Photo by Kevin Nagle
In the off-season between the 2013 and 2014 baseball campaigns, Bryant Hornets head coach Kirk Bock made a visit to Mississippi State University where there was a clinic for coaches about sidearm pitching, dropping the arm angle of pitchers to three-quarters, fully side-arm, and even submarine pitching.
“It seems like that’s the new wave of pitching,” Bock mentioned. “You can’t have a whole staff full but everybody wants one or two of those guys on their squad. It’d be nice to have a right-hander and a left-hander.”
As the team prepared for 2014, the coach went to a trio of his players to see if they’d try making the transition. Justin Emmerling, Chase Tucker and Dalton Holt each agreed and starting working on it.
Though it didn’t pay big dividends right away — Emmerling worked four varsity innings (and got a save), Tucker 4 1/3, and Holt two, it really took hold this summer as more innings became available during the 46-game American Legion season. Emmerling worked 22 innings of relief, struck out 21 and finished with a 1.91 earned run average.
And, on Thursday, July 24, he signed a letter of intent with Henderson State University to continue his baseball career there.
“Last year, Coach (Steven) Tharp, after I pitched, came in and he and Coach Bock started talking about it,” Emmerling, the son of Mark and Tonya Emmerling, recalled. “They talked about making me submarine at first but then that didn’t work out too well because I couldn’t throw a strike. Then I came in sidearm and I did a lot better. We just went from there.
“This year, Coach Bock got serious into it but I never got to a level where I could actually fill up the zone,” he continued. “Now I’ve gotten a lot better.
“I like it a lot because I never really could throw hard. Sidearm gives me good movement. Once I learn how to control it, I’ll be set.”
Command is still a bit of an issue. Emmerling gave up only 11 hits this summer but he hit 12 batters. Though not what he’s aiming for, that really only adds to the intimidation factor for the right-hander.
“He needs to work this fall on the mound some more,” said Bryant Black Sox manager Darren Hurt. “It’s his first year to do it from down there. When he is throwing strikes, he is nasty. He’s got great movement and he just aggravates hitters. He’s going to only get better on the mound.”
“Of the three guys that we dropped down, Em had the most deception,” Bock added. “Once he figures out how to locate everything then he’s going to be a tremendous asset to any program. I believe that’s where they’re going to use him the most.”
Emmerling said he received interest from College of Ozarks and Williams Baptist College.
“But I knew I wasn’t going to go there because they’re high-dollar,” he declared. “I decided to go to Henderson because my sister (Stacy) runs cross country there. I know a bunch of people on the baseball team. I like the coach.”
In fact, Emmerling will be joining Bryant products Hayden Daniel, Hunter Mayall and current Black Sox teammate Hayden Lessenberry. Apparently, the contingent will also include Bryant’s Jordan Taylor and Landon Pickett as transfers from Arkansas Baptist and Southern Arkansas University, respectively.
“They don’t have a side-arm pitcher,” Emmerling said. “They only got to see me pitch one time at a camp that we had here with only seniors and some other showcase guys. The Henderson coach saw me then my sister’s cross country coach got us a meeting with the baseball coach. My dad talked to him last summer.”
As he gets more and more comfortable with his new delivery, the diamond Reddies at Henderson may find they’ve found themselves a proverbial diamond in the rough, a gem of a pitcher.
