You wouldn’t know it by looking at his statistics, but Allan Hancock College sophomore Brandon Creath is still the new kid on the mound.
The 6-foot-3 right-hander is a perfect 5-0 as a starting pitcher for the Bulldogs with a 2.25 ERA through March 22.
“The position players have been hitting the ball really well,” Creath said. “I’ve just been focusing on going out there with intensity and heart every time and not taking anything for granted.”
Creath graduated from Righetti High in 2008 and came to Hancock as a right fielder. He’s been pitching for less than a year, though it’s always been in his blood.
“I told my dad when I was in high school that I loved pitching, but I never really got the chance because my arm strength wasn’t that strong back then,” Creath said. “Now that I’ve gotten the chance, I love going out there on that mound.”
Hancock head baseball coach Chris Stevens called Creath a “big-time competitor” with a drive to succeed at any task.
“I think him being so new at the position, one of the things that’s really allowed him to excel at it is he’s a great listener and very coachable,” Stevens said. “With that instruction from our pitching coach, he’s taken ownership of it and he’s done a great job.”
Creath pitched for the Santa Maria Pilots over the summer, an experience he credited with giving him the repetitions he needed to pitch against collegiate batters. He’s been playing baseball since the age of 5 and said this season, he’s having the most fun he’s ever had on the diamond.
With offers starting to come in from larger colleges, Creath said he’s just trying to focus on factors he has control over and giving his team the opportunity to win.
This article appears in Mar 25 – Apr 1, 2010.