|
|
Another East Texan in the "Middle" By Scott Clendenin There has been a lot of hand wringing about losing David Newmann, Drake Britton and Will Middlebrooks with deadline deals for big bucks this past week, but the Aggies' East Texas ties are going to bridge the gap with another East Texan fireballer that signed earlier this summer. Lindale RHP Carson Middleton is coming to Aggieland after spending his freshman season at McLennan JC, and he will step right into the weekend mix for the Aggies. It is no secret that Texas A&M Coach Rob Childress and his staff have made recruiting in Houston and East Texas a top priority. The coaches have deep East Texas roots and have had a high level of success as players and coaches in high school, junior college, and major college. For this reason, this part of the state will always be a priority to them. Since arriving in Aggieland they have signed Bullard's Brodie Greene; Little Cypress-Mauriceville's Clayton Ehlert; Texarkana's Joe Register, Kirkland Rivers, Kiel Renfro and Zane Lynch; and Panola's Josey Parker in 2007. This year they struck gold again with Liberty-Eylau's Middlebrooks, Tyler's Matt Speak (by way of New Mexico JC) and Tyler All-Saints Andrew Nettune, an Athens native. Now don't let Middleton's numbers at McLennan fool you, he was 3-5 with 72 strikeouts, one save and an ERA of 3.72 in 65.2 innings on a team that only won 16 games. He was named North Texas Junior College Conference pitcher of the week after striking out nine in a two-hit shutout against Vernon while going 3-7 from the plate with a grand slam. He also matured, gaining 15 pounds since high school, and is a rock solid 6-3, 200 pounds. It was a solid season but it only scratches the surface of the kind of pitcher that Middleton can be in Aggieland. He is a winner, a big game pitcher, and after a sterling high school career, he's ready to perform on the big stage at Olsen. Middleton was the best pitcher in East Texas as a junior and a senior at Lindale High school. He was twice named East Texas MVP, twice All-State by the THSBCA and went 29-5 in his high school career. His junior and senior seasons were special as he outshined players like Middlebrooks, Lufkin's Brandon Belt and Kilgore's Casey Whitmer. Both years it took the eventual Class 3A champion to eliminate his team - Carthage in 2005 (lost 2-1) and Texarkana in 2006 (lost 4-2). He did everything he could on the mound and at the plate to make it to the regional final. In 2005 he went 13-1 with four saves and 13 complete games in 14 starts. He struck out 172 batters, threw 10 shutouts, worked 33 straight scoreless innings in the playoffs, had a 0.48 ERA on the season and only allowed opponents to hit .128 against him. He threw six complete game victories in the playoffs and twice had to win game three of a playoff series after winning game one for Lindale. His only loss came against Andrew Nettune's All-Saints team, 5-3 in extra innings during a March tournament. At the plate he hit .423-5-41, while his teammates hit only .279 on the season As a senior he went 10-3 with a 0.65 ERA, struck out 157 batters in 86.1 innings and allowed only a .180 average against him. Once again he swung a hot bat, hitting .437-3-31. He lost his first playoff game in his career, 3-1 to Gladewater, on three unearned runs and lost the second to Middebrooks and Liberty-Eylau, 4-2, on two unearned runs. The best performance of his high school career came a week earlier against Van Alstine with Coach Childress in the stands. He struck out 19 in a complete game that had him strike out the side in five of the seven innings and was throwing in the nineties in the seventh inning. He had already signed with McLennan JC before Coach Childress started recruiting him and he kept that commitment even with the Aggies, South Carolina, Houston and Louisiana-Lafayette trying to sign him. "That was real fun," Middleton said. "I looked behind the stands and saw the Texas A&M head coach there, so I knew I had to step it up. If I play somebody where I have to compete, I usually come out and do pretty good." Liberty-Eylau Coach Zach Fowler was also in the stands that day scouting for the next round of the playoffs and said all you need to know about Middleton. LINDALE'S MIDDLETON CONTINUES TO DOMINATE "He should be pitching (at the College World Series) in Omaha in June," said Fowler, who was scouting the two teams. "He's a man among boys. I don't see a high school team beating him any time soon. He puts the fast in fastball," Fowler said of Middleton, who has been clocked in the low to mid 90s. The Liberty-Eylau coach compares Middleton to former Forney pitcher Zach Segovia, who was drafted in the second round by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2002. "(Middleton's) as good if not better than Segovia," Fowler said. I think Coach Fowler's comments say it all. |