Arizona Wildcats newcomer Avery Weems describes himself as “left-handed but right-brained.”
“I’m really analytical,” the junior pitcher said. “I’m really mechanical.”
Sometimes, Weems overthinks things. His pitching coach at Yavapai College, Jerry Dawson, once told him: “If you could cut your head off, you’d play baseball just fine.”
So Weems tries to keep it simple when he takes the mound. It isn’t always easy; he’s basically fighting his own instincts. But getting back to that basic approach generally serves him well.
Such was the case Sunday afternoon, when Weems made his UA debut. He allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings to propel Arizona to a 10-1 victory over Bryant University at Hi Corbett Field.
The win gave the Wildcats (3-0) a season-opening series sweep, their fifth in the past eight seasons. They outscored the Bulldogs — who have made three NCAA Tournament appearances in the past five years — 19-2.
Arizona jumped to a 3-0 lead after one inning Sunday, but Bryant threatened in the top of the second. With runners on second and third, and Weems having fallen behind 2-0 to No. 9 hitter Sam Owens, UA coach Jay Johnson visited the mound.
The message was a familiar one: Johnson reminded Weems to keep it simple.
“Just settle down,” Johnson told him. “Focus on the next pitch.”
Weems surrendered an RBI single to Owens. But then Weems got Nick Angelini to hit into an inning-ending double play. Weems did not surrender another run.
“I had a lot of adrenaline going,” Weems said. “He came out here and said, ‘Take a deep breath. One pitch at a time. And then just go at it from there.’
“That’s exactly what I did. And look where it got me.”
Weems earned his first win as a Wildcat. It was a long time coming for a player who first committed to Arizona in fall 2015.
Weems considered making the move to Tucson after his freshman year at Yavapai — especially after the Roughriders won the 2016 NJCAA Division I World Series. But Weems didn’t think he was ready, so he returned to Yavapai for another season. He improved across the board, going 6-4 with a 2.89 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 65 1/3 innings.
The hope is that Weems can be the next JC Cloney, or at least an approximation of the savvy lefty who went 15-6 in two seasons at Arizona. Weems tried to attack hitters in Cloney-like fashion Sunday.
“Coach Johnson really emphasizes strike-zone pressure,” said Weems, who coincidentally wears Cloney’s No. 27. “I think I did a really good job of that today, staying in the strike zone to where they were able to put balls in play and allowing my defense to do the work for me.”
Weems allowed six hits, walked two batters and struck out three. He threw 49 of 75 pitches for strikes.
“I really thought he got settled into the game well,” Johnson said. “We helped him out defensively. He just pounded the zone, didn’t give up a lot of free stuff.”
Weems had plenty of support. After a relatively quiet day Saturday, Arizona’s offense erupted for 10 runs on 10 hits. The Wildcats also drew eight walks, including three in a row with the bases loaded in the third inning. Arizona scored four runs in all in the third, expanding its lead to 7-1.
Sophomore Nick Quintana helped get the inning going with his first hit of the season, a well-struck infield single down the third-base line. Quintana would finish 4 for 5 with a pair of doubles.
Quintana also benefited from a talk with Johnson, who spoke to him after his first at-bat. Quintana had popped out to shallow center field, making him 0 for 7 to start the season. Johnson’s advice: Stop chasing hits.
“He was completely right,” Quintana said. “I was just trying to get that first one out of the way. It wasn’t working out. The talk we had was definitely beneficial.”
Arizona added three runs in the eighth on Quintana’s RBI single and fellow sophomore Cameron Cannon’s two-RBI double. Three pitchers — Juan Aguilera, Gil Luna and Preston Price — combined to throw 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Weems.
Inside pitch
- Arizona improved to 50-14 under Johnson at Hi Corbett Field.
- Arizona’s two runs allowed were its fewest in an opening series since the UA surrendered two against North Dakota State in 2011.
- Weems was one of 10 players who made their UA debuts over the weekend.
- Cody Deason and Michael Flynn, the Wildcats’ starters on Saturday, helped drag the infield between the fifth and sixth innings.
- Sunday’s game ended on what was technically a hit. Angelini’s hard grounder to the right side clipped baserunner Shane Kelly. Angelini got credit for a hit; Kelly was out because of interference.
- Arizona faces No. 4 Arkansas on Wednesday in San Diego. The Razorbacks are 3-0 and defeated Bucknell 32-4 Saturday.
