WB_061319

54 | June 13, 2019 | The wilmette beacon SPORTS
wilmettebeacon.com
Posted to WilmetteBeaconDaily.com 3 days ago
New Trier alumnus Brecht ready for pro ball
Michael Wojtychiw
Sports Editor
New Trier alum Ben Brecht
saw his childhood dream come
true June 4, when the Tampa Bay
Rays selected the University of
California-Santa Barbara lefthanded
pitcher in the fifth round
of the Major League Baseball
Draft.
“I have believed it since I was
six years old. Seriously,” Brecht
said about when he started to
think he could get drafted.
The Wilmette native knew he’d
be drafted anywhere between the
third and eighth rounds, but it was
the waiting game that really made
it hard on Brecht, not knowing
when the exact moment would
be.
“It was quite stressful honestly
we watched a lot of picks knowing
that I could be coming up and
then my phone just started blowing
up before the draft ticker was
even updated,” he said. “So I kind
of knew. I saw it pop up and it
was very cool.”
After a very successful high
school career, Brecht went to
California with big expectations,
hoping to make an immediate impact
with the Gauchos.
It didn’t come right away
though.
After being a mid-week starter
for the Gauchos his freshman
year, his sophomore year didn’t
really go as he had planned. In
more than 12 fewer innings, he
saw a good number of stats rise,
including his ERA by over a run.
His junior year was different
though.
“I came in this year with a
much better mindset, I worked a
lot harder than I ever have in my
life, which, not only as a player
but a person,” he said. “I’ve always
hung my hat on my command.
I’m a big guy, and I can
throw a lot of strikes. In high
school, I was just getting it done
because I could put it past people
and then I got to college and my
velocity was down a little bit.
So, I was still throwing a ton of
strikes but I wasn’t throwing as
hard so I had to really learn how
to pitch. That was really beneficial
for me because I learned
how to get people out without
just overpowering them.
“The biggest difference between
last year and this year is
one, confidence, and just trusting
myself. And two, by putting all
that work in I picked up three or
four miles an hour velocity from
last year which generates a lot
more swing and misses.”
All that work paid off as Brecht
was named the team’s Friday
night starter, which is usually
considered the day the team’s top
started pitches, the week of UC-
SB’s opening game.
What followed is what he had
been hoping for his entire collegiate
career.
He finished the season 10-2 in
16 starts with 101 strikeouts and
only 18 walks. He had doubledigit
strikeouts in two games, including
a season-high 11 against
Tulane March 8.
Brecht isn’t the only one who
had a successful season though.
The Gauchos finished the season
with a 45-11 record, winning
their first outright conference
title since 1986 and rising to
as high as No. 4 in the national
polls.
Their season ended up early,
however, as they lost their first
two games in the NCAA Tournament,
getting knocked out in the
regional round of the tournament.
“The guys in leadership roles,
specifically me, Chris (Lincoln),
Jack (Dashwood), Eric Yang,
cultivated a very different culture
than in the past,” he said. “That
bled into everything that we do.
Specifically, it’s the leaders who
are going to set the tone and everyone
else is going to follow.
“In the past two years, there
was a lot more of...less cooperation.
If you mess up we’re just
going to [blame] you type culture.
This year it’s a lot more like
‘we’re going to be your friends
and show you how to do things
right as opposed to wait for you
to mess things up and then punish
you for it.’”
After finishing finals this week,
Brecht plans to sign with the Rays
and get to Tampa Bay to sign and
then head off to short-season ball,
where he’ll spend time getting
some innings in, as well as adjusting
to professional baseball
life and schedules.
Brecht is excited to get to play
in the Rays organization because
as he says “there’s no better organization
that develops tall pitchers.”
He’s happy with how his career
ended up and with the fact
he went to play college baseball
instead of signing with the Baltimore
Orioles right out of high
school.
“There was a chance I’d get
signed out of high school but I
think it was in my best interest
to go to college and really, every
moment that I’ve been here I’ve
Wilmette native Ben Brecht
delivers a pitch during his
junior season as a pitcher on
the University of California-
Santa Barbara baseball team.
Tony Mastres/University of
California-Santa Barbara
been, grateful that I made that
decision,” he said. “I don’t think
I would have thrived in pro ball
out of high school. I don’t think
I was mature enough physically
or mentally to handle that. Now
I feel like it’s the perfect time for
me.
“I’ve got three years under my
belt, I’ve learned to become a
completely different person than
I was three years ago. Excited
about professional ball.”
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