By TIM MULLHAUPT
GENEVA, N.Y. — To anyone who’s been following along, this award and its recipient comes as no surprise. It’s not that the rest of the league wasn’t good-there were plenty of fantastic pitchers to grace the NYCBL in 2015. It’s just that Vince Apicella was just that great. For Geneva Red Wings’ manager Ryan Kassab, Apicella’s greatness didn’t take long to make itself known. Having a connection at Apicella’s college in Carson-Newman recruiting coach and former NYCBL teammate Skyler Barnett, Kassab reached out to his once-catcher when he saw he had one of his Eagles on his 2015 squad.
“’You’re gonna love the kid. I’m not gonna tell you any more about him because you’re not gonna believe me. Give me a call after his first couple starts and let me know what you think,’” Barnett told Kassab.
In his first two starts, Apicella went 1-0 over 15 innings, allowing just two runs (one earned) while striking out 19. Kassab was quick to hold up his end of the deal.
“After his second start, I got home; I called Skyler and said ‘Thank you very much.’”
The Geneva ace’s exploits are well documented: a 7-0 record in eight starts is the first figure to catch one’s eye amongst many, other eye-popping stats, but for Apicella, it’s was all about consistency.
“During the season up there, I wanted to have a great summer and be consistent in all my starts, but I didn’t really set out to achieve anything award-wise. I’m just honored to receive that award with having a good summer,” he said on being named the summer league’s best hurler this season.
In baseball terms, a quality start is when a starter lasts at least six innings and gives up no more than three runs. Taking a gander at the basics of Apicella’s stat line-a 0.30 ERA, a 0.82 WHIP and a .145 BAA-it’s not hard to fathom that the lefty acquired a pretty high percentage of such starts in the eight he made this summer. All of eight of them earned the “quality” distinction for an even 100 percent. Oh and then there’s the minor achievement of breaking current Houston Astros starter Mike Fiers’ NYCBL strikeout record of 76 by posting 77 of his own.
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“That was probably one of my best moments ever. Getting that last strikeout and then turning to see all my teammates running at me, everyone giving me high fives and hugs, it was pretty cool. It was a great feeling,” recalled Apicella on breaking Mike Fiers’ strikeout record.
Beyond the punch outs, he also held a streak of 27 scoreless innings between the dates of June 20th and July 23rd. He gave up just two earned runs all season. Two earned runs and a total of six total runs against 235 batters faced. One out of every 117.5 batters he confronted scored by virtue of non-erroneous play. Twice as many scored via error, but all totaled that’s still only one out of 39 batters faced.
Before allowing one with one out in the third inning of his final start, Apicella had gone a 47 innings without surrendering an earned run.
“It was almost hard as a coach to give him the ball and to not just sit there and take the day off because we kind of figured you only needed one to two runs with Vince out there on the mound,” said Kassab.
It’s hard not to see why one could be so easily transfixed with an Apicella performance. With a K/9 rate of 11.36 this season, and of course the aforementioned breaking of Mike Fiers’ strikeout record, Apicella didn’t just dominate, he dazzled while doing it. Looking at his college background, it’s not difficult to imagine seeing this trend continue. Amongst the more successful Carson-Newman athletic alumni are former MLB pitcher Clyde Wright, who spent time with the Angels, Brewers and Rangers in the 1960’s and 1970’s and current St. Louis Cardinals reliever Steve Cishek, a six-year veteran of The Show. Apicella is more than aware of their place in his school’s history, having even met Wright last year, but he also doesn’t lose sight of what makes his own career path unique, adding his own mark with 111 strikeouts last season.
“Everyone’s journey is different. I’m a lot different than them; I’m a shorter guy-I have to use my off speed to get me by. I’ve just used what I have used over all the years to get my success.”
Already the owner of several plus pitches, Apicella cites his curveball as his favorite. Coach Ryan Kassab agreed with its potency, referencing his players’ affectionate dubbing of the offering as “public enemy number one,” the same moniker the LA Dodgers gave to Clayton Kershaw’s hook. Still, the Geneva skipper thought yet another pitch was even better.
