Leadership Fueling Oregon State Baseball

The preseason No. 2 Oregon State baseball team according to PerfectGame.org held its annual media day on Tuesday, and as newly minted interim coach Pat Bailey - who took over for the now-retired Pat Casey in September - proudly spoke of his team, an aura of confidence spread over the Gill Coliseum media room.

When a head coach with the accolades of Casey retires, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that the Beavers may never again have a coach of his credentials. Casey took a program situated in the rainy pacific northwest and turned it into national power in his 24 seasons, winning three national championships along the way.

But after his third College World Series championship, Casey felt the need that it was time for a change and in early September, he pulled the trigger on retirement and handed the reigns to Bailey.

The former associate head coach will have big shoes to fill this season, taking over for one of college baseball’s best programs over the past two seasons, sporting a 111-18-1 record during that stretch.

Bailey isn’t low on experience and he’s proven to be up to any challenge as he’s been an assistant under Casey for 11 years and has been coaching baseball for 40 plus years.

Whether it was turning local high school West Linn into one of the state’s best baseball programs early in his career, winning a national championship with George Fox in 2004, or being a part of the 2018 national championship at Casey’s side, Bailey is a veteran coach who exudes confidence and experience.

Despite the Beavers bringing back a good portion of experience and talent this season, they’ll will look very different this season. OSU lost seven players and it’s pitching ace in the offseason as Nick Madrigal, Cadyn Grenier, Trevor Larnach, Michael Gretler, Steven Kwan, Jack Anderson, Kyle Nobach, and Luke Heimlich all either moved on in their baseball careers or pursued life after baseball.

I compare this 2019 incarnation of Oregon State baseball to follow a similar path of the 2007 team with more regular season success. Coming into the ‘07 season, the Beavers had to replace the likes of Kevin Gunderson, Dallas Buck, Jonah Nickerson, Cole Gillespie, Tyler Graham and others, but retained two of the biggest leadership voices on the team in Mitch Canham and Darwin Barney.

Behind Barney and Canham, 2007 turned out to be quite special for the Beavers as they squeaked into the postseason and won their second straight national championship.

They weren’t pegged to be as good as they were the season prior, and even at times during the regular season, the Beavers didn’t appear to be in a position to defend their title, but in the end, the championship experience and drive to return and defend the crown proved too much for the rest of the country.

Might that be the case again in 2019 as the Beavers seek to defend their title?

Time will tell, but behind trio of captains - junior catcher Adley Rutschman, senior infielder Zak Taylor, and senior pitcher Bryce Fehmel - the Beavers have all the makings of having one of the best teams in the country.

Zeroing in on Rutschman and Taylor, there might not be a better story in baseball than those two being elected captains in their junior and senior campaigns, respectively. Both played in high school together at Sherwood High School and now find themselves leading one of the best programs in the country.

It’s uncommon for two players to come from the same high school, go to college together, and have the type of success that Taylor and Rutschman have had during their collegiate careers. They’ve been best friends for years, and that’s what’s so special for both of them heading into their final season of playing together.

“It’s very rare to see two kids from the same high school be on the same team and both starting together,” Rutschman said. “It’s something special because Zak has been one of my best friends since sixth grade.”

“Being back (in Sherwood) over winter break, I got to hit with a few of the high schoolers and one of the kids asked me, ‘So, do you know Adley Rutschman,’” Taylor said with a laugh. “I’ve known him since sixth grade and it’s funny to hear things like that.”

So what do expectations look like from the view of the 6-foot-2, 216 pound catcher that many draft pundits expect to be the No. 1 overall pick in June’s MLB draft?

“We have the same motivation now, just coming from a different place of having won a national championship, having that unbelievable experience and that feeling… coming from the same place, but just a little bit different,” said Rutschman.

The Beavers will kick off the season in Surprise, Ariz. in just over three weeks, but with the leadership that Bailey, Rutschman, Taylor, and Fehmel and others are bringing to the table and instituting across the team, it’s hard to imagine the Beavers not being in Omaha in June.

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