Mettlach fitting in with Javelinas

KINGSVILLE - Will Mettlach can admit it now.

It doesn't sound great to hear that Mettlach, a former baseball player at McAllen High, at first was disappointed to be heading to Texas A&M-Kingsville. He knows that he's lucky even to be playing at that level, one the vast majority of ballplayers never reach.
Yet, for a while, Mettlach had a little bit of trouble dealing with being a Javelina.

That could be because Mettlach, who is a center fielder and occasional pitcher for the Division-II team, said he thought he had a chance to play D-I. Instead, he's a platooned outfielder for Lone Star Conference champion A&M-Kingsville, which begins the D-II tournament today against top-seeded Delta State.

"There was some times I was regretting (the decision), but now that the season worked out the way it did, I'm really happy I stuck with it," Mettlach said. "I could have played a couple different places with a little better baseball, maybe had a little more starting time."

Certainly, though, that looks like a possibility for Mettlach in 2009. And, it seems, happiness in Kingsville.

While splitting time with junior Lee Venegas, Mettlach has emerged as one of the Javelinas' better hitters. He has a .282 batting average with two home runs and 11 RBIs.

Undoubtedly, the highlight of his season so far was his walk-off home run on March 1 against Abilene Christian, giving A&M-Kingsville a 3-2 win.

Head coach Russell Stockton, who basically recruited Mettlach with two phone calls and one visit last year without having seen him play, sounds like he expects much more of that from the McHi grad soon.

"We see him in the lineup. He's too good an athlete not to be hitting for us," said Stockton, whose team is 31-29 overall. "But, I'll tell you what, I can also see him closing."

That's because the 6-foot-3 Mettlach, who pitched with the Bulldogs, has one of the most lively arms on the Javelinas. In fact, he mentioned that to Stockton during the recruiting process.

The Javelina's coach, however, had to be reminded about that by Mettlach.

"He throws it so well from centerfield. Actually, my assistant coach (John Goodwin) said, ‘Take a look at Mettlach,'" Stockton said. "I asked Will, ‘Have you ever pitched?' and he goes, ‘Yeah, I pitched every week in high school.' I said, ‘Were you good?' and he says, ‘Yeah coach.' Then I said, ‘Why didn't you tell me you pitched?' and he said, ‘Well I did in that first phone call.' Well, that was a long time ago.

"So anyway, he started throwing a few bullpen (sessions) and we went ‘Golly, this is doable here.'"

Mettlach, who in three appearances has an 0-1 record and 9.00 ERA, sounded excited to throw more. Probably just as important, he sounds excited about three more seasons at A&M-Kingsville.

"No regrets now," Mettlach said. "Just hanging out with the team, we have great team chemistry and finally winning a couple games and pulling through at the end really just was a highlight of all this stuff."
 
Brian Sandalow is a sportswriter at The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.