The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 11, 1991, Image 16

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Last year’s infielder
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KEVIN IVY.The Battalion
Trey Witte, who played second base last year, looks to come out of the bullpen in 1991.
by Cam Lockley
Of The Battalion Staff
L ast season Trey Witte was a
fixture at second base. But
this season, he may be called
on to fix the Aggie bullpen crisis.
Witte, a junior agricultural econom
ics major, played in 55 of the 60 Texas
A&M baseball games last year.
Witte will be making a lot of changes
this season. A&M Head Coach Mark
Johnson said Witte will leave second
base and split time between pitcher and
designated hitter.
“Trey might be our answer out of
the bullpen this year,” Johnson said.
“He’ll play a key role on our team and
get plenty of at bats.”
Witte nit .253 with three home runs
last year, following a stellar 1989 cam
paign in which he hit .321 as a fresh
man.
Witte’s hold on second base was put
in question when standout second base-
man Sittichoke Huckuntod transfered
to A&M.
Huckuntod left Central Missouri
State, where he was a two-time All-
American as well as the Division II
Academic Player of the Year, because
CMS dropped the engineering curric
ulum he was pursuing.
Johnson was impressed by Huckun-
tod’s ability to make things happen
both offensively and defensively.
“He’s a sparkplug,” Johnson said.
“He makes the big plays on defense
and has great speed on the bases.”
While Huckuntod’s physical ability-
impressed Johnson, so did Witte’s abil
ity to adapt.
“Good things are going to happen to
a player with his unselfishness and pos
itive outlook,” Johnson said of Witte.
Witte said that being on the field has
its advantages over designated hitting.
“The only thing I like about playing
the field is you have something to do
right away,” Witte said. “You don’t sit
and sulk about your last at bat. You can
pretty much get it off your mind.
“Pitching is the same way — you have
to be in the game the whole time. I
think it’s better for you.”
Although Witte hasn’t pitched in his
college career, Johnson said in a season
preview that Witte throws the ball hard
and has a good slider, but that it is just
a case of Witte getting comfortable on
the mound.
Witte agreed with Johnson, and said
it was going to take some time.
“I’m working as hard as I can, but I
don’t know what to expect,” Witte said.
“I still have a little ways to go. I’ll get a
couple of appearances under my belt
and each time I’ll get a little more com
fortable.”
Witte said that pitching is going to be
his toughest challenge for the year,
which he described as 75 percent men
tal and 25 percent physical.
“Every pitch is ooviously you,” Witte
said. “It’s going to take a matter of ad
justment.”
The toughest challenge Witte sees
for the team is just picking themselves
up after the end of last year, when the
Aggies dropped five of their last six
games and failed to make the SWC
Tournament.
“We didn’t play good and that’s pre
tty much what everybody is remem
bering, especially ourselves,” Witte
said. “We’ve got the people to do it. It is
just a matter of executing what we all
know we can do.”
The season is just beginning and
Witte is ready to play.
Witte said it is going to be fast and
furious in the Southwest Conference
and sees Arkansas and Texas as A&M’s
toughest competitors, with Houston
not far behind.
“Last year kind of turned out ugly
toward the end,” W'itte said. “I think
everybody has been waiting all summer
to get back out there and prove how
good a team we are.”
Third baseman Travis Williams returns to the hot corner this year to
anchor the Texas A&M infield. Last year, Williams .273 average was
fourth-best on the Aggie squad. His eight homers tied for the team lead
and he led the team with 40 RBI’s.
S. WEAVER/The Battalion
Colby to
muscle up
for Aggies
By Anthony Andro
Of The Battalion Staff
C onrad Colby lives for pres
sure.
“They say pressure’s just a
lack of confidence in your ability,”
Colby said. “If you can’t take pressure
at this level, you’d better get out of the
game.”
Heanng these words from the big
six-foot first baseman has to make a
Texas A&M baseball fan smile.
“A lot of guys don’t want to be at the
plate with two outs in the ninth in
ning,” he said. “You’ve got to thrive
for that.”
Colby will have his chance. He will
probably be batting fourth in coach
Mark Johnson’s batting order this sea
son..
“I like the four spot, I’ve been there
all summer,” Colby said. “I’m comfort
able there.”
Colby is a junior sports manage
ment major who transfered from
A&M last fall after playing two years at
Rancho Santiago junior College in
Santa Ana, Cal.
For Colby, the decision to come to
Texas A&M was an easy one to make.
“I wanted to get out of California
and see another part of the country,”
he said. "I think I made the best choice
and I don’t regret it.”
The other choices Colby had were
to stay home and go to Cal-State Ful
lerton or give professional baseball a
try.
“What it came down to was the Roy
als or college,” said Colby, who was
drafted in the 42nd round by the Kan
sas City Royals following the 1989 sea
son. “My mom left it up to me and I
didn’t feel the Royals were my best
choice.”
Leaving California was a new expe
rience for Colby, who said that he has
lived in California all his life and that
the longest he had been away was a
litde over two months during the sum
mer.
Colby said he has noticed a big dif
ference between California and Texas.
“The people are a lot different,” he
said. “Everyone (in Texas) was kind of
too friendly. It shocked me at first.
Now I understand where they are
coming from.”
There also were some difficulties
with school after Colby’s transfer from
junior college.
“Big change. Big, big change from
junior college,” Colby said. “It hasn’t
been an easy adjustment. I’ve got to
work hard and just battle through it. It
kind of hits you like a ton of bricks.”
Even though classes are more diffi
cult, Colby likes the school.
“I love it,” he said. “All I heard was
that it was really different. It’s differ
ent. I enjoy it. I think I fit in pretty
KEVIN IVY/The Battalion
Junior transfer Conrad Colby is pegged to play first base.
well.”
One area Colby had no problems
with was the adjustment to his new tea
mmates.
“I can’t say enough good things
about them,” he said. “It’s perfect, I
guess you could say.”
New teammates mean Colby is sur
rounded by better players.
“The competition level is a lot
higher. I think there is a lot expected
of you,” he said.
“They say California is the baseball
world. But once you get to Division I,
the players are better everywhere. Ev
eryone has been all-state, all-county,
whatever.”
Colby made all the necessary adjust
ments and was the Aggies’ MVP in the
A&M’s Fall World Series.
Colby said he hopes he can provide
some power to a team whose top home
run hitter last year had eight homers.
After hitting just 10 homers his first
two years of junior college ball, Colby
hit 15 home runs this summer while
playing ball in Canada.
“Hopefully there are a few guys
vho will'
here who will be able to provide some
power,” he said. “We’ve got some hit
ters on this club. It will be interesting
to see what will happen this year.”
Aggie baseball coach Mark Johnson
said Colby reminds him of another
former Aggie —former All-American
John Byington.
“Conrad’s mentally into each at bat
such as a John Byington,” Johnson
said. “Byington and Colby both have
their game plans and study pitchers.”
Although Colby has played in front
of big crowds at the Connie Mack
World Series in Arizona, he is looking
forward to playing in front of the fans
at Olsen Field.
“I experienced (big crowds) a little
bit in high school after my senior
year,” he said. “I’ve heard the games
here are pretty wild.”
If Colby can perform under pres
sure like Byington, he will get to see
how wild the fans can get.
Page 6
Aggie Baseball
Monday, February 11,1991
Monday, February 11,1991
Aggie Baseball
page 7