University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols' Hochevar Rated Among Top Prospects in Cape Cod League
August 15, 2003 | Baseball
Aug. 15, 2003
Sophomore right-hander Luke Hochevar was listed as the No. 20 prospect in the prestigious Cape Cod League as announced by Baseball America.
The hard-throwing right hander spent the second half of the summer pitching for the Cotuit Kettleers. Used exclusively as the closer, he fashioned a 1-1 mark with six saves in 11 appearances. He struck out 21 and walked three in 16.1 innings for a 1.10 ERA.
Cotuit manager Garrett Quinn called Hochevar the most polished freshman he had seen since he had Kyle Sleeth two years ago. Like Sleeth, the third overall pick in the 2003 draft, Hochevar is a Colorado native and potential first-rounder in 2005. He throws downhill at 6-foot-4 and has a deceptive arm action that makes it that much more difficult to hit his low-90s fastball, plus slider and good changeup.
Other Vols playing in various summer leagues included outfielder Alex Suarez who was a teammate of Hochevar. An injury limited Suarez to just 15 games as he hit .114.
Brian Cleveland, Nick Crowe and Joey Andrews all played for the Anchorage Bucs in the Alaska League. Crowe, who saw action as a catcher, led the Bucs with a .275 average in 21 games. He missed the second half of the season due to injury.
Cleveland finished second on the club with a .257 average while collecting 13 RBI.
Andrews joined the team for the second half of the season, posting a 1-2 mark with a 5.76 ERA in six starts. He struck out 20 and walked 10 in 25.0 innings.
Scot Drucker spent his summer pitching for the Thunder Bay Border Cats in the Northwoods League. Drucker, a middle reliever, went 2-3 with four saves while notching a 3.73 ERA in 50.2 innings.
Utility player Rob Fitzgerald played Northern Ohio in the Great Lakes League as it finished runner-up for the league title.
