Huskers pick up another 2018 pitching commitment
Last Sunday the Huskers received a commitment from 2018 prospect Alex Benavides, a Gilroy (Calif.) right-handed pitcher whose previous contact had been mostly been with the power schools from the West Coast.
How was Nebraska able to pry Benavides away from the charms of Cal State Fullerton, Arizona and the University of Santa Barbara? It owes an assist to Google Images.
Back up to last summer, when the NU coaches saw the 6-foor-3, 175-lb. righty throw at an Under Armour tournament in Los Angeles. The Huskers got in contact with his travel ball coach, but Benavides didn’t give it much thought. A few weeks later, his high school coach said he’d gotten a call from NU pitching coach Ted Silva, requesting a call from Benavides. The sophomore complied but admitted to Silva that he had a hard time seeing himself leave California for Nebraska.
“We really like you and we think you’re a good prospect for us,” Silva told Benavides. “Just keep us in the back of your mind. Check out our school online and we’ll think you’ll be impressed and get a different feeling toward us.”
That’s where Google comes in. One search and Benavides was hooked.
“The first thing that pops up is their field,” Benavides said. “I was impressed just by the first site of their field. Their place holds 11,000 and they get 4,000 people a game. That’s absolutely crazy. You don’t get that here in California.
“Then I went onto the Nebraska website and saw a bunch of their different facilities, their weight-lifting facilities. I just really liked it.”
After a few more conversations with Silva, Benavides visited Nebraska two weekends ago. He took in the Huskers’ basketball game against Michigan and was entranced by NU’s facilities.
“I was very, very impressed and I fell in love with the thought of going to Nebraska,” he said. “I thought, ‘Oh, it’ll wear off after I get home.’ But the more I thought about it and the more I tried not to think about it, the more I fell in love with Nebraska.”
One week later on Jan. 31, he verbally committed to Nebraska, joining fellow right-handed hurlers Bo Blessie of Midland (Texas) and Colby Gomes of Millard West in Omaha. Benavides held offers from Utah and the University of Seattle, but he was also in touch with Cal State Fullerton, UC Davis, San Jose State and UC Santa Barbara. He was planning an unofficial visit to Arizona before making the call for Nebraska.
Benavides' arsenal includes a changeup, slider, and two-seam and four-seam fastballs that generally sit in the 84-85 MPH range and can be ramped up to 88. But Benavides considers his deceptiveness to be his greatest advantage.
"I do throw hard for my age, but one of the better things about me is I have a lot of sink to my ball," he said. "I have a really high leg kick that messes with a lot of batters.”
Benavides was one of just 40 players nationally to be placed on USA Baseball’s 15U National Team Trials roster last summer, an experience he considered humbling and helpful to harnessing the game's mental side.
It's not easy to get Californians to leave the sun and heat to come to Nebraska, where a number of nonconference games will be played each year in sub-40 degree weather. A Calif. native, Silva knows this. But he didn't lie to Benavides - in fact, it was his straightforward nature that helped sell the pitcher.
“He told me that it’s definitely different," Benavides said. "He said it took two years to get used to the cold. But he told me, 'You’ve got to give something to get something, and trust me, you’ll get used to the cold real quick out here.'
"When I went down there I could see what he was talking about.”