The College Baseball Blog took in the Cape Cod All-Star game on Saturday night which was won by the Eastern All-Stars 8-6 in an exciting game. We take a look at the Eastern Division today with some thoughts on the pitchers that saw action in the All-Star game.
Matt Thomson (San Diego)
He started the game for the Eastern Division. He is a 6’4 right handed pitcher which sported a 91-92 MPH fastball with a good curve that hit 73 MPH. He ended up pitching one inning allowing one hit to AJ Pollack but inducing a double play to get out of the inning.
Grade:B+
His stuff was not outstanding but very good as he looked like a good number 3-4 starter in the Majors.
Adam Wilk (Long Beach State)
He pitched the second inning for the East Division All-Star team. Wilk is a 6’2 175 pound left-handed pitcher
out of Long Beach State. He struck out the side giving up a hit to Ben Paulsen from Clemson but struck out Chris Dominguez, Dusty Coleman, and Kevin Patterson for the three outs. He showed a 89-90 MPH fastball with a plus curveball that registered at 76 MPH on the radar guns and just was plain out nasty.
Grade: A-
His curveball was one of the best on the day with his fastball a little below par. If he can gain a few MPH on his fastball then he will be a much better pitcher. He still has the off season to gain the MPH in the weight room by working on his lower body strength.
J.J. Hoover (West Virginia)
He came in to pitch the third inning for the Eastern Division. He ended up getting Trevor Coleman to ground out to second base to start the inning off then striking out Trent Ashcraft. AJ Pollack then came up to bat and hit a pop fly to right field which kept carrying over the fence for the first run of the game. He ended up getting Jimmy Cesario to fly out to left field to end the inning. He had a 91-92 fastball and his breaking stuff did nothing for me.
Grade: B-
Hoover was very unimpressive to me on the mound. He threw a 91 MPH fastball but his breaking stuff was not up to caliber. He needs some more development on his breaking stuff if he wants to become a MLB pitcher.
Sammy Solis (San Diego)
Solis is a 6’5 228 pound lefthanded pitcher out of San Diego who pitched the fourth inning for the Eastern Division. He retired the first batter Marc Krauss on a groundball to second base before striking out Chris Dominguez of Louisville. He then got Ben Paulsen to ground to third base but he would reach on a fielding error by Rich Poythress. He then would get Dusty Coleman to strike out looking to end the inning. He had a fastball which was showing up on radar guns at 90-91 MPH with a curveball that was excellent at 78 MPH with a good break. He also had a changeup which registered on one pitch at 71 MPH with great downward action on it which led to those two groundballs in the inning.
Grade: A
Solis was my most impressive pitcher in the game and still has two more college seasons to develop his skills before being eligible for the MLB draft. His fastball seemed to jump out of his hand with an extended arm angle which made the ball explode as it was coming to the plate. The curveball he showed was solid but his changeup really impressed me on his Dominguez strikeout and he was able to spot his fastball when he caught Dusty Coleman looking.
Brian Dupra (Notre Dame)
Brian Dupra is a 6’3 200 pound right handed pitcher out of Notre Dame. He ended up pitching the fifth 
inning for the Eastern Division. He started the inning off well by striking out Kevin Patterson before giving up back to back hits to Trevor Coleman and Trent Ashcraft. He ended up getting out of the jam by getting collegiate teammate A.J. Pollack to ground into a double play. I did not get any readings on Dupra’s curveball as it was getting late in the evening but his fastball was right around 90 MPH.
Grade: B
He was nothing special on the mound but was able to work himself out of a jam against some of the best players in the country. He should continue to develop over the next season for a big summer in 2009.
Martin Viramontes (Loyola Marymount)
He is a 6’5 200 pound right handed pitcher out of Loyola Marymount. He started the sixth inning for the Eastern Division and was rocked for five runs (four earned) on five hits with two walks. He never looked comfortable on the Chatham mound as the Western Division hit through the batting order with Viramontes only getting one out on a sacrifice fly by Trent Ashcraft. The big blow in the inning was when Ben Paulsen hit a two run double into the right center field gap.
Grade: D
Viramontes did not look comfortable on the mound with his 90-92 MPH fastball which was sitting up high in the hitting zone. When he was not putting the ball up in the zone, it was going outside of the strikezone allowing batters to walk. He should be back in the Cape Cod League in 2009 as he just finished his freshman campaign.
Chris Manno (Duke)
Chris Manno is a 6’1 160 pound left handed pitcher out of Duke University. He came into the game in the 
sixth inning with one out and runners on first and second. He proceeded to strike out Jimmy Cesario and Marc Krauss to end the sixth inning without any more damage done. He then came back out for the seventh inning where he continued to dominate the batters by getting Raynor Campbell to fly out to center field then proceeded to strike out Ben Paulsen looking and then Dusty Coleman swinging. He featured a 90 MPH fastball from the left side and a very good curveball.
Grade: A
He was the most successful pitcher in the game with four strikeouts in the five batters he faced. He should continue to develop and looks like a good left handed specialist from the left side.
Buddy Baumann (Missouri State)
He is a 5’10 170 pound left handed pitcher out of Missouri State. He ended up pitching a perfect eighth inning for the Eastern Division by getting Kevin Patterson to fly out to center field, Dale Cornstubble to ground out to third base and Trent Ashcraft to ground out to shortstop.
Grade: B
He did not have electric stuff with the lack of strikeouts but was able to get it done on the field. He should be an interesting guy to follow over the next year.
Brad Boxberger (Southern Cal)
He is a 6’2 195 pound right handed pitcher out of Southern California. He pitched a perfect ninth inning to 
pick up the save for the Eastern Division All-Stars. He got Jordan Henry to start the inning to ground back to the pitcher, then got Jimmy Cesario to foul out to the catcher, and then got Marc Krauss to strikeout looking to end the ball game.
Grade: A-
He was outstanding in the closer’s role with a low 90’s cutter which was basically unhittable to the batters. It was eerily similiar to some of the cutter’s that Rivera throws with the Yankees. If he continues to develop like his has over the summer and brings it back to USC, he should be a top of the rotation guy or a shutdown closer for the Trojans.
