SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan has no problem naming his starting pitcher for Monday night‘s deciding game of the NCAA Division I College Baseball World Series.
Two-way star sophomore southpaw Jac Caglianone gets the call for No. 2-ranked Florida, while for No. 5 Louisiana State, head coach Jay Johnson has a dilemma. Does he start his ace, junior righthander Paul Skenes on three days rest, or does he rely on another arm in Game 3 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb.
Granted the 24-4 shellacking Johnson’s team took in Game 2 cost him six hurlers, but he does have faith in hard-throwing Skenes’ stay on the mound. He has worked several nine-inning games, has made an abundance of pitches, went 15 and two-third innings in his two college world series starts, has one 151-pitch contest, and Johnson feels Skenes always has the confidence.
If not Skenes, there’s a list of probable’s that includes righthanders Thatcher Hurd, Jaden Noot, Chose Shores, Sam Dutton, Bryce Collins, and Aiden Moffett.
“We’re going to go with what we have,” Johnson said at practice, “and we’re hopeful to get it done.”
Caglianone is a somewhat copy of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Angles’ two-way standout Shohei Ohtani. As does the gifted athlete born in Oshui, Japan, Caglianone takes to the hill and is equally adept at the plate.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound star who hails from Tampa’s Plant High School, currently leads the country with 33 home runs. He has batted in 90, has scored 74 runs, has 91 hits, and is hitting .326.
From the mound, he has compiled a 7-3 record to go with 85 strikeouts, 52 walks, and with a 2.38 earned run average. He depends on heat, a nasty curve, a change-up, and usually has good control.
His dad, Jeff, played college ball at Stetson in Deland, Fla., and is a long-time friend of Major League pitcher Jacob deGrom, who also played at Stetson.
These are two Southeast Conference rivals that did not meet in the regular season. But when they did it was two opposite results, the Bayou Tigers winning 4-3 in 11 innings in Game 1 and the Gators in a 24-4 Game 2 rout. LSU sports a 53-17 overall record, Florida 54-16.
Ohtani, by the way, also hits from the left side and is a righthanded hurler. Monday night in fact, the 6-4, 210-pound
28-year-old takes the hill at home against the Chicago White Sox. He is 6-3 there with 117 strikeouts, a 3.13 ERA, and has homered 25 times.
Going from there to the college ranks, with Caglianone hurling, Florida’s guys from Gainesville will be depending on the hit parade of Wyatt Langford, Cade Kurland, Luke Hyman and Ty Evens.
Baton Rouge’s LSU counters with the likes of quality hitters Dylon Crews, the senior centerfielder announced as collegiate Player of the Year, junior first baseman Tre’ Morgan, senior designated hitter Cade Beloso, junior catcher Hoyden Trovinski, sophomore third baseman Tommy White, and freshman infielder Gavin Guidry, who is related to former New York Yankee star pitcher Ron Guidry.
