By Paul Gotham
ROCHESTER, NY — The Sherrill Silversmiths took their playoff lives into the final day of the 2012 regular season. The eventual New York Collegiate Baseball League champion Syracuse Jr. Chiefs ended those hopes.
The Silversmiths will get a chance right away to avenge that loss and put their 2013 season on the right track. Three Greyhounds from Fort Scott Community College should figure prominently in the Smitties success.
Josh Griffith (Pleasant Hill, MO), Payton Logan (Jefferson City, MO) and Ka’ai Tom (Kaneohe, HI) will look to lead the Silversmiths into this year’s post-season.
Tom, a 5-10, 168 pound outfielder, recently earned NJCAA DI Player of the week honors for the week of April 1st-7th. The Hawaiian native hit .556 (10-for-18) with two doubles and five home runs for a 1.500 slugging percentage. He added 15 RBI, 10 runs scored and three stolen bases leading the Greyhounds to a 6-0 mark for the week.
“He’s put together well,” said Fort Scott head coach John Hill III recently by phone. “He has tremendous bat speed from the left side of the plate.”
In 115 at bats Tom is hitting .400 with an OBP of .493. His laid back off the field demeanor can be deceptive Hill III said.
“When the lights go on, he’s all about it.”
Griffith has made 35 starts in the field along with seven on the mound.
“He’s played a little bit of third, but he has primarily played first base for us,” Hill stated. “He went into the spring as our number one starter on the mound. We’ve kept him over at first to save his arm.”
The right-hander is 4-2 with an ERA of 3.98 in 31-plus innings of work.
“He’s got the perfect pitcher’s body,” Hill explained. “He’s 6-4, about 195-200 with shoulders from Maine to California. He’s got a good fast ball with great control of his secondary pitches: curve ball, slider, change. He’s going to be very good on the mound.”
Griffith is hitting .263 in 95 at bats for the Greyhounds this spring.
“He’s had a very rough spring as far as hitting the ball right at people. The quality of at bats and the quality of hits, the contact he’s had it’s much more like a .315-.330 season. He’s had very bad luck.”
Logan will join Griffith and Tom on the Sherrill lineup.
The freshman has thrown 13 innings in five appearances thus far. Five of those innings were a no-hit outing in a game shortened because of run rule.
“He hasn’t pitched as much as some of the other guys, and he’s very raw. He’s got as good a stuff as anyone in our program. He’s got a huge upside. We’re just trying to fine tune.”
The southpaw has fanned 16 and walked 11.
“He’s got a mid-80s fast ball as a lefty, and it moves all over the place. Sharp curve ball, good change he’s just trying to mature. By the end of the summer, he could be a monster.”
More than 20 Greyhounds have gone on to the professional ranks and countless recent players are now doing diamond work at four-year schools.
The Silversmiths open 2013 with a doubleheader against the reigning league champion Syracuse Jr. Chiefs on Monday, June 3rd. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Alliance Bank Stadium.
The NYCBL is a summer wood-bat league which provides eligible student-athletes the opportunity to develop skills over the course of two months in Upstate New York. Current major league players Tim Hudson, Hunter Pence and Jason Motte all spent a summer playing in the NYCBL. Twenty-one former NYCBL players heard their names called during the 2012 MLB draft.
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