Page 56 June 2011 Ex-Titan cleaning up for Sun Devils baseball team By Wayne Schutsky After breaking into the Arizona State lineup earlier in the season, former Arcadia High School standout Joey DeMichele is now powering the Sun Devil offense from the cleanup spot. “He’s a good hitter and has really worked hard to improve,” said ASU assistant coach Travis Jewett. As of May 8, DeMichele led the Devils with a .406 batting average, a mark that ranked 20th in all of Division I. In addition to his high average, the slugging sophomore has shown he can hit for power. “He’s not afraid, and he’s very aggressive in the strike zone,” Jewett said. In Arizona State’s 7-1 victory over Stanford on May 1, DeMichele powered the Sun Devils to victory with three homeruns and fi ve RBI. With the strong showing, he became the fi rst Devil to hit three big fl ies in one game Continued on page 58 Arcadia grad signs to play college ball in St. Louis Alan Frank signs with Missouri-St. Louis. Photo by Chad Koerber. By Wayne Schutsky Recent Arcadia High School graduate and former Titan pitcher Alan Frank will move on to the next level of his baseball career when he heads off to the University of Missouri-St. Louis this August to pitch for the Tritons. “He is young for a college freshman, so there is a lot of potential there,” said UMSL head coach Jim Brady. “He is going to get bigger and stronger and we’re hoping we’ve found someone who is a diamond in the rough.” Frank, who pitched primarily in a relief role during his senior season, of fi cially signed with UMSL on May 10 in the Arcadia main of fi ce in front of a crowd made up of his parents, coaches, teachers and administrators. Under the terms of the talent scholarship, USML will cover a portion of Frank’s tuition in addition to the complete cost of books, housing and board. USML fi rst took notice of Frank thanks to Titan JV coach and personal instructor Damion Swisher. Swisher, who works with current Triton pitcher Andrew Peterson, contacted Brady on Frank’s behalf. Peterson, a Basha High School graduate, then stayed in Brady’s ear all season and updated him on Frank’s progress, said Swisher. “I just made a phone call,” Swisher said. “He (Frank) worked hard and did the rest.” Swisher has coached at the junior-college level and used that experience to help Frank during their private lessons together. Swisher mainly focused on working on increasing the pitcher’s arm strength and improving his mechanics. Pitching coach Mike Gilligan also gave Frank lessons and tried to increase Frank’s baseball acumen. “He had the right mentality and I just tried to show him the right way to play baseball,” said Gilligan. In addition to working with Swisher and Gilligan, Frank trained and played at AZ Pro Camps with Therron Brockish during his high school career. Brockish, a major league scout with the Florida Marlins, attributes Frank’s maturation as a pitcher to his physical growth and knack for the strike zone. “During the last couple of years he has grown and physically matured,” Brockish said. “That is the biggest thing that put him in this position.” During the fall season at AZ Pro Camps, Frank went 1-0 with a 0.48 ERA in 14.2 innings. He also struck out 27 batters and walked only four during that span. “He has the ability to throw strikes and change speeds,” Brockish said. “He will only get better as he gets stronger and lives in a great baseball environment.” During the 2011 season at Arcadia, Frank compiled a 2-2 record and a 6.35 ERA in seven appearances. The high ERA is largely the result of one rough outing against Saguaro and marred what had otherwise been a solid season that saw the young hurler put together a 13-to-4 strikeout to walk ratio. Despite the statistics, Brady liked Frank’s potential, and eventually USML sent the 6-foot tall pitcher the scholarship offer. Continued on page 58 Man behind Baxter fi nds joy in and out of cat suit By Christina Bravo Average citizen by day, furry bobcat by night. Or, by game time that is. This is the life of the 24-year-old man behind the Arizona Diamondbacks’ mascot, D. Baxter the Bobcat. Baxter has been around since 2000, but a new man stepped into his paws three seasons ago. “It fi t him like a glove, a big furry glove,” said Kirk Newell, best friend of fi ve years to the man-who-would-be Baxter. “It’s not even a role for him. That’s who he is.” Noah Berlin, supervisor of game operations and entertainment for the Arizona Diamondbacks, said the current Baxter’s high energy and positive attitude is what got him the job. He needs those qualities when performing for an average of close to 30,000 guests a game. “He’s fantastic at his job and I don’t know if I’ve ever met anybody that is that energetic and passionate about something like that as he is,” Berlin said. As a young boy, the-man-turned-Baxter had a passion for roller skating that got him his fi rst job at 10. He loved roller skating, but because of a tough economic childhood, he wasn’t always able to get in. Continued on page 58