Pevsner, Angeloni chasing dreams

On the heels of Billy Wagner’s retirement, without a doubt D-III baseballs’ all-time greatest, it’s only fitting to recognize the budding careers of Andrew Pevsner and Chez Angeloni.

Pevsner (A&S ‘10)  is a left-handed relief pitcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers system; while Angeloni (A&S ‘09) is a right-handed reliever in the Boston Red Sox organization.

But out of high school, professional baseball was more dream than possibility for the two Blue Jays.

“I had one Division-I opportunity out of high school,” said Pevsner, a 2010 graduate of Hopkins from Calabasas, California.  “It was really just D-III schools that looked at me.”

“To say I was highly recruited out of high school — not a chance,” said Angeloni, a 2009 Hopkins graduate from Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. “My only D-1 opportunities were more because of my academics than for baseball.”

Once at Hopkins, though, Pevsner and Angeloni’s experiences were unique from each other.

Coming into college, Pevsner was a wiry 6’3, topping out at about 80 mph.

“Now, at least in the [minor league] playoffs, I was 86-88,” he said.

As a Jay, Pevsner had an up-and-down career until his senior season.  He made his first appearance as a sophomore, and in his junior year, he threw 13 innings compiling an 11.08 ERA.  He was left off the Hopkins playoff roster.

“When I didn’t suit up for the [NCAA Regional Tournament], I had this overwhelming fear of being the guy who had a lot of talent but could never put it all together,” Pevsner said.  “After my junior year, I worked to be a leader and help us win the World Series.  I hadn’t ruled out the possibility of playing professionally — I knew that if I could get to a certain velocity I might get some looks — but it wasn’t a tangible goal partly because I didn’t believe enough in myself.”

Pevsner’s hard work paid off during his senior season. As the Jays’ go-to-guy out of the bullpen, the southpaw set a school record with 20 relief appearances, posting a 4.17 ERA in 36.2 innings. Hitters batted just .209 off of Pevsne, due to his devastating breaking ball; he also  averaged a strike out per inning.

It was this dominance that made Pevsner a pro prospect.

“I was out with [former Hopkins pitcher] Marco Simmons, and I had no idea I had been drafted at that point, so I ran home to check the computer.”

Pevsner was picked in the 16th round of the amateur draft — the highest pick in program history — by his hometown team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The day he was drafted, Pevsner’s Facebook status read “Dreams do come true.”

On the other side, Chez Angeloni’s Hopkins career was a little less bumpy.

Angeloni made his debut as a freshman sitting at 82 mph. As a sophomore, his velocity jumped in large part, he says, to the Hopkins baseball offseason workouts.

“When I was at Hopkins, we had these huge guys like Mike Durgala, Rob Pietroforte and Dave Garber that were so devoted to working out that it was hard not to work hard. I started squatting and soon enough, sophomore year I hit 90 mph,” he said.

Armed with arguably the quickest fastball in the Centennial Conference, Angeloni became one of the main cogs of a Blue Jay pitching staff that would eventually finish second in the Division III College World Series in 2008. At the World Series, Angeloni threw a nine inning, eight strikeout shutout win in the first game of the championship, ending Trinity (Conn.)’s collegiate record winning streak of 44 games.  He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

“I would say that the game I threw against Trinity was my best memory at Hopkins, but because we ended up losing [in the National Championship], I’d say my best memory was beating a stacked Salisbury team in the 2008 Regionals to get to the College World Series,” he said.

Angeloni turned in a solid senior campaign, going 5-3 with a 4.90 ERA in just over 60 innings pitched.

Even so, his season gained the attention of two or three teams, but he was not selected in the 2009 amateur draft.

“Leading up to the draft and the post-draft process was unconventional for me because I was a senior from a D-III school,” Angeloni said. “I definitely wasn’t any team’s priority, so my only hope to be drafted was by the Red Sox. They told me where I go and if I go would depend on what they did in the first 20 rounds. They took a bunch of right-handed pitchers and when I wasn’t picked on Day Two, I knew I wasn’t getting drafted.”

