I recently graduated from UNLV, and I'm in my "adjustment stage" from twice-a-week writer to daily writer. I'm looking for ways to improve my story outside of my editor. I already know something important I did miss - the team's records. I re-read the story the day it ran and I realized I forgot it.
Thanks for the suggestions and help everyone.
CEDAR CITY - When Southern Utah pitcher Jacob Noyes took to the mound in the ninth inning of a tied ball game against North Dakota State on April 12, he wasn't thinking about getting strikeouts.
He just wanted to keep the Bison from scoring a run. He got his first strikeout in the ninth.
Then he got another, and another.
They just kept falling, and at the end of the day, he had struck out 18 batters, a number that even shocked Noyes himself.
"I was shocked. My mind set, at all times, is not to strike anyone out," Noyes said. "As a pitcher, I didn't want the strikeouts, but rather the ground outs and fly outs to save my arm. It just happened that day."
The performance earned Noyes Summit League Pitcher of the Week honors and a sore arm.
"The next day, I was really sore and tender," he said.
Noyes and the T-Birds have an opportunity to play for first place against perennial conference favorite Oral Roberts today at 2 p.m. in the first of a four-game series.
"Everything goes through Oral Roberts," Southern Utah coach Dave Eldredge said.
For Noyes, it's just another opportunity in a career filled with taking advantage of them.
It was just three years ago, that he was out of baseball and wondered if he would ever play another inning.
He wasn't highly recruited out of high school and took a small offer to play for a junior college in California, but left the team because it didn't suit his style.
When he heard about Southern Utah from a teammate during summer league, he pitched a bullpen for Eldredge.
Eldredge was impressed and invited him to try out for the team in the fall. When it was time to make cuts, Noyes was one of the players on the cusp of being cut.
"(Eldredge) brought me up and told me, 'I'm deciding if I should go with youth or experience,'" Noyes said. "He had two guys who played for him a year ago, and he wanted to see if they should be let go and he would keep some freshman. One of them quit, so I, literally, came in as the last guy on the staff."
Eldredge saw a lot of potential in the Centerville, Utah native and had the tools to develop.
"(We kept him primarily because of) his size and looseness of arm," Eldredge said. "We saw his size and looseness of his arm and gave him a chance."
At 6-foot-5-inches, Noyes is the tallest member of the T-Birds roster, and it gives him a distinct advantage over hitters.
"The height gives me good leverage," Noyes said. "Also, because of my height I'm closer to the plate. It makes my velocity, which isn't outstanding, faster than someone who is five inches shorter than I am."
Mechanically, the coaches have tried not to change a lot about Noyes but rather trying to build his confidence.
"It's more confidence more than anything," Southern Utah pitching coach Ryan Fecteau said. "He had a lot of questions about his mechanics and his stuff. It was more confidence issue. He has the stuff to pitch at the next level. It's just going out there and trusting it."
Eldredge added that Noyes needed to make the transition from the walk-on mentality to a star player.
"When you walk-on to the program, you walk in with the mentality that you are a walk-on and you're the type of the guy fighting for innings," he said. "We need him to believe that he's one our stars and believe he can carry us."
Noyes said he is thankful for all the opportunities that Eldredge has given him, and wants to play professional baseball.
According to the coaching staff, Noyes pitching might not be out of the question and that the journey taking advantage of opportunities is not over for Noyes.
"I don't believe the journey is over (for Noyes)," Eldredge said. "I think Jacob has as good as a chance as anyone in our program to play pro ball."
As for the recognition of being Summit League Pitcher of the Week, Noyes said that it was a special time for him and his family further validating his hard work.
"I hadn't been honored in that way. It was neat for us as a family," Noyes said. "Cameron Nelson gave me the ball (from the 18-strikeout game) and I gave it to my mom. She did everything she could do to hold back from crying."
Thanks for the suggestions and help everyone.
CEDAR CITY - When Southern Utah pitcher Jacob Noyes took to the mound in the ninth inning of a tied ball game against North Dakota State on April 12, he wasn't thinking about getting strikeouts.
He just wanted to keep the Bison from scoring a run. He got his first strikeout in the ninth.
Then he got another, and another.
They just kept falling, and at the end of the day, he had struck out 18 batters, a number that even shocked Noyes himself.
"I was shocked. My mind set, at all times, is not to strike anyone out," Noyes said. "As a pitcher, I didn't want the strikeouts, but rather the ground outs and fly outs to save my arm. It just happened that day."
The performance earned Noyes Summit League Pitcher of the Week honors and a sore arm.
"The next day, I was really sore and tender," he said.
Noyes and the T-Birds have an opportunity to play for first place against perennial conference favorite Oral Roberts today at 2 p.m. in the first of a four-game series.
"Everything goes through Oral Roberts," Southern Utah coach Dave Eldredge said.
For Noyes, it's just another opportunity in a career filled with taking advantage of them.
It was just three years ago, that he was out of baseball and wondered if he would ever play another inning.
He wasn't highly recruited out of high school and took a small offer to play for a junior college in California, but left the team because it didn't suit his style.
When he heard about Southern Utah from a teammate during summer league, he pitched a bullpen for Eldredge.
Eldredge was impressed and invited him to try out for the team in the fall. When it was time to make cuts, Noyes was one of the players on the cusp of being cut.
"(Eldredge) brought me up and told me, 'I'm deciding if I should go with youth or experience,'" Noyes said. "He had two guys who played for him a year ago, and he wanted to see if they should be let go and he would keep some freshman. One of them quit, so I, literally, came in as the last guy on the staff."
Eldredge saw a lot of potential in the Centerville, Utah native and had the tools to develop.
"(We kept him primarily because of) his size and looseness of arm," Eldredge said. "We saw his size and looseness of his arm and gave him a chance."
At 6-foot-5-inches, Noyes is the tallest member of the T-Birds roster, and it gives him a distinct advantage over hitters.
"The height gives me good leverage," Noyes said. "Also, because of my height I'm closer to the plate. It makes my velocity, which isn't outstanding, faster than someone who is five inches shorter than I am."
Mechanically, the coaches have tried not to change a lot about Noyes but rather trying to build his confidence.
"It's more confidence more than anything," Southern Utah pitching coach Ryan Fecteau said. "He had a lot of questions about his mechanics and his stuff. It was more confidence issue. He has the stuff to pitch at the next level. It's just going out there and trusting it."
Eldredge added that Noyes needed to make the transition from the walk-on mentality to a star player.
"When you walk-on to the program, you walk in with the mentality that you are a walk-on and you're the type of the guy fighting for innings," he said. "We need him to believe that he's one our stars and believe he can carry us."
Noyes said he is thankful for all the opportunities that Eldredge has given him, and wants to play professional baseball.
According to the coaching staff, Noyes pitching might not be out of the question and that the journey taking advantage of opportunities is not over for Noyes.
"I don't believe the journey is over (for Noyes)," Eldredge said. "I think Jacob has as good as a chance as anyone in our program to play pro ball."
As for the recognition of being Summit League Pitcher of the Week, Noyes said that it was a special time for him and his family further validating his hard work.
"I hadn't been honored in that way. It was neat for us as a family," Noyes said. "Cameron Nelson gave me the ball (from the 18-strikeout game) and I gave it to my mom. She did everything she could do to hold back from crying."
