It's not often that a guy like Mark Appel is in your backyard. For those who don't know him, Mark Appel is projected to go no. 1 overall in this year's MLB Amateur Draft in June. Mark is originally from Texas and the Houston Astros are expected to bring him home with the first pick. Now, this was the first time I had seen Mark Appel pitch at Stanford but it wasn't my first encounter with him.
Yes I know, that is Mark Appel wearing high tops instead of spikes. Not only is Mark Appel a great pitcher, he was also a pretty good basketball player. How do I know this? Well, luckily for me Mark Appel moved to the Danville/Alamo area and graduated from my high school, Monte Vista. Mark was a two sport athlete for the Mustangs and was a great shooter on our basketball team during my freshman year. At 6'5" and with his athleticism, he was a big part of our team (which is considered by many as the best Monte Vista basketball team in school history) with some other great athletes as well.
Yes that is Zach Ertz, a second round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles and he as well was a Stanford star. Mark and Zach were great friends in high school and I'm sure they still are today.
That's right, one high school basketball team with two future pro athletes. I was lucky enough to watch that team take us all the way to the Nor Cal Final where we lost by 3 to McClymonds High School.
Those were my first memories of Mark Appel as an athlete. Everyone at school was aware that his sport was baseball and was going to Stanford but I don't think any of us thought he would be where he is today. Right now, Mark Appel is the most sought after amateur athlete in America and the fact that he is a Monte Vista graduate like myself is special.
Now for my thoughts on the night he had last night, it was a beautiful evening at Sunken Diamond. I hadn't been to my father's alma mater in a few years and it was my first time seeing a game at the legendary Sunken Diamond. Many great ballplayers in the past have played there like Mike Mussina, Jed Lowrie, Carlos Quentin, Jeremy Guthrie, Ryan Garko, Drew Storen, John Mayberry Jr, and Sam Fuld. Mark Appel has the potential to be better than all of them.
When he took the mound in the top of the 1st, the first thing I seemed to notice was his presence on the mound. He seemed to resemble a giant out there on that mound. Now I as well stand at 6'5" but I guarantee you that I wouldn't have that type of presence out there. Mark Appel has that presence because of his stature and his reputation. Going into that night, Appel needed one strikeout to break the all time Stanford strikeout record.
It was going to be a tough task for even Appel to get his team the win that night going up against the number 8 team in the country, UCLA. The unranked Stanford Cardinal haven't had the season they thought they would have and are unranked. The first batter he faced immediately felt the wicked stuff that the big right hander has in his arsenal. The first pitch was a high 90s fastball that was at the knees and on the outside corner, the UCLA Bruin let the pitch go by since it was absolutely impossible to hit. The next pitch was a devastating slider that broke at the belt and died at the knees on the inside corner for strike 2. The batter once again watched it go by since his front foot froze with surprise. The third pitch was another slider that was just as devastating but this time Appel attacked the outside corner of the plate and all the opposing batter could muster was a check swing that went around and that was it. Mark Appel had become the all time Stanford strikeout king. The next two UCLA batters fared no better as Mark Appel struck out the side in 10 pitches.
Appel only had trouble in one inning and that was third where the Bruins got a leadoff infield hit off Appel that Mark was quite unlucky about, the next batter squared around to bunt and took a Mark Appel fastball in the chest. Shockingly, the kid kept running to first and just like that the Bruins had runners on first and second with no one out.
The next batter executed a well played sacrifice bunt down the third baseline that advanced both runners. Stanford manager Mark Marquess decided to keep the corner infielders in and the middle infielders back. The next batter hit a soft chopper to the shortstop and that brought the run home. That's all the offense the Bruins would muster that night as Appel was very Scrooge like from there on.
In a 1-0 ballgame, the Stanford lineup needed to get the run support Appel needed in order for him to get his 10th win of the season. That was done in the bottom of the 5th when the Cardinal top of the order started with a Justin Ringo double, followed by an Austin Slater triple, and then a Brian Ragira (who is also supposed to be taken rather early in this year's draft) sacrifice fly, which ended up being the difference in the game.
Now with the lead, Mark Appel seemed to get stronger and he'd finish up only allowing one walk and three hits. Appel would end up throwing 8 solid innings of 1 run ball with 9 K's. Mark Appel was certainly on his game last night. The closer Garrett Hughes K'd two in the 9th to end the night and a 2-1 win for the Stanford Cardinal (or the Stanford Indians if you're talking to my dad).
Overall, I was very impressed with Mark Appel. His fastball is as good as advertised as it's just immaculate. Not only is it clocked in the high 90s but it also comes downhill and has some downward sink to it, he can locate the pitch as I saw last night, the pitch never was elevated and it was complemented by a straight up nasty slider that forced many Bruins' "swings and misses." Scouts don't rate his slider or circle change as high as his fastball but his slider is definitely a good pitch that I think will only get better with time. His change of speed circle change is decent as well and produced a few swings and misses when thrown. As for my verdict on the Monte Vista grad, he's everything as advertised and more. It's a shame he's gonna be in our division for the next several years but anything that raises the profile of my high school is something I'll take at that expense.
This was Appel's last game at Sunken Diamond more than likely since it doesn't look like Stanford will be hosting any regionals in this year's NCAA Tournament. I have to thank Megan Benveniste (@sportypants38) and her cousin Mikaela for inviting myself and Adam (@DKJinthe_148) to see this game since I had a lot of fun not only at the game but also at Cheesecake Factory after the game which we stayed at until 12:45 am I believe.
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