STANFORD, Calif. -- Mark Marquess, the Clarke and Elizabeth Director of Baseball at Stanford, has always been a half-full man. But even he was tested during the recently completed season, when injuries to key players left him short-handed and forced to rush many of his 10 untested freshmen into the lineup.
“You don’t like to throw them into the fire that early,” said Marquess, after a tough 24-32 campaign.
The good news is that many gained valuable experience, as freshmen took 40% of at-bats (742 of 1,868) for the Cardinal team that played 61% of its games against NCAA tournament teams (34 of 56). Marquess singled out third baseman Mikey Diekroeger of Woodside, California, first baseman Matt Winaker of Alamo, California, infielder Beau Branton from Honolulu and outfielder/pitcher Quinn Brodey of Los Angeles.
“It was a good opportunity for those guys to get a lot of playing time,” Marquess said. “Obviously, that will help them going into next year. The only concern you have when that happens is if they get totally overwhelmed and it sets them back a little bit. I don’t think that happened with any of them.”
Diekroeger, whose older brothers Kenny and Danny were Cardinal standouts and now play professionally, made the quickest transition. He started 29 games before sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury against Utah and missed the last 21 games. Diekroeger hit .315 – second-best on the team, and recorded a .426 slugging percentage and team-leading .419 on-base percentage.
Winaker played in 52 games with 49 starts and batted .268. He registered 48 hits and a team-high 31 walks, while posting a .380 slugging percentage. He homered twice, including one off of All-American hurler and likely first-round pick Thomas Eshelman of Cal State Fullerton.
Branton and Brodey each started 28 games, while catcher Bryce Carter from Tulsa, Oklahoma, picked up 31 starts.
“The first couple series were a little tough for me to get used to the whole atmosphere of college baseball and all the fans,” said Diekroeger. “There’s a lot more going on than just the games.”
Diekroeger banged out four hits at San Jose State and three at Rice. He also racked up a seven-game hitting streak Feb. 28-March 8, which moved him to the middle of the order.
“As the season went on and I had more at bats, I felt more comfortable,” he said.
Winaker started to relax after the first series of the season against Indiana. He collected back-to-back two RBI games against Pacific and went 3-for-8 in the Fullerton series, slugging a double, two homers and drove in five RBI.
“Once I got my first hit, I kind of calmed down and it just felt natural,” said Winaker.
Early injuries to pitcher Cal Quantrill, right fielder Zach Hoffpauir and shortstop Drew Jackson contributed to close losses and a 0-9 start in Pac-12 play.
“No one was feeling good about our team,” Diekroeger said. “Times like that, it just takes a game or two to get into a groove and get a win under our belt. We definitely felt better and guys started coming back and started to carry our offense.”
Not surprisingly, all the hitters were pressing.
“Definitely,” said Diekroeger. “During a slump, sometimes people change too much about what they’re doing. A lot of us were working in the (batting) cage, trying to figure out what wasn’t working.”
Winaker sees a brighter future.
“Obviously, the season did not go as well as we would have hoped,” he said. “But the one nice thing we can take from it is lot of us got a lot of experience, so we can learn from those failures and hopefully be better prepared to have a much better season next year.”
With a strong recruiting class coming in, Marquess is eager for the newcomers to push his sophomores-to-be.
“The good news for the freshmen is they knew they were going to play,” said Marquess. “The bad news is there was no competition. I think they’ll be pushed a little bit, which is good.”
Even during the down times, the team stuck together, especially the freshmen.
“Absolutely,” Winaker said. “This team is a really fun group, so it definitely makes it more fun to come out and work every day when you’re happy to be around your teammates.”
Both had high praise for Marquess, who just completed his 39th season as head coach.
“He’s got more energy than any coach I have ever played for,” said Diekroeger. “He’s really pulling for us and cheering for us. We feel it at the plate and we hear it in the field and it kind of keeps us going throughout the game, whether we’re up or down. We know he has our back.”
Added Winaker, “I didn’t really know what to expect coming in. From Day One, I was astounded by the amount of energy he brings to the park every day. When your coach brings that much energy every single day, it really holds you to a higher standard.”