2020 Tulane Baseball Positional Preview: Pitchers and Catchers

Photo by: Parker Waters

2020 Tulane Baseball Positional Preview: Pitchers and Catchers

Feb 12, 2020 | Baseball

The final in a series previewing the 2020 Tulane baseball roster

Pitchers and Catchers

Easily the largest and most robust group on the roster are the battery of pitchers and catchers that the Green Wave will have going into the 2020 season. With four catchers and 19 pitchers dotting the roster, second-year assistant coach and pitching coach Daniel Latham will have a lot of options at his disposal for the upcoming season.

The lone returning catcher from last year earned second-team all-conference honors last year in junior Frankie Niemann. Niemann proved to be one of the top defensive catchers in the league and brought the bat to match, playing in 47 games in his sophomore season, making 39 starts behind the dish. At one point during the season after being inserted in the lineup he registered six consecutive hits in six at-bats, as he went on to finish the season hitting .318 with 47 hits, including 14 doubles and four home runs.

A transfer from Wallace Community College is junior Luis Aviles, who was a JUCO Honorable Mention All-American at the Dothan, Alabama-based school. He finished last season hitting .424 at the plate with 70 hits, 14 for doubles, four triples and 17 home runs. Aviles produced 61 RBI with 51 runs scored, holding an on-base percentage of .424 and a slugging percentage of .867 in 53 games played in his once season after transferring from Rice.

The next junior college standout is Haydan Hastings, a junior from California. In one season at Palomar College, Hastings played in 34 games and hit .275 at the plate. Hastings had 30 hits, driving in 20 with 25 runs scored, but the highlight at the end of the season was earning a JUCO Gold Glove award after sporting a .996 fielding percentage defensively.

The final catcher in the mix is a freshman with a familiar last name in Parker Haskin. Haskin, the younger brother of sophomore outfielder Hudson Haskin, was a four-year letterwinner at catcher and playing in the infield at The Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Named the team captain and finishing the year as his team's MVP, Parker batted .309 in his final prep season with eight doubles and 11 stolen bases, while behind the dish he threw out over 40 percent of runners on base to earn second team all-district honors.

While reloading the pitching ranks, Tulane has nine pitchers returning that all saw significant innings throughout the season, as the team will be looking to replace two of its weekend starters from a season ago.

One of three senior pitchers on the roster was last year's Saturday starter in Keagan Gillies. Gillies made 14 starts on the mound and appeared in 15 games for the Green Wave, logging 62.3 innings pitched over the course of the season. Gillies struck out 61 batters and only issued 29 walks in 2019, as he struck out six or more batters five times on the year.

Redshirt senior Trent Johnson appeared in 21 games and started a pair last season, going 2-0 on the year with a save in 32.1 innings pitched. Johnson's two wins came against Lamar and McNeese, but one of his biggest contributions on the season came on the road at ECU as he entered the game with the game-tying and go-ahead runs on base with only one out on the board, getting the final two outs the Green Wave needed to hold on for the win and earn his first career save in the process.

The final senior pitcher is Robert Price, the righty from New Jersey who appeared in 17 games all in relief for Tulane. Price went 1-1 on the season with 16 strikes to just 12 walks, as he earned his first career save on the road in the conference-opening series against Cincinnati by pitching the final 3.1 innings, allowing two hits with two strikeouts and a walk.

The returning pitcher that had the most appearances and innings in relief is junior left-handed pitcher Justin Campbell. Campbell made 32 appearances last season, tied for the fifth-most for a pitcher in a single season, tying for the team lead in saves with two. The Michigan native had 47 strikeouts to 19 walks, earning his only win of the season against George Washington, while picking both of his saves in the same weekend days apart against USF.

At the back end of games returns junior Connor Pellerin, who appeared in 21 games and finished the season picking up a pair of wins and a pair of saves. He struck out six batters twice in a game last year, as over the summer he helped bolster the best pitching staff's in the Cape Cod League with the Orleans Firebirds.

Junior C.J. Whelan returns after seeing action in 18 games in his first year with the team in 2019, earning a pair of wins. He was a part of the group that fired the only shutout for the team last year, allowing 14 runs on 22 hits, with 20 strikeouts and 11 walks.

Making his debut in the very first game of the season as a freshman last year, Krishna Raj made a big impact by pitching six shutout innings in extras against George Washington, striking out six and allowing one hit to earn the win. Raj went on to earn a 3-2 record with a save, pitching 43.1 total innings as he featured in midweek games.

The Catholic High School tandem of Landon Boeneke and Grant Segar return for Tulane this year, as Boeneke appeared in seven games with six innings pitched, while Segar featured in three games with four innings pitched.

Along with Campbell, Tulane will have three more left-handed pitchers to choose from when looking for options on the mound, beginning first with redshirt sophomore Jack Aldrich. Aldrich, spent one season at Santa Barbara City College after transferring from Santa Clara University, appearing in 16 games with the Vaqueros, making 10 starts on the mound where he sported a 5-3 record. He was named an all-conference pitcher after striking out 90 in 82.1 innings pitched.

Spending the last two seasons at State College of Florida, Chris Holcomb appeared in 37 games on the mound for the Manatees, pitching 43.1 innings in 2019. Holcomb allowed 10 runs on 39 hits with 46 strikeouts and 25 walks to finish the season with an ERA of 2.08.

Luke Jannetta begins his freshman season at Tulane coming off a prep career where he lettered for four years for the baseball team, three years on the football team and one year on the basketball team at Westminster High School in Georgia. Jannetta in his final season went 6-3 as a senior on the mound earning all-league honors for the third consecutive year, as well as all-region and all-state honors in class 3A for the second straight year.

Moving to the righty's, Donovan Benoit made 14 starts on the mound in one season at Santa Fe College, earning a 5-3 record. Benoit had an ERA of 3.96 in 63.2 innings pitched, fanning 68 batters with 37 walks and allowing 43 runs, 28 earned, on 54 total hits, as he was drafted in the 38^th round by the Texas Rangers. Before that he spent one year at Tennessee, where he had a streak of five straight appearances where he allowed just one unearned run for the Vols.

Another player joining the team from Palomar College is junior Braden Olthoff. Olthoff Spent two seasons there, appearing in 30 games with 13 starts, earning a 6-1 record with five saves in a first team all-conference season as a sophomore. In 68 innings of work he allowed 19 runs on 41 hits with 75 strikeouts and 23 walks.

Hailing from Fairbury, Illinois, Clifton Slagel spent the last two years at Heartland Community College. As a sophomore Slagel was 7-2 on the year, where in 10 starts had a 3.59 earned run average with 55 strikeouts and 14 walks. Another junior is Bryce Mackey, who spent three seasons at South Mountain Community College, where in 2018 the team was ranked in the top 25 nationally and won the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference title.

Beginning his Tulane career as a redshirt sophomore, David Bates made 16 appearances at Howard College, making one start after transferring from Vanderbilt. Bates earned a save and pitched in 19 innings, finishing the season with a 1-3 record.

A freshman, Adam Grintz was a four-year letterwinner at Downingtown High School in Pennsylvania, winning the Chestmont League title in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Grintz Set the school record for wins as a pitcher with 24, breaking a record that stood for over 30 years as his senior year he was 8-2 on the season with 85 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.33.

A three-year letterwinner at Loyola High School in California, freshman Joey Phelps served as a pitcher, shortstop and outfielder during his prep career. Phelps was named team captain as a senior, earning All-Mission League honors after hitting .297 at the plate and having a 1.15 ERA on the mound with 66 strikeouts with eight earned runs allowed.