Gaucho wields a big bat

Even for Petaluma, Casa Grande graduate Spencer Torkelson has taken baseball success to a whole new level.|

A Petaluma baseball player competing on the college level has become so commonplace that it seldom gains more than a casual interest in this community where diamond success has become the norm. Last year, four players from Casa Grande High School alone moved on to Division 1 colleges. History suggests most, if not all, will be a success on the college level.

So, it is no surprise that Casa Grande graduate Spencer Torkelson played well at Arizona State University in his first year as a Sun Devil. What goes beyond surprising to shocking is the level of his success.

Perhaps most spectacularly, the former Gaucho led the NCAA in home runs with 25, breaking the ASU school record formerly held by Barry Bonds in the process. He batted .320 for the season and finished third in the nation with a .743 slugging average and tied for seventh nationally with 153 total bases. He led the Sun Devils in runs with 59, RBI with 53, walks with 38 and on-base average at .440.

His production did not go unnoticed. He was named second team All-American by Collegiate Baseball News and Baseball America and was first team Freshman All-American on both lists. He was just the seventh Sun Devil ever to be named All-American as a freshman. Perfect Game named him the Freshman of the Year as well as to its All-America team.

After he broke Bonds’ school record, he received a personal message of congratulations from the all-time Major League home run king.

“No one could see this coming,” said Torkelson’s high school coach Paul Maytorena, “but if you could see it coming from anyone, it was him. He always did come through when it counted most. Some players put up big stats against ordinary teams, but Spenny always played great in big games.”

Maytorena put Torkelson’s performance in perspective. “A year ago he was getting ready to play Montgomery High School, now he’s hitting home runs against some of the best college teams in the country,” the coach pointed out. “It’s amazing.”

Another who didn’t see it coming was Torkelson.

“I just wanted to play,” he said. “I wanted to start and get in 150 at bats.” He had 206.

But, even for the nation’s best freshman, there was an adjustment.

“The competition is much better,” he said. “The game is much faster. What helped me was playing in the fall. I got the feel for what it was like playing at a high level.”

For Torkelson, hitting success comes before he steps into the batter’s box. “It’s really about the approach,” he said. “You have to slow the game down.”

Torkelson admitted that as the home runs began to pile up and the recognition began to grow, there was a tendency to press a bit.

“It was a little nerve racking,” he acknowledged. “My hitting coach pulled me aside and talked to me about always using the same approach and not be swinging out of control.”

He played first base, left field and designated hitter. For him it really doesn’t matter. “As long as I am in the lineup, I’m happy,” he said.

Torkelson’s accomplishments are even more remarkable coming, as they did, in the midst of a major off-diamond change in his life as he adjusted to life away from home and in a completely new educational environment.

“College life is different,” he acknowledged. “Being away from the family and being on my own was definitely different. Living in a dorm is something else.” He echoed the thoughts of many freshmen as he expressed the relief it will be when he is able to share an apartment next year as a sophomore.

At Arizona State he has found college life busy, but help available.

“My professors have worked with me to help me work around my baseball schedule,” he said. “Spring hasn’t been too bad, but fall practice was difficult. I would start with a workout at 6 a.m., take classes from 7:30 until 11 and then have practice at 2.”

Torkelson’s summer will, not surprisingly, feature more baseball. He is currently on the East Coast playing in the Cape Cod League, an elite league for college players that requires the use of all-wood bats. The switch from the alloy bats used in the NCAA doesn’t phase the Petaluman.

“I’ve swung woodden bats before,” he said.

Then it’s on to play for the U.S. Collegiate National Team that will play a series of games in North Carolina against teams from Japan and Chinese Taipei. It all wraps up with the seventh annual USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series July 10 through July 15.

“It’s an honor to play for the U.S. team and have a chance to play against some of the best players in the world,” Torkelson said. “I can’t wait.”

There is an obvious next step after college, but that will have to wait for awhile. Torkelson won’t be eligible for the Major League Baseball draft until after his junior season.

“I’ve always had a vision of playing pro ball,” he said. “I don’t worry about it. I know it will work out.”

Torkelson acknowledged that dealing with the growing national attention as his torrid hitting, especially the growing home run total continued, was not always easy.

“Sometimes it was difficult. You have to remember where you came from and how you got there,” he said.

Torkelson hasn’t forgotten that.

“I want to think everyone for all their support,” he said of his family, friends and followers in his home town. “When everyone showed up at Stanford (when the Sun Devils played in Palo Alto), it was a great feeling. It felt like the whole town was there.”

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