By Paul Gotham
Twelve months ago, Jasvir Rakkar and the Webster Yankees of the New York Collegiate Baseball League traveled the highways and by-ways of Upstate New York playing in places like McDonough Park, Sal Maglie Stadium and Basket Road Field.
Later this week, Rakkar and the Stony Brook Seawolves will take the field on college baseball’s grandest stage in Omaha, Nebraska.
As for his baseball career beyond Omaha? Rakkar will leave that until later. Right now, he is too focused upon what’s important now.
And why not. Rakkar and the Seawolves started last week by defeating Central Florida to advance from the Coral Gables Regional. From there, Stony Brook grabbed national headlines when they advanced to the school’s first College World Series upending Louisiana State in the Baton Rouge Super Regional.
The week’s events etched a permanent mark on Rakkar’s personal timeline.
“I can’t even describe how crazy the last week has been,” Rakkar said recently by phone. “Considering that not only did we come out of the loser’s bracket in the Regionals, but we also lost to Louisiana State in the first game and were able to come back win that series best two out of three.”
Amid all that excitement, Rakkar’s future also took shape as the Chicago Cubs him in the 26th round of the MLB Draft.
“Winning the Regional itself was a great accomplishment,” Rakkar continued. “Heading straight to Louisiana and getting drafted on Wednesday was also just a great point in my life. It might be one of the greatest weeks of my life.”
In this his third season with Stony Brook, the right-hander has made 16 (14 in relief) appearances on the mound. He has struck out 29 walked 14 in 39 innings of work. He hurled one inning out of the bullpen in Baton Rouge.
Seeds of Rakkar’s success were sown in the NYCBL. The native of Brampton, Ontario posted a 4-3 record with the 2011 Webster Yankees. He fanned 36, walked 22 and finished with an ERA of 3.68. He developed confidence in his change up last summer, and the progress has continued since.
“Lately, both my off speed pitches and my fast ball have been working for me,” Rakkar explained. “My change up and my breaking ball have been my most consistent. I’m getting good action on it and able to throw it in different counts, trying to get the hitters off-balance. Using my fast ball on both sides of the plate has been very crucial for me.”
Rakkar’s finest moment with the Webster nine came in game one of the NYCBL Western Division finals. He struck out six and walked two in four shutout innings as the pinstripes defeated the Geneva Red Wings, 5-2. Rakkar came back two nights later and tossed a shutout frame as Dave Brust’s team advanced to the NYCBL championship.
“He had electric stuff,” Brust said of his former player. “We knew he would be a draft pick. He had a great work ethic, a real student of the game. He was always studying charts and asking questions. He was open to suggestions. You could tell he played in a program where improvement was expected.”
“At the end of the day that’s what you want people to say about you,” Rakkar commented when he heard the words of his former skipper. “That you’re focused, and you’re hardworking. You can say that is greater than any accomplishment because the only thing someone can’t take away from you is how hard you work and how focused you are on the task at hand.”
“The league really helped me,” Rakkar said of his time in the NYCBL. “I was able to come in and throw a lot of innings against good hitters. I worked in different situations. I got to start; I got to come in relief. It got me used to doing the same thing every time I’m on the mound. It doesn’t matter if I’m starting or relieving, I’m going to go out there and challenge hitters and let them put the ball in play and trust my defense behind me. That’s what I was able to do with Webster. I trusted those guys behind me. I really trust the guys behind me at Stony Brook.”
Rakkar was one of three current Seawolves who spent time playing for Webster over the past two summers.
G.C. Yerry took the hill in 2010 when the Yanks made their first post-season appearance in four years. Yerry allowed one earned run over eight innings as Webster defeated the Allegany County Nitros, 4-2.
Brian Tatleman joined Rakkar on the 2011 pitching staff. The South Windsor, Connecticut native threw 29-plus innings in 13 appearances (3 starts) for the 2012 Western Division champions.
“All three of those guys made a mark on the program,” Brust said.”Stony Brook made Webster better which in turn made Stony Brook better.”
The pipeline of Stony Brook pitchers coming to Webster started with Brust’s time in the Atlanta Braves system. During the early 90s he teamed with Ken Harring on the Durham Bulls. The two played under former big league manager, Grady Little. Brust and Harring remained in contact through the years. Harring, now the head coach at UMass-Lowell, sent many of his players to Webster. Stony Brook’s current pitching coach, Mike Marron, served in the same capacity under Harring before moving on to the Seawolves.
Rakkar and Joe Greenfield (Eastern Illinois) combined to give Webster two picks in the recent MLB Draft. The Boston Red Sox chose Greenfield in the 22nd round. In more than 68 innings of work last summer, Greenfield posted an ERA of 1.84. He went 4-3 with 43 strike outs and 21 walks. With the Yanks caught in a mid-season rut, Greenfield hurled a gem holding the Hornell Dodgers to one run over seven innings.
