THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 20, 1996 TAG: 9605200147
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
When Great Bridge's Mike Cuddyer hits a baseball the only thing missing is a contrail.
``When Mike's home runs clear the fence they are still climbing,'' Wildcats coach Martin Oliver said.
Oliver estimated one of Cuddyer's two home runs against Oscar Smith last week at 440 feet.
That's a prodigious blast for anyone, much less a high schooler. But if there is one word that describes Cuddyer's season it's prodigious.
Cuddyer, a pitcher and shortstop, is batting .537 with an area-leading 11 home runs and 41 RBIs in only 54 at bats. That is one home run for every 4.9 times at bat.
Babe Ruth averaged one every 8.5 at-bats in his best season.
``Last year I put way too much pressure on myself to succeed,'' Cuddyer said. ``This year I'm just playing hard and having fun and the results have been good.''
Cuddyer (6-2, 195) has been earmarked for greatness since he was a toddler. He received his first Major League scouting report at 13 after sneaking into a Florida Marlins tryout camp and has done nothing to diminish those high expectations.
He was one of the first 38 players - and the only Virginian so far - invited to try out for the U.S. Junior National baseball team in July. He's also invited to the TEAM ONE National Baseball Showcase in June in Cincinnati.
Cuddyer has full scholarship offers from Florida State and N.C. State and what he termed ``a greatly generous'' offer from Miami.
Qualifying for college won't be a problem. He carries a 3.85 grade point average and is president-elect of the student government.
Choosing a school is always difficult. Complicating matters is the likelihood he'll be taken high in next year's Major League draft.
``All the clubs know about him,'' said Bobby McKinney, a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates. ``There is no way to project right now where he might be drafted, but there will be a lot of traffic into Great Bridge next year.''
Cuddyer is practiced at making difficult choices. He was a city champion wrestler in middle school, but gave up the sport when he realized he couldn't commit the time and effort needed to succeed in Great Bridge's high-powered program.
He faces a similar decision this fall in whether to play football. Cuddyer has been the Wildcats' starting quarterback since the eighth game of his freshman season. But if he makes the Junior National baseball team he'll miss at least the first two weeks of football practice.
``I love football,'' he said. ``But I also know where I'm going to make my mark, or at least try to.''
That would be baseball. Cuddyer was a second-team All-Tidewater pick as a freshman and a first-team choice last year.
His career batting numbers include a .416 average, 13 home runs and 69 RBIs. As a pitcher he is 16-4 with a 2.51 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 117 innings.
Cuddyer's fastball was clocked at 89 miles per hour in April. But as his offense has thrived his pitching has suffered. He is 3-2 and has walked 19 batters in 25 innings this spring.
``I haven't devoted as much time to pitching this year,'' Cuddyer said. ``Basically that's all I can say.''
Whatever the problem is it hasn't affected his hitting.
``I think I hit better when I pitch,'' he said. ``I hit two home runs against Wilson. I was 4 for 4 against Oscar Smith with a home run and four RBIs. I was 3 for 3 with a grand slam against Indian River.''
Cuddyer dedicated this season to his hitting in November when he started taking 150 cuts a day.
``I'm seeing the ball real well,'' he said. ``It's coming up there looking like a beach ball.
``Also I'm being more aggressive. Last year I'd let the first pitch, the first strike, go by. It would be right down the middle and I wouldn't get another pitch there.''
Now he punishes that pitch.
So how do you retire Cuddyer? Don't ask Oscar Smith coach Ernie Rogers.
Cuddyer is 7 for 7 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in two games against the Tigers.
``He's hitting the ball and hitting it hard,'' Rogers said. ``I don't know how you get him out.'' ILLUSTRATION: TODD SPENCER
Mike Cuddyer, right, accepts congratulations after the second of two
home runs against Wilson earlier this season.
by CNB