Just days later, the Red Sox decided they wanted Angeloni after all.

“The day after the draft, my dad woke me up to tell me I should go to a workout in Harrisburg for the Major League Scouting Bureau, so I went and a scout there told me he was really surprised I didn’t get picked,” he said. “I threw 10-15 pitches harder than normal because it was a short throwing session and I was pretty pissed, and two days later, the Red Sox called.”

Boston signed him as a non-drafted free agent and his professional career was underway.

Like Angeloni, Pevsner’s quest to the Major Leagues began soon after the June draft as a part of the Ogden, Utah Raptors, the Dodgers short-season Rookie League affiliate.

“My first outing we were in Casper, Wyoming, down a couple of runs but it was still close, and I was feeling really great in the ‘pen. It was a long inning, so I took a break, got back up and felt like crap. I was thinking ‘This would happen’, but I stayed confident and went out there just trying to hit my spots and make good pitches.  The first batter hit a really hard ground ball up the middle and I thought ‘Alright, well he hit a good pitch’ and turned around to see my second baseman make a jump throw to first base for the out.  I was just thankful to get out of the inning without any serious damage,” he said.

Pevsner wound up throwing 28.1 innings, going 3-0 with a 1.91 ERA in his first minor league go around.  It was, as he put it, “gravy” on his overall experience.

“The whole thing was just awesome. I wasn’t expecting to even be there,” Pevsner said. “I had a great host family, great coaches, and we had great chemistry on the team. It was a grind at times, but there wasn’t any stress. It wasn’t like I had a game today, a paper due Monday, and a test Wednesday. It was just baseball.”

Whereas Pevsner, began his career in Utah, Angeloni reported to Fort Myers, Florida.

In his first season, Angeloni adjusted to the bullpen after being a starter for the Jays well enough to earn a promotion from the Rookie League Fort Myers Red Sox to the short-season Low-A Lowell, Massachusetts Spinners after posting a 3-1 record with a 3.42 ERA in 26.1 innings of relief.

This year, Angeloni spent the entire season with Lowell, throwing 36.1 innings with two saves while striking out nearly seven batters per nine innings.

“I threw the ball well, but I didn’t get the opportunity to move up. I know my role was a roster-filler, but I would have preferred to have been a step higher in full-season ball,” he said.

Although Pevsner and Angeloni have both had success early on, minor league baseball is an uphill battle.

They are not the first Jays to play minor league baseball — most recently Rob Sanzillo, Paul Winterling, current Hopkins pitching coach Matt Righter, and John Christ have all played in the Minors — but to date, no Blue Jay has graced a Big League diamond.

One in every 100 minor leaguers makes a career in the Major Leagues.

Still, Pevsner and Angeloni both believe they have what it takes to one day make it to Chavez Ravine and Fenway Park.

“I think my work ethic and ability to learn as I go will help me move up the ladder,” said Pevsner. “I feel like working with Coach Rigther for two years and picking his brain really helped and will keep helping. Physically, if I improve my change-up, throw my breaking ball in all counts, and add a little more velocity, I think I’ll be in good shape.”

“My ability to throw strikes and hit my spots is what is going to carry me,” Angeloni said. “I was at my best this year when my first pitch strike percentage was really high. If I can keep doing that and continue to improve my velocity, I think I can do it.”

As for next season, both Pevsner and Angeloni are hoping to get one-step closer to the promise land.

“My goal is to make a full season team out of spring training,” Pevsner said. “Is it a realistic goal to say make the Major Leagues, maybe not; but saying get to Double-A at some point and give myself a shot, I think that’s realistic.”

“I want to be in the best baseball shape of my life and ready to make the most of my opportunity come spring training,” Angeloni said. “I want to get to full-season A-ball next year with a shot to move up to High-A.”

Said Pevsner, “If things work out, great; but if they don’t, it won’t be because we didn’t work our hardest.”