spring. His development could provide another shut-down reliever or, more likely, a starting pitcher with a combination of experience and stuff to match the potential role of a weekend starter on a top-3 Big West Conference team in 2018.