MURFREESBORO - Much of Bryce Brentz's baseball career has revolved around timing.
As a hitter, great timing and technique have allowed him to become a consistent slugger for both power and average, and as a pitcher, good timing helps him squelch a rally at the right time.
Timing is also the reason the South-Doyle High School graduate ended up at Middle Tennessee State University, as opposed to staying home and wearing orange for Tennessee, or any other color.
"Tennessee never really came and knocked on the door until after I signed my letter of intent (with MTSU)," the sophomore said Monday. "That was because (then) Coach (Rod) Delmonico himself never got to see me play, but when he did, that's when he decided he wanted to get me."
He stuck with his commitment to MTSU coach Steve Peterson, though, and he's made the most of his time with the Blue Raiders.
Brentz was named Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year along with Freshman All-America honors from multiple publications last season. Last week he was named conference Player of the Year, hitting .482 with 28 home runs, 72 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .968. He also has been named one of 30 semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award from USA Baseball and earned a spot at the USA Baseball National Team Trials next month.
He did all this while helping MTSU win the Sun Belt tournament and earn a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Regional tournament in Louisville. Ky. The Blue Raiders will play Vanderbilt on Friday.
"He's got little league stats," Peterson said. "I serve on an All-American committee, and I know the comments and the jokes that will come up when we bring his name up. They'll say, 'Who's keeping the stats? Everything's a hit, huh?' But everything's legit."
"All the stuff that's happened so far, the player of the year and all the other awards, that's just icing on the cake," Brentz said. "A championship was the only goal. If I'd have hit .200 and we won the championship, I'd be just as happy."
The decision to come to MTSU was an easy one for Brentz. A three-sport athlete at South-Doyle until his senior year, he gave up football and wrestling to focus on baseball.
"I never really got to hone in on one sport and develop the skills, I was just an athlete out there," he said. "My senior year I concentrated on baseball, and I guess I was a late bloomer."
The offers for baseball were few, but he went to all the necessary showcases and did summer league work to show off his skills. Peterson could see early on Brentz was someone he would want to work with, and the youngster would be able to contribute in multiple ways.
"We liked him from the get-go," Peterson said. "As far as pitching and the outfield, I told him he would do both. I gave him some examples of guys we've had who've done that; you have to be good enough to do both and have the work ethic."
It was never anything personal against Tennessee or Demonico.
"Tennessee wanted me to be a closer, and I was going to get an open tryout for the outfield," Brentz said. "Here it was already set in stone that I would hit and pitch. I didn't want to take any chances going back on my letter of intent."
Brentz was and still is close friends with Delmonico's son, Joey, along with the rest of the family. But Tennessee had never offered him both a pitching and hitting role, not to mention their interest had been relatively low all along.
"I shook hands with (Delmonico) and said, "Coach, I'd love to, but I've already signed my deal with Coach Pete and told him I was coming (to MTSU).' And he respected that."
Working with Peterson and the coaching staff has been great for Brentz's game, he said. Hours in the batting cage have resulted in him turning into a ruthless power hitter with major league potential.
"I never knew I could learn this much about hitting," he said. "I've tried to be a student of the game. I'm not eligible for the draft until 2010, so I'm going to sit back, keep playing and get ready for the USA trials, because that's my goal right now.
"I want to get drafted, sure, that's every ball player's dream to get to the highest level. I'm not gonna think about that just yet."
Until then, though, he will help lead the Blue Raiders against Vanderbilt.
"My goal with him and his family was, 'Hey, come with me for three years and let's see how you can become, then if you want to go pro, go pro," Peterson said. "I've seen him improve as a baseball player, especially his maturity. He has been surrounded by good teammates, and he's become a good teammate."
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Comments » 10
WorkinLikeHeck writes:
Thanks alot Delmoronico....
VolCrazy writes:
Honestly, he is better off at MTSU. He did something there that UT basebal may not do for a while and that is winning a championship of any kind and making the tournament.
jakethevolguy writes:
Lookin at the East Tenn boys at other schools and what they have done shows me that somebody at UT sucked at evaluating tallent!!
feathersax writes:
Just another example why there are two things good about Delmonico: (1) it's a delicious steak; (2) he's GONE!
TaintBuster69 writes:
I bet if he had gone to Farragut he would have been snagged by Delmonico. Apparently FHS is the only school with baseball talent. At least, according to Delmonico. That guy was a chotch.
OrangePride writes:
One of the curious things about Tennessee baseball is its complete inability, or at least interest to, sign local talent. We didn't have anything going under Delmonico and it doesn't seem that we have improved the situation with CR. We will see where this program goes next year, but it had better be a LOT better than this year.
olevole writes:
1. People who say that Rod ignored local talent when it wasn't from Farragut are dissing Todd and Bubba (Central), Lockwood (Halls), Everett (Lenoir City) and the many other local boys who played for him-probably because they don't know much about local baseball.
2. Those who think that Rod missed Bryce didnt read the story carefully. Bryce clearly states that he was a late bloomer who did not become a dominant baseball player until the spring of his senior year and that Rod went after him then but it was too late.
3. Rod needed to move on. However he was and is a great coach. People who know baseball know he is responsible for the 2 biggest upsets in international baseball history. He also put the Vols in the CWS 3 times, usually had his team in postseason play and never finished in the SEC basement. If you question his intelligence you demonstrate your lack of it.
4. The big story here is that local baseball is strong and that Raleigh has no one coming in from this area next year. Gatorade Player of the Year Curt Powell apparently saw that he was a bozo and ran to Vandy. Players who want to play in the postseason know that they need to go elsewhere since this cellar dweller abuses players and misses 10% of his games because of his embarrassing antics. Our Vols deserve better. This programs reputation is not going to be salvageable if Hamilton shows that UT doesnt care enough about baseball to fix this problem this year.
We hope that Adam Adkins is ok.
us43137415#376444 writes:
You hit it right on the head.. High schools, and especially Chatt State and Walters State have excellent players, but actually Delmonico never knew about them.. his ace recruiter Larry Simcox knew these boys, went to their games, talked to their parents, and quietly, but effectively recruited them to Tennessee. But once they got there, they ran into Delmonico, who picked and chose his favorites among them. The unfavorite ones floundered..I have wondered if Mike Moore might have been as good a catcher as Arencibia.. they never gave him a chance, and he became satisfied with sitting in the background.
If Raleigh could have kept one coach, it should have been Simcox (Bell wasn't worth the UT uniform he wore--a disastrous coaching idiot).. Simcox was a recruiting genius. All of the good players Tennessee had over at least 15 years.. Helton, Hochevar, J.P, Headley, Alley, King, Adkins.. just about all of them, were all recruited by Simcox. Unfortunately, today's good Tennessee players look at this unsteady Raleigh ship, and run, screaming to the other teams.
stroker writes:
olevole:
2. Those who think that Rod missed Bryce didnt read the story carefully. Bryce clearly states that he was a late bloomer who did not become a dominant baseball player until the spring of his senior.
So the point is?????????? Peterson was at a distance and made the right offer.
gmoneyvol writes:
Raleigh is awful... bad hire! Please fix it, Mike!
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