Cal Stevenson was playing for the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod League when the Arizona Wildcats made their run to the College World Series finals in June 2016.
Stevenson knew he’d be coming to Arizona at that point, and he envisioned making a trip to Omaha as a Wildcat. It hasn’t happened yet, but there’s still a sliver of time and a glimmer of hope.
“Fortunately, we’re still in a position to do that,” said Stevenson, Arizona’s senior center fielder. “Some of that vision is still playing in my head. I think about it when I’m in the outfield. All those hopes and dreams are still there.”
The 2018 season hasn’t gone exactly the way Arizona or Stevenson had hoped.
Coming off a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, which ended in the regional round, the Wildcats are sitting on the bubble entering their final regular-season series at Oregon. Arizona might need a sweep to make the tournament.
Coming off a season in which he earned All-Pac-12 honorable-mention status, Stevenson has been slowed by illness and injury. He hasn’t been quite right since getting hit in the right hand by a pitch at USC on April 15. He missed most of the next two weeks.
Stevenson’s batting average stood at .331 at the time of the injury. It has fallen to .296.
“I felt like I could have controlled some things better and helped this team a little bit more. I’m kind of disappointed in myself for that,” Stevenson said. “But we’re still in this thing. I can control what I do this weekend, and I’m going to do what I can to get us into the tournament.”
Stevenson said his hand still isn’t 100 percent. He said it isn’t affecting his hitting, even though he feels it on certain swings.
The injury happened on the second pitch thrown by USC’s Quentin Longrie in the series finale in Los Angeles. Stevenson didn’t think much of it at first. But while he was standing on second base after a single by Alfonso Rivas III, Stevenson began sweating.
“My hand got huge,” he recalled. “I could feel it blow up in my batting glove. That’s when I knew something was wrong. I tried to go out and play center field, but I couldn’t even catch the ball.”
Stevenson, who throws left-handed, had to leave the game. He returned six days later against Stanford, but the comeback was short-lived. Stevenson sat out the next five games.
He came back for the May 3 game against UCLA and has been in the lineup ever since. With the hand still not fully healed — and the MLB draft fast approaching — Stevenson could have elected to sit out. But he felt an obligation to his teammates. He would fight through it.
“It tells you everything you need to know,” said UA coach Jay Johnson, who first coached Stevenson at Nevada in 2015. “The guy’s a competitor. He’s a warrior.
“Some guys know how to play through injuries or pain, and some guys don’t. I think he’s just exhibiting his toughness and how badly he wants to win and continue playing baseball. It just speaks to his commitment to his team.”
Unfortunately, the hand injury isn’t the first time Stevenson has had to play through something. He came down with a stomach ailment earlier in the season that lasted about two weeks. He missed the Feb. 27 game against New Mexico State and was limited during the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge the following weekend.
Stevenson had to watch what he ate, and he had to curtail his workout regimen. It wasn’t an ideal situation for the 5-9, 170-pounder.
“I felt like I had cramps all the time, and I couldn’t do anything about it,” Stevenson said. “It was a hard two weeks.”
After the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge, Stevenson found his form. He went on a 12-game hitting streak that raised his average from .226 to .329.
Despite the stomach bug and the hand injury, Stevenson leads the team with six triples and eight stolen bases. He has a 32-15 walk-to-strikeout ratio and a .417 on-base percentage.
Stevenson should get drafted next month and plans to pursue a career in baseball. He’d like to be a coach someday.
In the meantime, Stevenson said, “I want to be a kid as long as I can.” In other words, he doesn’t want his college career to end Saturday in Eugene.
“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Stevenson said. “Enjoy the last few moments I have with these guys. I just want to do what I can to help (us) get into the postseason.”
NCAA case
The Wildcats’ résumé is strong enough that they might make the NCAA Tournament by winning two of three at Oregon.
Entering Wednesday, Arizona’s RPI was 48. Its nonconference RPI was 11, according to WarrenNolan.com.
The Wildcats’ strength of schedule ranked 40th, and their nonconference strength of schedule ranked 44th. Arizona (32-21, 12-15 Pac-12) went 10-1 in midweek games, with the lone loss coming by a 1-0 score against Arkansas, which is No. 3 in RPI.
“On paper, every metric you could look at screams NCAA Tournament team,” Johnson said. “With that being said, our conference record is under .500. Are they going to value the full schedule? Are they going to value the highlights?
“I’ve been on the right side of getting in when it’s close, and at Nevada we were on the wrong side (in 2015). The best thing you can do is control what you can control, which is playing good this weekend. That’s what we’ll do.”
The Wildcats haven’t won a series in Eugene since 2009. Baseball America and D1Baseball.com each had Arizona among the first teams out in their latest projections for the NCAA field of 64.
Schedule symmetry
The ’16 Wildcats concluded the conference portion of their schedule at Oregon. They hung on for a 5-4 victory in the series finale to stop a three-game losing streak.
“I just remember thinking after that game that we’d played well enough to be in the postseason,” Johnson said. “I expected our team to play really well. I don’t know if I expected them to do what they ended up doing, but it was an exciting time.”
Arizona had five more regular-season games after that series and won them all. The Wildcats then won the Lafayette Regional; swept Mississippi State in the Starkville Super Regional; and came within one hit of winning their fifth College World Series championship.
Inside pitch
- Per usual, junior right-hander Cody Deason (5-5, 2.86) will start Thursday’s opening game for Arizona. He will face freshman right-hander Cullen Kafka (3-1 6.81). Junior righty Michael Flynn (6-4, 5.21) will oppose sophomore righty Kenyon Yovan (5-4, 3.21) in Game 2 Friday. Yovan has allowed only 59 hits and struck out 92 batters (second most in the Pac-12) in 75
- º
- innings.
- Neither team announced a starter for Saturday’s series finale. The Ducks (25-27, 11-16) could go with junior right-hander Matt Mercer, who’s 5-6 with a 3.95 ERA in a team-high 14 starts. Mercer is No. 65 in Baseball America’s top 500 for the 2018 MLB draft. He started this past Saturday.
- Oregon ranks in the bottom two in the Pac-12 in most significant offensive categories, including batting average (.238), on-base percentage (.337) slugging percentage (.336), runs (228), hits (401) and total bases (565). The Ducks rank third in the league in stolen bases (51), and their pitching staff ranks second in strikeouts (436). Arizona has allowed the fewest stolen bases (15).
