The summer of 2018 has come and gone, and so has the Waterloo Bucks 24th season.
\nAlthough the Bucks had a poor record, finishing with a final mark of 20-52, there were plenty of
\nbright spots to be found in the Cedar Valley. Interim Field Manager J.D. Eaton notched his first
\nwin as a collegiate head coach on Friday, July 20th in a 5-3 victory over the Mankato
\nMoonDogs. Outfielder Brendan Hueth was named to both the All-Star Team and the Major
\nLeague Dreams Showcase. Patrick Ferguson, Angelo Altavilla, and Trey Leonard each put up
\nmonster seasons at the plate for Waterloo. Let\u2019s take a deeper look at the big 2018 campaigns
\nproduced by the Waterloo Bucks this past summer\u2026<\/p>\n
THE CATCHERS<\/p>\n
The Bucks\u2019 catching duties this past season were primarily shared by Greg Anderberg
\nand Myles Emmerson. Anderberg, who will begin his first season at George Washington
\nUniversity in 2019, received the Opening Day start behind the dish for Waterloo. The switchhitter
\nexcelled from the left side of the plate, slashing .250\/.365\/.292 in 46 games. Anderberg
\ndrew walks at an 11.8% rate. Emmerson posted excellent power numbers, slashing a stellar .
\n282\/.345\/.366 for a .711 OPS. The Cal Poly product also put up a .733 OPS with runners in
\nscoring position. He was named Northwoods Player of the Night on August 8th after going 6-6
\nwith a double.<\/p>\n
THE INFIELDERS<\/p>\n
Waterloo saw plenty of turnover in the infield over the course of 2018, but one thing\u2019s
\nfor certain: two mainstays in the lineup had massive seasons. Kent State\u2019s Patrick Ferguson
\nput scouts on notice with an incredible .300\/.385\/.462 output for an .847 OPS, belting 8
\ndoubles, 2 triples, and 3 home runs over 40 games. He cut his strikeout rate from his 2017
\nsummer in the Prospect League by over 10%, and drew walks at an 11.5% clip. He posted an .
\n830 OPS with runners in scoring position, and also proved that he\u2019s not just a platoon option
\nagainst righthanders: Ferguson crushed lefties to the tune of a .355\/.459\/.548 slash line. He
\nalso led Waterloo with a 54.2% hard hit rate with a picturesque spray rate: 39% ground balls,
\n17% line drives, 42% fly balls, and a puny 2.4% pop up rate. Kevin Welsh, who begins his
\nJunior campaign at Rutgers in 2019, dazzled all season long at second base defensively. Welsh
\nhad a .360 on-base percentage, a 16.2% walk rate, and a tremendous .295\/.429\/.386 slash line
\nwith runners in scoring position. Angelo Altavilla slashed .308\/.445\/.425 in 41 games, leading
\nthe team with 14 doubles, and went 12-16 on steals. The Nebraska shortstop heads into his
\nSenior year in 2019, poised for a massive season. Longtime Buck Deion Thompson (Western
\nIllinois) finished his return to Waterloo with a .255\/.323\/.312 output, hitting 5 doubles and
\nstealing 7 bags in 39 games. Before unfortunately going down with an injury, Ryan Gonzalez
\nslashed a monster .346\/.404\/.462 for an .865 OPS to go with 6 doubles and 12 RBI over 17
\ngames. Carmen Sclafani compiled a stellar summer heading into his Senior season at Rutgers,
\nslashing .248\/.339\/.410 for a .748 OPS along with 4 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 home runs.
\nSclafani had a 50% hard hit rate, and absolutely mashed with runners in scoring position: .
\n311\/.347\/.556 for a .902 OPS.<\/p>\n
THE OUTFIELDERS<\/p>\n
Brendan Hueth heads into his Sophomore season at St. Joseph coming off of a great
\nsummer in Waterloo. He was named to both the All-Star Team and the Major League Dreams
\nShowcase, and slashed .308\/.364\/.368 with 11 doubles, 2 triples, 18 steals, and 28 RBI. Both
\nhe and Trey Leonard led the team with 68 games played. Leonard, a Redshirt Freshman at
\nLouisville, was named the Bucks Player of the Year by the season ticket holders. He slashed .
\n306\/.391\/.388 with 12 doubles, 1 triple, and 2 home runs along with stealing 21 bags. Leonard
\nhit .333 with an .844 OPS with runners in scoring position. Drue Galassi produced a .
\n292\/.350\/.472 slash line with 5 doubles, 1 triple, and 3 home runs in just 23 games, positioning
\nhimself for a massive Junior year at Western Illinois.<\/p>\n
THE PITCHING STAFF<\/p>\n
While pitching as a whole was a weakness for the 2018 Waterloo Bucks, there were
\ncertainly a sound amount of solid seasons from members of the staff. Blake Walden (New
\nMexico) led the rotation with 10 starts, going 3-6 with a 4.65 FIP over 53.0 frames. He was
\nnamed Pitcher of the Night in the Northwoods League on August 29th after throwing a
\ncomplete-game shutout against Rochester. Kent State righthander Ryan Lane went 3-1 over 8
\nstarts, throwing to the tune of a 4.60 FIP. Matt Whalen (Colorado Mesa) had a tremendous
\nsummer, posting a 4.15 ERA over 6 starts with a 1.39 WHIP and a .652 opponent OPS.
\nChristian Griffin missed plenty of bats with his big fastball, recording a 23.8% strikeout rate.
\nCal State-San Marcos lefty and Cedar Falls native Brady Corson had a 2.08 ERA in 8.2 relief
\ninnings, holding opponents to a .188 average. Quincy closer Karl Hirsch put up a 3.75 ERA in
\n24.0 innings, recording 2 saves and a .643 OPS against. Joshua Culliver, a reliever from the
\nUniversity of Minnesota, was named to the Major League Dreams Showcase after using his
\nnasty changeup to obliterate lefties to the tune of a .186\/.309\/.186 opponent slash line. Javin
\nDrake, the third Western Illinois product with the Bucks, had a 3.43 FIP in 8 starts. Rutgers
\nswingman Eric Reardon, one of two full-season Bucks pitchers, threw 40.0 frames to a 5.18
\nERA and an 18.2% K rate. His long-season counterpart Robert Reaser (Lewis & Clark) went 2-2
\nwith a 4.57 FIP in 45.2 innings, holding opponents to a .266 average.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The summer of 2018 has come and gone, and so has the Waterloo Bucks 24th season. Although the Bucks had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":8208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\n