NC State baseball looks to add depth to its pitching staff
NC State long-time baseball coach Elliott Avent has a little more familiarity with his pitchers than his lineup thanks to the return of the talented sophomore trio of Sam Highfill, Chris Villaman and Matt Willadsen, but Avent is quick to point out the loss of Reid Johnston and Evan Justice meant 14 wins and 14 saves are gone from last year’s team that finished 37-19.
Justice in particular thrived when converted from opening game starter to an overpowering lefty closer, saving 13 games with impressive numbers. He struck out 74 batters over 59.2 innings and allowed opponents to hit just .188 off him.
When asked if anybody may be able to replace Justice, Avent half-joked, “Mariano Rivera,” referring to the first-ever unanimous selection to the MLB Hall of Fame.
“Nobody on this staff, I think, is going to be able to replace Evan Justice,” Avent added. “What Evan Justice did for NC State last year, I haven’t seen done since I’ve been here. It wasn’t just what the fans saw on the mound, it was what we saw every day in the locker room.
“We just have to find ways to close games, but nobody is going to replace him.”
The trio of Highfill, Villaman and Willadsen is a good starting point for the staff, however. Highfill outdueled the top pitcher taken in the 2021 MLB Draft, Jack Leiter of Vanderbilt, during a 1-0 NC State win in the College World Series. He finished last season with a 9-2 record and 3.66 earned run average over 16 starts and 93.1 innings.
Villaman alternated between starter and reliever, and the lefty may have some of the best stuff on the staff. He was 5-2 in 2021 with a 4.35 ERA in 60.0 innings, giving up just 45 hits and striking out 71 batters. He tossed a complete game one hitter at UNC Greensboro and threw 4.1 innings of hitless ball in relief during the ACC title game loss to Duke.
Willadsen was 5-3 on the mound, and he was the starter in the Super Regional series-clinching game three victory over Arkansas, throwing four scoreless innings. Willadsen had a 4.73 ERA in 83.2 innings and tossed a complete game shutout at Boston College.
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The key for Avent and pitching coach Clint Chrysler is to find more arms to fill out the staff and bullpen.
“We feel like we have some great depth,” Avent said. “We feel like we are going to have some newcomers that are going to help us. Clint Chrysler does such a good job. He’s a fabulous pitching coach, such a great communicator.”
One name to watch could be sophomore righty Garrett Payne, who made his first career start in the College World Series rematch with Vanderbilt. Part of the famous #Pack13, the 13 players who were allowed to play in the contest due to COVID-19, Payne, who at that point had thrown 8.2 innings all season, went 5.0 innings and allowed two hits and one earned run.
“Garrett Payne gained so much confidence through that outing in that crazy game with Vanderbilt, that not only does it give him the confidence as a player, it gave him the sense of who he could be,” Avent noted.
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