Before they both became Arizona Wildcats, Cory Voss didn’t like Cal Stevenson very much.
They were rivals in the Mountain West Conference — Voss a catcher for New Mexico, Stevenson an outfielder for Nevada. They went head to head for team and individual accolades, sharing Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors in 2015.
“He was one of those guys you just didn’t like playing against,” Voss said of the speedy, pesky Stevenson. “I feel like I could have had 10 more doubles my freshman year if Cal wasn’t playing center field against us.”
Voss has no such concerns now. Two years after battling for Mountain West supremacy, Voss and Stevenson are Pac-12 pals — teammates, roommates and part of a wave of UA newcomers that includes a bevy of transfers.
Nine of the 16 newcomers on Arizona’s roster transferred from junior colleges or Division I schools. After becoming Arizona’s coach in June 2015 and assessing the recruiting landscape, Jay Johnson determined that he had to take more transfers in the initial classes for the Wildcats to be competitive.
“Kids are committing earlier and earlier,” said Johnson, whose team opens the season next Friday against Eastern Kentucky at Hi Corbett Field. “We had to come up with a specific plan. So what we said was, the first few years, we’re going to build our team one year at a time. Last year’s team was no different.”
Most of Arizona’s 2015-16 class already was in place when he took over, but Johnson added five players to it. Four were junior college transfers — pitchers JC Cloney and Kevin Ginkel, utility player Kyle Lewis and catcher Ryan Haug — and all played a part in the Wildcats’ run to the College World Series finals.
Arizona’s 2017-18 class, which Johnson announced in November, skews toward high school players: Only three of the 14 signees are JC transfers.
“Down the road, we certainly can recruit great high school players,” Johnson said. “We’ve done a really good job in the ’18 and ’19 classes. But the reality is, it’s going to take some time for those guys to get here and get older.”
That’s one advantage last year’s team already had — an abundance of older players, albeit many who had underachieved prior to 2016.
Johnson considers it one of the secrets to that squad’s success.
With many top-tier high school players already off the board, the goal in assembling the 2016-17 class was “to make this particular team as competitive as we could,” Johnson said. To aid in that process, he added players who already were familiar with his coaching staff and style.
Pitcher Seve Romo played for Arizona pitching coach Dave Lawn in high school and for Johnson’s old boss, Rich Hill, at the University of San Diego. Stevenson played under Johnson at Nevada.
“It’s almost like having another returning player,” Johnson said.
Stevenson and Johnson know each other well. Stevenson was among Johnson’s first Wolf Pack recruits, and he left the school after Johnson took the Arizona job.
Stevenson transferred to Chabot College in Hayward, California, near his hometown of Fremont. Johnson showed up at Chabot on the first day of classes — the first day Stevenson could be recruited.
“It basically happened from right there,” said Stevenson, who committed to Arizona a few weeks later. “I knew what kind of coach he was and how he would help me get to where I wanted to get.”
Stevenson’s primary focus is to get on base. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound, left-handed-hitting outfielder will bat at or near the top of Arizona’s lineup. He hit .359 and accumulated a .433 on-base percentage for Nevada in 2015. Stevenson stole 21 bases in 42 games at Chabot last year.
Voss hit .345 as a freshman at New Mexico. Despite Stevenson’s best efforts to rob him of extra-base hits, Voss still hit 24 of them (14 doubles, five triples, five home runs) in 53 games.
Voss, like Stevenson, transferred because of a coaching change. He had a close relationship with Dan Spencer, the Lobos’ pitching coach, who left in June 2015 to join the staff at Washington State. Johnson found out Voss was available and aggressively pursued “the guy that hit all those doubles and home runs off my team.”
Johnson contacted Voss on the day he began classes at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas (where he batted .384 last season). Voss visited Arizona and committed soon after.
Suddenly, Stevenson and Voss had more in common than their similar playing styles, which Johnson said created “a little competitive friction” between them. The future Wildcats would become teammates for the Cotuit Kettleers in the Cape Cod League, playing together and watching Arizona advance through the College World Series.
“We were glued to the TV,” Voss said, “wishing we could be there every single day.”
Stevenson and Voss are now closer to making their official Arizona debuts, and the fierce competitors have gone from disliking each other to living together.
“Now that I know him a lot better,” Voss said, “it’s one of those things where I love having him on my team.”
Morin update
UA football player Matt Morin’s bid to join the baseball team remains up in the air. Morin, a left-handed pitcher, is seeking to walk on after completing his football eligibility last fall.
Johnson said Arizona is still “waiting on an NCAA rule interpretation” regarding Morin’s eligibility, among other issues.
“Matt is on the roster as of now,” Johnson said. “We kind of have to see how it shakes out here … before we make a final decision on it.
“I love having him around. He’s made a real positive impact on our team. I do feel like he’ll be associated with our team this year. We just have to clarify the role.”
