BC Baseball Reps Shine at NWAC Showcase

Evan Johnson
Evan Johnson displayed his power with a towering moon shot home run during the NWAC Showcase workout. photo by Rich Dworkis.

Bellevue College baseball showed their presence as having some of the elite players in the northwest as all five of Bellevue’s representatives fared well at the NWAC Sophomore Showcase held on Saturday September 26 at Lower Columbia College. The one-day event showcases some of the top sophomores in all four regions as voted by the coaches in the NWAC. Approximately 70 four-year college coaches and professional baseball scouts attended. The high attendance was due partially to a last minute postponement of Gonzaga University’s annual ‘scout day’ (originally scheduled for yesterday as well), which prompted several pro scouts to head to the NWAC event instead. Bellevue’s reps did not disappoint, as NWAC batting title champ, Dylan Vchulek, singled in the game and also blistered the field in the running combine portion by running an event-best 6.68 second 60 yard dash. He was one of only three players out of 64 who broke the 7.0 barrier. During the batting practice session, in which several balls typically fly out of the small dimension field at Lower Columbia, the wind blew in the entire day, preventing home runs with the exception of Bellevue’s Evan Johnson. Johnson smoked a towering shot halfway up the trees, clearing the fence by 60 feet. Jordan LaFave made one of the highlight defensive plays in the entire showcase by reaching full extension on a dive to his right and throwing out a West region runner on what looked to be a for-sure base hit. 6 6″ lefty pitcher Cody Anderson intrigued all of the coaches with his variety of pitches and deception, striking out two of the four batters he faced. Both he and Zach Usselman faced the minimum hitters and dominated, as Usselman struck out three of the four hitters he faced as the final pitcher for the North in the event.

As a team, the Bulldogs also fared well this past Friday night September 25 as the ‘dogs split a doubleheader with region-rival Edmonds in a fall scrimmage. Bellevue’s pitchers carried a no-hitter against the Triton hitters into the eighth inning until a single broke up the no-no. BC’s pitchers shutout Edmonds in the first game and in game two fell behind early 4-0 but chipped back to make it 4-3 entering the ninth. Bellevue had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the ninth but could not squeak across the tying run as Usselman worked a full count to nine pitches before Edmonds freshman pitcher Jason Shevenko struck him out to end the game. Due to NWAC scrimmage regulations and format of play, scores were not official as some innings were ended prematurely before the third out was recorded due to pitch count limitations.

BC baseball is now coming off strong fall outings against Tacoma and Edmonds, as they close out their fall scrimmage season against outside competition this weekend. The Bulldogs host Pierce College this Friday October 2 at 4:00 p.m. at Courter Field. The two teams will play 21 innings with brief five minute intermissions every seven innings.

Last Updated September 27, 2015