Tag: Arizona State baseball

From low-level recruit to preseason All-American, shortstop Alika Williams blossoming at ASU

by Bob Young
  • Slug: Sports-ASU Baseball Alika Williams, about 930 words.
  • Photos available.

By Alex Weiner
Cronkite News

TEMPE – Alika Williams was not considered a top-tier baseball recruit when he arrived at Arizona State.

He was the 32nd-round draft pick out of Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego in 2017, but he chose to postpone turning professional to attend ASU.

At the time, Perfect Game rated him the 39th best shortstop and 219th overall college recruit in the country.

As Williams begins his third collegiate season, major college baseball sites D1 Baseball and Baseball America predict that he will be an All-American this year. D1 Baseball put him on its first-team as the best shortstop in the country.

Continue reading “From low-level recruit to preseason All-American, shortstop Alika Williams blossoming at ASU”

Arizona State baseball players learn to embrace ‘tough love’ to perform at their best

by Bob Young
  • Slug: Sports-ASU baseball health, 770 words.
  • Photo available. Thumbnail attached below.

By STEPHEN PEREZ
Cronkite News

PHOENIX — The often leisurely pace of a baseball game might make the game appear to be less demanding than some other team sports.

Football requires quick bursts and violent contact. Soccer and basketball players are in near constant motion.

But Jesse Lowman, Arizona State’s athletic trainer for baseball, said a long, busy season places its own physical and mental demands on ballplayers.

“Baseball is not easy on the body,” he said.

Continue reading “Arizona State baseball players learn to embrace ‘tough love’ to perform at their best”

Former Arizona State coach, player reunited in White Sox organization

by Bob Young
  • Slug: Sports-Burr and Esmay reunited, 875 words
  • No photo available.

By ALEC HENDEN
Cronkite News

GLENDALE — Not long after Ryan Burr got the call, so did Tim Esmay.

Or at least Esmay got the text message.

When Burr, a right-handed relief pitcher in the Chicago White Sox organization, was called up to the major league club last season, one of the first people he shared the news with was the man who recruited him to Arizona State and coached him for two seasons there.

It was Esmay, who now is manager of the White Sox Advanced Rookie affiliate in Great Falls, Montana.

“He texted me at 2:30 in the morning when he got called up, and I was on the road sitting in a hotel in Ogden, (Utah),” Esmay said. “It gave me chills.”

Continue reading “Former Arizona State coach, player reunited in White Sox organization”