 |
| Buddy Lowe Field at Pat Thomas Stadium, Home of the Jackets |
Pitcher Jake Witter, Formerly Of Leesburg High, Signed With Lake-sumter Community College.
LEESBURG
— Projected to fill a role as a right-handed pitcher, Jake Witter
signed Friday afternoon with Lake-Sumter Community College's baseball
team.
Witter, who graduated from Leesburg High School a year ago
and was a freshman at LSCC this past year, impressed baseball coach Mike
Matulia during two tryouts in February and one in May.
Though
not expected to be used as a starting pitcher, Witter probably will be
used in situations when the Lakers need to get outs.
``He is not
overpowering with his fastball, but he has good offspeed stuff and he is
always around the strike zone,'' Matulia said. ``You need to find
pitchers who can come in and throw strikes, and that is what Jake can
do.
``When he came to the tryouts, I was looking for pitchers, and
I am not going to say he is a polished pitcher because he has a long
way to go. But he has the tools to be a good pitcher.
How he is used is ``pretty much up to coach Matulia,'' Witter said. ``I'll play wherever or whenever he wants me to.''
For
Witter, who is 6 feet and weighs 190 pounds, the signing is a second
chance - an opportunity to restart a baseball career that has been on
hold for about a year.
He didn't play his senior year in high school because of a disagreement with Leesburg coach Randy Wilson.
``The
coach and I had some differences, but that is in the past,'' Witter
said. ``There are not many guys who don't play baseball their senior
year in high school and still get a chance to play in college. I really
feel like it is a second chance.''
``It [signing with LSCC) gives
me a chance to play with some of the guys I played with in high school
or I played against them,'' Witter said. ``I already know a few of the
players.''
The Lakers' signing spree has continued in the past two
weeks. In addition to Witter, the team has also added three transfer
players from Valencia Community College, which has shut down its
athletic program.
Joining the Lakers will be right-handed hitting
shortstop Eddie Rodriquez and another right-handed pitcher, Tommy
Naddeo, both of whom played at Valencia last season and were high school
teammates at Dr. Phillips. Both of those players signed baseball
grants. The third Valencia player, former South Lake outfielder Darrell
Turner, signed an academic scholarship.
Chuck Fullen, a pitcher
from Apopka, also has signed an academic grant to LSCC and another
Apopka pitcher, David Bultema, has committed to the Lakers but has not
signed yet.
Resources
No comments:
Post a Comment