“His ability to pitch in big games was great,” Brust said of Greenfield. “He had a dominant sinking fastball with a high-level breaking ball. He was, at times, untouchable.”
Brust went on to compare his former pitchers. “Joe was 88-90 with great stuff. ‘Jazz’ was 90-94 and you saw it coming.”
Webster’s lineup consisted of four draft picks last season. Both Chris Bostick and Jake Montgomery were drafted out of high school. Bostick plays in the Oakland A’s system with the Vermont Lake Monsters of the NY-P League. Montgomery chose the collegiate route. He plays for Wallace State in Alabama.
With Rakkar and Greenfield’s selections, along with Bostick and Montgomery, that brings the number of former Webster Yankees earning draft status to nine. The Chicago Cubs took former Webster Yankee Jordon Herr (’06 when the team was known as the Rochester Royals) in the 2007 draft and Jordan Petraitis (’06) in the 2008 and 2009 drafts. The Cincinnati Reds chose Bryan Gardner (’06, ’07) in 2008. The Atlanta Braves chose Cory Brownsten (’08) and Dan Jurik (’09) in the 2010 Draft.
Four other former Yankees have signed free agent deals. Patrick Urckfitz (’08) signed with the Houston Astros and is currently in his fifth professional season.
Gary Helmick (’06-’07) and Jason Stifler (‘o6-’07) both signed as free agents with the Baltimore Orioles. Marcus Nidiffer (’07) inked a deal with Houston.
For now, Rakkar is sticking by his team’s motto: WIN. Which stands for What’s Important Now!
That means his baseball career after Stony Brook will wait.
“I really haven’t thought about it because of what is going on with us,” Rakkar said of his prospects in professional baseball. “I have been just so excited about this. They (Chicago Cubs) have been good about letting me focus on this for now. They respected that. I’m happy with that, and I am trying to keep my mind on the task at hand.”
Stony Brook plays UCLA on Friday. Game time at TD Ameritrade Park is scheduled for 5 p.m.
“At the end of the day, what’s important now starts with pitching and defense. That’s what we’re trying to do and take it into the College World Series.”
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In all, 21 players with ties to the NYCBL heard their names called during the 2012 MLB Draft:
Rnd. 3 pick 105 Colorado– Tom Murphy (U. of Buffalo) Oneonta ’10
Rnd. 6 pick 205 Toronto- Eric Philips (Georgia Southern) Glens Falls ’09
Rnd. 8 pick 272 Tampa Bay– Luke Maile (Kentucky) Amsterdam ’10-’11
Rnd. 9 pick 282 Baltimore– Brady Wager (Grand Canyon Univ.) Oneonta ’11
Rnd. 12 pick 384 Washington– Carlos Lopez (Wake Forest) Elmira ’10
Rnd. 14 pick 429 Houston –Joe Sclafani (Dartmouth) Amsterdam ’09
Rnd. 14 pick 453 Arizona- Derrick Stulz (South Florida) Oneonta ’10
Rnd. 15 pick 472 Cincinnati- Ben Klimesh (Trinity Univ.) Albany ’09
Rnd. 22 pick 689 Atlanta– Shae Simmons (SE Missouri St) Watertown ’10
Rnd. 22 pick 691 Boston- Joe Greenfield (S.Surburban College) Webster ’11
Rnd. 23 pick 708 Colorado– Andrew Brown (Akron) Glens Falls ’09
Rnd. 24 pick 738 Colorado- Mike Mason (Marshall) Mohawk Valley ’09
Rnd. 25 pick 772 Cincinnati– Sean Lucas (U Albany) Saratoga ’08
Rnd. 25 pick 779 Atlanta– Brandon Rohde (Central Washington) Oneonta ’10
Rnd. 25 pick 788 Philadelphia – Brennan Henry (Northeastern JC) Rochester AIA ’12
Rnd. 26 pick 794 Chicago NL– Jasvir Rakkar (Stony Brook U) Webster ’11
Rnd. 26 pick 808 San Francisco– Mason McVay (FIU) Glens Falls ’09
Rnd. 27 pick 825 San Diego– Goose Kallunki (Utah Valley State) Cooperstown ’10
Rnd. 30 pick 928 San Francisco– Jon Blanchard (Austin Peay) Geneva RW ’09
Rnd. 31 pick 980 New York NL– Jon Leroux (Northeastern U) Geneva RW ’11-’12
Rnd. 32 pick 993 Arizona– Daniel Watts (Jacksonville) Glens Falls ’09
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