“The one that I really picked out personally was his changeup because it developed while he was there [Geneva]…It was a straight changeup, very little movement to it if any. He worked with one of our pitchers, Brandon Humbertson who had a pretty good changeup. Vince worked on it. He understood how to work on it and when to throw it. He has on any given day an effective four pitches that he can come at you with any count in mind, it doesn’t matter. “
But what other intangibles does a pitcher need to have to put up the kind of video game stats Apicella did this summer? What makes for great consistency between starts? Kassab didn’t mince words; he trains like one mean dude-the highest compliment one can receive within the confines of a weight room.
“Vince’s preparation was top tier. The guy was crazy in the weight room. He was working out every morning when I was in there. The guy worked out with a high-altitude mask on; he looked like Darth Vader working out in the mornings.”
But it wasn’t just pumping iron. Baseball as much as any team sport is a mental war of attrition, one that Apicella grasps well.
“He understands how to pitch. He doesn’t go out there and throw max effort every single pitch. He can save a 95-mph fastball in his back pocket if he wants and throw it 85-87 the rest of the game. He mixes and matches and messes with hitters’ timing and keeps them off balance. He changes their eye level. His consistency is just a product of all those variables coming together,” asserted Kassab.
The ultimate question is what’s next for the 5-9 hurler whose stature will be likely put under the microscope by those looking to acquire him at the next level. His manager, who also happens to be a former pitcher himself as well as a pitching coach at Frederick Community College, asserted that while he’s no scout, he’s been blown away.
“I don’t really see Vince’s ceiling personally. His durability is unreal; the kid doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t break down. He treats his body right, he gets his rest, his off the field intangibles are there. It was a pleasure to learn a couple of things from a kid like that.”
Kassab didn’t stop at the elephant in the room either, but rather revealed portions of his discussions with talent evaluators who are familiar with Apicella’s body of work.
“I know a couple scouts I’ve talked to said of course they wished he was three inches taller. Unfortunately there is a cookie-cutter mold that goes in professional sports and baseball in general, but Vince has everything physically and mentally that is needed as far as intangibles. Granted I’m not a scout, but any team that I was on, I’d take Vince in a heartbeat. ”
It’s not as if smaller pitchers haven’t been massively successful in the MLB. 2015 Cooperstown inductee Pedro Martinez was generously listed at 5-11. Yankees greats Whitey Ford and Ron Guidry were listed at 5-10 and 5-11, respectively. Before planning a hall of fame speech, before thinking about even his next season at the collegiate level, before anything else, one thing is blatantly apparent-Apicella just gets it. In closing his interview, he made sure to credit his fielders for their tremendous defense.
“Thanks to the outstanding fielders I had to back me up in both the infield and outfield, making such great plays all year behind me. I could not have done any of it without their plays. Thanks, have a great day!”
And off he went for-with no exaggeration here-to play another game of baseball. If nothing else, you have to love the consistency.
Hornell’s Jordan Accetta garnered 2014 NYCBL Pitcher of the Year honors.
2015 Pitcher of the Year.
Apicella (17) 125 points
Brandon Mumaw (Niagara/State University of New York at Buffalo)(2) 70 points
Mitch Powers (Geneva Twins/ So. New Hampshire) (1) 38
David Ehmen (Oneonta/Wofford) 17 points
Brandon Schlimm (Olean/St. Bonaventure) (1) 16 points
Others receiving votes: Troy Montemayor (Hornell/Baylor), T.J. Peterson (Cortland/State College of Florida-Manatee/Sarasota), Austin Bizzle (Olean/Alabama State), Aaron Phillips (Olean/St. Bonaventure), Cameron Carney (Rochester/Tusculum), Matt Wood (Syracuse Jr. Chiefs/Salve Regina), Sean Pisik (Syracuse Salt Cats/Ursinus), Connor Ryan (Hornell/Mercyhurst), Cory Vogeli (Syracuse Salt Cats/Misericordia), Cam Jack (Syracuse Salt Cats/Mt. Hood CC), Conner Grey (Hornell/St. Bonaventure), C.J. Lee (Hornell/Webster U), Adam Scott (Oneonta/Wofford), Vincent Santarsiero (Genesee/Fontbonne), Ryan Broaderick (Niagara/LaGrange), Brandon Humbertson (Geneva Red Wings/Salisbury), Nate Robinson (Niagara/Cedarville), Mike Adams (Oneonta/SUNY Albany), Tanner Whiteman (Syracuse Jr. Chiefs/Maryland-Eastern Shore).
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