Looking ahead: NC State Wolfpack baseball pitching

The MLB Draft has been moved back to July 11-13 in conjunction with All-Star weekend. The Pack’s lineup figures to be heavily involved in the 20-round affair, which may lead to quite a few openings in what was truly an everyday lineup for Avent’s team in 2021.

However, we begin our preview of the 2021 offseason with the pitching, where the returns are more promising, on paper.

Decisions to be made

Junior right-hander Reid Johnston has been at NC State for four years (eligibility was frozen last season) and has been a model of consistency for the Wolfpack. After going 9-3 in 2021, Johnston has gone 22-7 over four seasons at NC State, throwing 251.2 innings and sporting a 2.93 ERA in 58 games, 39 of which were starts.

Johnston would be eligible to return in 2021, but after four years in Raleigh is he ready to move on after tossing a career-high 96.2 innings this year? It should be noted that Johnston was among the group of 11 players honored on Senior Day.

The other question mark is the status of Johnston’s classmate, lefty David Harrison. Harrison has a 3.96 career ERA in 44 games, 17 of which were starts. He has struck out 94 batters of 102.1 innings while allowing 99 hits. Harrison missed most of this past season due to an off-the-field incident.

Would Harrison be eligible to rejoin the team, and does Harrison want to return or move on, are the two questions facing him.

It seems almost a certainty that junior lefty Evan Justice has pitched himself into a position to be a draft pick given his work out of the bullpen.

Dynamic 2019 class rising up

The trio of “freshmen” who shined in 2021 headline the likely returnees. All three were second-year freshmen who actually began their careers in the shortened 2020 campaign.

Sam Highfill is the legend of the three after he outdueled Vanderbilt ace Jack Leiter in the College World Series, and then as part of the shorthanded Pack13 in the rematch against Vandy on Friday delivered three hits from the plate while starting at first base.

The righty started a team-high 16 games and went 9-2 on the mound with a 3.66 ERA, surrendering only 77 hits over 93.1 innings while walking 26 and fanning 84. Opponents batted just .224 off Highfill.

Matt Willadsen started 13 of the 18 games he pitched, going 5-3 with a 4.73 ERA. He allowed 79 hits over 83.2 innings and walked 29 while striking out 72. Willadsen was up-and-down, but he flashed high upside, including pitching a complete game, two-hit shutout of Boston College on April 11 and delivering a solid start in the Super Regional clinching a game three win at Arkansas, allowing just one earned run in 4.0 innings while giving up two hits.

Chris Villaman, the lone lefty of the group, may have the best stuff of the three. He pitched in 18 games this season, making seven midweek starts. He allowed 45 hits in 60.0 innings and walked 16 while producing 71 Ks. Batters hit .204 off Villaman, who delivered some gems in non-conference play. He allowed two hits, one walk and one earned run in a complete game vs. UNC Wilmington while striking out 12. He also threw a one-hit shutout at UNC Greensboro, fanning nine and walking three in that contest.

After some struggles in ACC play, Villaman found some success late in the year. He struck out six in two innings of relief at Pittsburgh, and then threw 4.1 hitless innings in the ACC title game vs. Duke, walking one while fanning six.

Returning from injury

Junior righty Baker Nelson was supposed to be a mainstay in the bullpen. He was really good in a team-high seven appearances in the shortened 2020 season, allowing five hits and a walk in 9.1 innings while producing a 1.93 ERA and 7 Ks.

After getting hit hard in the first three games of 2021, Nelson was shut down for the year.

Austin Pace, a 6-foot-10 righty, was another part of the heralded 2019 pitching recruiting class. In three appearances, including two starts, in 2020, Pace was 1-0 and allowed just one earned run in 7.1 innings. He gave up four hits and struck out nine without walking a batter.

Redshirt sophomore Cameron Cotter looked like NC State’s closer of the future in 2019 when he had three saves and a 3.00 ERA in 22 games, striking out 36 over 39.0 innings, but injuries wiped out all but one game over the past two years for Cotter. It should be noted that Cotter was honored with the seniors earlier this season, perhaps an indication he is disinclined to return.

The same can be said for junior lefty Canaan Silver, who missed two months before making an appearance in the regular season series finale against Florida State and never appearing again.

Young wildcards

There are a lot of Garrett Payne fans after the rookie delivered in what turned out to be NC State’s final start, giving up two hits and one earned run over 5.0 innings of work against Vanderbilt. It was a career-high in innings pitcher for Payne, who had thrown 8.2 innings all year up to that point.

The 6-foot-7 Payne will look to build off that as a springboard into next season.

There were other freshmen who had moments. Coby Ingle pitched in the most games in the class with 11, and he allowed 10 hits and six walks in 14.0 innings while striking out 13 and registering a 2.57 ERA. He was very effective in 4.0 innings of scoreless relief work against UNC, allowing only one hit and one walk in the ACC Tournament game and striking out four.

Righty Cooper King and lefty Tristan Sipple are two more who had moments of success in limited appearances.

NC State is also a good bet to have double-digit additions to the staff via recruiting, including junior college imports, to help rebuild the depth.