Ross Humes
washington State Cougars |
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If Casey Kasem were a college baseball fan
he’d probably be a big fan of Washington State reliever
Ross Humes. Not because Humes established a new WSU single-season
saves record last season with 12 saves, and not because the
lefty has been lights out so far this season, recently blanking
the nationally ranked Wichita State Shockers through five
innings in his first start of the season, but because of the
junior from Federal Way,  Washington’s
unorthodox delivery which is a actualization of the famed
radio personality’s signature sign-off "Keep your
feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."
Hume’s unconventional windup begins
with him extending his hands high above his head, streching
his body into a narrow "A". He then brings his arms
down and raises his left leg up practically as high his glove
reached a moment before. After a slight calm-before-the-storm
pause, Humes lets loose a powerful kick as if to jump start
a stubborn Harley and unleashes a pseudo-side arm delivery
that keeps batters guessing and, more often than not lately,
headed back to the dugout in a slow disappointing walk back
to the bench as the infielders toss the ball around the infield
celebrating another out.
Success was anticipated, but not quite fulfilled
Humes’ first year in Pullman. After being named an All-South
Puget Sound League first team pitcher after his senior high
school season when he went 5-3 with a 1.93 ERA, Humes struggled
during his freshman year at Washington State, going 1-0 in
23 innings pitched and yielding 34 hits with a 6.65 ERA.
Humes finally came into his own that summer,
earning West Coast Collegiate Baseball League Pitcher of the
Year while playing for Kitsap BlueJackets. Humes went 5-0
with a 1.76 ERA, yielding just 47 hits in 71.2 innings pitched
with 64 strikeouts. When he headed back to school in fall
with a year of experience behind him, Humes was a new pitcher
and it showed on the mound.
Humes made 25 appearances out of the bullpen
for the Cougars last season, posting a 3-3 record with a dozen
saves – a mark the ranked him in the top twenty nationally.
He had a 4.70 ERA and struck out 36 batters in 44 innings
pitched while only allowing 15 walks. In five consecutive
outings from February 25th to March 16th Humes didn’t
allow a run and earned a save in each game.
While pin point control is a big reason for
his success, an equal part of his ability could be attributed
to him simply playing the game for the right reasons –
to relax and have fun. Humes has stated that his unique delivery
developed as an experimentation to do something out of the
ordinary in an effort to calm himself down. He was too stressed
out on the mound and needed to relax. Once he got it down
he became more comfortable on the mound and it had the added
serendipitous benefit of baffling hitters.
Humes doesn’t always take the game
too seriously either. Although he doesn’t do it anymore,
it wasn’t uncommon for Humes to launch a pitch over
the backstop for fun, “I didn't want hitters getting
too comfortable and digging in on me," Humes admits.
Washington State’s 10-2 start of the
season has earned the Cougars consideration in national polls,
and with a successful trip across the Midwest this week in
which WSU takes on perennial college baseball powerhouses
Wichita State and Oklahoma, the Cougars could make a strong
argument to be listed among the nation’s best. A notion
Humes finds less than far fetched.
“We have every chance of going to Omaha,”
Humes acknowledged when addressing Washington State’s
prospects this season, “This is the best team I've been
on since I've been here. I think we are going to surprise
some people in the Pac-10.”
Yeah... As if a team from the Pacific Northwest
could ever make it to Omaha and win the College World Series...
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