When he was growing up in Farmington, New Mexico, Chase Silseth always wanted to play baseball with his older brother, Cody.
It didn’t matter that Chase was almost seven years younger than Cody. Nor did it matter how hard Cody and his friends threw the ball.
“They were chucking it everywhere,” Silseth said. “They didn’t hold back.”
Silseth wanted to be like them. He wanted to be like Cody, who would go on to play college baseball.
That competitive streak — an unrelenting desire to push himself — has served Silseth well. The right-hander has emerged as the No. 1 starter for the No. 10 team in the nation. His Arizona Wildcats are set to host Utah — the school his brother eventually would play for — Friday-Sunday. The UA has yet to lose a home game that Silseth has started.
“He’s a great pitcher with great stuff,” Arizona coach Jay Johnson said. “But the competitiveness that he has, the drive that he has, is unique. It’s something you need in a Friday starter in the Pac 12.”
Silseth has been everything Johnson and pitching coach Nate Yeskie hoped he would be when they recruited him from College of Southern Nevada. Silseth has a 6-1 record and a 5.53 ERA — the latter inflated by two unusually poor outings away from Hi Corbett Field. His six wins rank second in the Pac-12. His 59 strikeouts are tied for sixth.
Johnson and Yeskie began pursuing Silseth in the fall of 2019. They had deep connections at College of Southern Nevada, which was Silseth’s second stop after he started his college career at Tennessee.
Silseth, who’s 6 feet tall, said he weighed 240 pounds during his freshman year in Knoxville. He learned about nutrition and weight training there and began to transform his body. But he didn’t believe he would reach his potential as a Vol.
“I wasn’t gonna be the best player I could be,” Silseth said. “I’m always wanting to improve and find some way to be better at this game, because the game is always testing you in different ways, humbling you. (Tennessee) just didn’t seem, in my heart, (like) the right place for me to do that.”
After positing a 1-1 record with a 4.35 ERA in 2019, Silseth transferred to a junior college closer to home. By the time he arrived on the UA campus last summer, Silseth weighed 217 pounds and was among the best-conditioned players on the team. He would win every competitive conditioning drill with his fellow pitchers before fall practice started.
Then Silseth dominated in intrasquad scrimmages against a lineup that Johnson knew would be good. It’s easily the most potent offense in the Pac-12.
“All but one outing in the fall, he shut our team down pretty good,” Johnson said. “You could see the competitiveness come through in that regard. It’s so hard to get that match of internal character, competitiveness and desire to win with the pitchability that Chase has. That’s what separates him.”
Silseth has a fastball that has touched 97 mph, plus a slider, a curveball and a changeup. He was a two-way player at Piedra Vista High School, as was his brother. Cody Scaggari would become a shortstop in college. But, like Chase, Cody didn’t follow a direct path from the prep ranks.
Cody originally was committed to Campbellsville University in Kentucky. But one day a scout saw him, and that led to a four-year career at Utah. Scaggari batted .330 as a senior for the Utes in 2016.
“You never know who’s watching you play,” Silseth said. “He was always playing hard.”
The son of Chad and Dolores Silseth, Chase also has two younger sisters, Brooklyn and Tanna. They’re a competitive crew, whether it’s sports or board games like Settlers of Catan.
“I had to make Cody stop playing games with him for a while,” Dolores said. “Cody never let Chase win and made him work hard for every win at any game they played. He had no mercy.
“In Cody’s defense, that’s how we taught him as well. So Chase would take that to the playground with friends.”
No one needed to prod Silseth after a couple of rough outings this season. He got touched up for 18 earned runs in six innings against Oklahoma and Washington State.
Silseth responded each time. After the outing vs. the Sooners, he surrendered one earned run in seven innings against Wichita State. After the WSU game, Silseth allowed four runs in a career-high eight innings against USC.
“He is a kid who knows that he’s got to keep working to get better at things,” Yeskie said. “He doesn’t really get caught resting on what he did yesterday and feeling like, ‘Well, I won at conditioning’ or ‘I had a really good outing.’ His vision is always looking forward into, ‘All right, what do I have to do next?’ ”
Progress for Price?
UA reliever Preston Price appears to be making progress with a sore arm that has kept him out since April 9.
“My hope is we are closer to getting him back on the mound,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if that’s this weekend or next.”
Price didn’t throw during Arizona’s first practice of the week Tuesday but “felt better physically ... than he has at any point since we have not pitched him,” Johnson said.
The Wildcats (27-11, 12-6 Pac-12) have gone 7-3 without Price, who has been their most effective pitcher. The fifth-year senior has a 2.55 ERA, three saves and 32 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings.
Inside pitch
Johnson doesn’t take any opponent lightly, including Utah, which is 5-13 in the Pac-12 and 10-23 overall. The Wildcats have only one series victory over the Utes under Johnson.
Utah ranks last or next-to-last in the league in runs, hits, home runs, extra-base hits, total basses, slugging percentage, ERA and batting average against. The Utes did win their last game, defeating Arizona State 7-6 on Sunday.
Baseball America predicts Arizona will be the No. 4 overall seed in its latest NCAA Tournament projection. D1Baseball.com has the Wildcats as the No. 9 seed. Postseason hosting bids are expected to be announced the week of May 10.
Silseth is scheduled to face RHP Justin Kelly (0-7, 7.71) on Friday. Saturday’s matchup pits Arizona LHP Garrett Irvin (3-1, 4.18) vs. LHP Kyle Robeniol (1-4, 6.98). The Wildcats’ Sunday starter is TBA. Utah is scheduled to throw RHP David Watson (2-5, 5.15).
