news 07/28 davis

Ludlow pitcher finds way among Giants
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
By MIKE BOGEN
mbogen@repub.com

For Jon Davis, life has been full of adjustments. Some you make, some you don't.

Davis, the former Cathedral High School standout from Ludlow, is pitching for the Holyoke Giants of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. He's had to adjust from high school ball, where he was a dominating force on the mound and in the outfield, to the University of Massachusetts, to Springfield College and now to the NECBL, the best competition he's seen yet.

Whew!

Davis, who, after three straight years of being selected to the All-Scholastic team, was named by The Republican the outstanding player in Western Massachusetts for 2002, didn't really make the adjustment to UMass. It wasn't baseball.

"I had two starts at UMass," recalls Davis. "I beat BC (Boston College) in my second start. I
went six innings and got the win. And I went five innings and gave up one hit and four walks in my first start.

"But the school just wasn't the right fit for me. The class size. It was a shock to me," he said.

So, Springfield College welcomed Davis with open arms last year. His numbers were not great in his sophomore year - 2-4 with a 5.76 ERA - but he pitched 45 innings, second most on the team, and struck out 52 batters.

"I was catching too much of the plate early, and getting hit. When the rust wore off I started hitting spots better," he said.

Davis felt he and the Giants would make for a good summer romance.

"I'd heard rumors they were moving here, so I went to my college coach (SC's Mark Simeone) and he said he'd check for me, but that the rosters were filling up.," Davis said.

Davis certainly helped his cause when he pitched a fall game against Western New England College, coached by Joel Southern, and did extremely well.

"A week-and-a-half later, Joel was named coach of the Giants and he called me a week later and asked if I wanted to play," Davis said.

Southern liked the fit between Holyoke and Davis then, and he still likes it now.

"We (WNEC) couldn't hit Jon in the fall of 2003 and we had a good-hitting team. And I talked with Coach Simeone, and he was very high on Jon. He said he was a quality individual," Southern said. "So I sought him out when I was named coach here."

Davis' adjustment to the NECBL has been on the rough side. He's gotten hit, but he's also shown excellent stuff, with 17 strikeouts in only 14 innings.

"Jon just has to trust his stuff," Southern said. "His stuff is good enough to get guys out, if he attacks the strike zone. He has a tendency to nibble and he's lost a little aggressiveness when he's ahead in the count."

Southern thinks Davis is just giving the opposition a little too much respect, but he doesn't question the pitcher's desire or work ethic.

"He's giving the hitters too much credit, but his attitude is tremendous, he's working hard and he's willing to do whatever's asked of him. He's a competitor, no question," Southern said.