OREM — Utah Valley State senior starting pitcher Kam Mickolio is a 6-foot-9 work-in-progress; where he ends up, nobody knows.
Tall pitchers with power arms are enigmatic in the baseball community because of how easily their raw potential and projectability seduce scouts and talent evaluators, but how frustratingly complicated it can be to fully tap into all of that ability.
Although being tall is to a pitcher's benefit because it increases the downward angle from which he throws to the batter, it also complicates matters by amplifying the control problems that mechanical flaws in his delivery can create (think "molehills into mountains").
Indeed, the scrap heap of one-time prospects that never made it to The Show is peppered with tall pitchers who could not overcome control problems and inconsistency. The mythical flipside to that coin, however, is that once in a generation a tall pitcher who was an afterthought on his college team and best-known early on in his professional career for breaking his hand by punching a wall will finally figure out how to channel his vast talents and evolve to become virtually unhittable (see Randy Johnson).
Mickolio's 2006 stats are modest at best: 3-5 record, 4.87 ERA, more combined walks and hit batsmen (39) than strikeouts (33). But because he can light up the radar gun, and because he "puts it all together" once every three or four times out, the scouts gladly keep coming to watch him.
"(Mickolio) has above-average velocity with weight movement, and his slider has turned into a very good pitch," UVSC assistant coach Eric Madsen said. "When he's going good, he just gets more confident as it goes. Everything works off the decision-making that he takes away from the hitter with that upper velocity, because he hits 94, 95 (mph)."
Mickolio was far from a finished product coming out of Montana, a place where the locals don't play high school baseball. He went to College of Eastern Utah, where Madsen was the pitching coach his freshman year. So while Mickolio is in only his second campaign at UVSC, it's the third season of the past four that he's been tutored by Madsen.
"He was pretty young and raw coming out of Montana," Madsen said. "He had a decent arm, but his arm strength's gotten better. But more than anything it's his understanding of pitching and his commitment to improving (that have made the difference), because he's earned everything he's got."
The performance Mickolio gave Saturday in the Wolverines' 5-4 win over Utah gave a glimpse of the progress he's made. Although he plunked three Utes and only had a no-decision to show for his six innings of work, Mickolio also held a Utah team that just the day before had put up a combined 30 runs and hit 11 home runs as part of a doubleheader to only four hits and two earned runs.
Bottom line: While no one's implying Kam Mickolio is the next Big Unit, it's undisputed that his story's far from done. As for how high he'll go in June draft, well, it's as they say — beauty's in the eye of the beholder or, in this case, the scout. "(On the next level) Kam's going to have to get in there and get pitching because he's just a puppy when it comes to pitching," Madsen said. "His best innings are ahead of him, for sure."
Past Wolverines lauded
Utah Valley State alums Mitch Jones and Devra Viekrant were inducted Wednesday evening into the UVSC Athletic Hall of Fame during a banquet at the McKay Center.
Jones (Mountain View High) hit a school-record 41 home runs for the Wolverines from 1997-98. At Arizona State, he set a Sun Devil single-season record and led the NCAA with 27 home runs in 2000. Jones is in his sixth full season in the New York Yankees farm system. Last year at Triple-A Columbus, he hit 27 home runs but struck out 174 times. The 28 year-old Jones is hitless in four career major league at-bats.
Viekrant (Orem High) was a seven-time NJCAA All-American in track and cross country. She was the 2000 national champion at 3,000 meters and placed in the top three in the 1,500 and 5,000. Viekrant continued her collegiate career at BYU. Most recently, she won the 2005 St. George Marathon.
The week that was
BASEBALL: The Wolverines (10-24) salvaged the final of three weekend home games against Utah. UVSC dropped both ends of a Friday doubleheaderby a combined score of 30-11 but then rebounded Saturday to win the series finale 5-4.
SOFTBALL: Three Utah pitchers combined Friday to no-hit UVSC in a game the Utes won 8-0. The only players to reach base for the Wolverines (10-26) were Rachel Hartgrove on an error and Emily Zupan on a walk.
WOMEN'S GOLF: A week ago, Utah Valley finished 19th out of 19 teams in the BYU Dixie Classic at Snow Canyon. The Wolverines shot a 279-over par 1143, 68 shots behind 18th-place Idaho State.
On tap
BASEBALL: vs. Northern Colorado, 7 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday (doubleheader); at BYU, 7 p.m. Tuesday.
SOFTBALL: doubleheader vs. Eastern Oregon, 11 a.m. Saturday (in Caldwell, Idaho); doubleheader at Albertson College, 11 a.m. Sunday; doubleheader at Southern Utah, 2 p.m. Tuesday.
TRACK AND FIELD: at the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut, Calif., today through Saturday.
MEN'S GOLF: at the Ping Cougar Classic in Provo, today through Saturday.