| PING!BASEBALL SPOTLIGHT PLAYER
Adam Zornes
Rice Owls |
 |
 Fresno
State’s 17-5 opening weekend victory over Rice in the
College World Series was a long and painful game for Owls.
The upstart Bulldogs scored early and often in handing Rice
their most lopsided loss in years and tallied the most runs
in a CWS game since 2001. However the game was particularly
excruciating for catcher Adam Zornes. The All Conference USA
catcher and seventh round San Diego draft selection had injury
added to insult when he was blistered by a Sean Bonesteele
(not the name of a pitcher you want to get hit by, sounds
like an upcomming Vin Diesel role…) offering that sent
him heaping to the ground and into the hospital, nearly turning
his teeth into Chiclets. X-Rays revealed an absence of broken
bones, but you’d never guess it from looking at his
face. Not only is his jaw swollen to the point of leaving
him looking like a cow with an oversized cud, but his face
is literally tattooed with the stitches from the pitch - an
imprint of the off track curveball can be clearly seen across
his side sending chills down one’s spine.
However playing through injury is nothing
new for the redshirt junior backstop who was equipped with
a special helmet to get him back in the lineup and protect
his face. Zornes, whose father played football for DII power
Pittsburg State, is a gamer who despite being forced to rest
in bed after the game with a sack of ice on his inflated chin,
never turned off of game mode. He carefully watched the LSU
and North Carolina play on ESPN in preparation for their Owl’s
next game. Zornes, who calls the Owls’ games from behind
the plate except for a handful of pitches that come directly
from Coach Wayne Graham, wasn’t about to give up an
opportunity to gain an advantage over their potential opponent.
A true student athlete, Zornes has been the catcher for a
number of dominating Owl pitchers including Team USA members
Cole St. Clair and Ryan Berry, 2007 first round draft pick
Joe Savery, All American Eddie Degerman and Milwaukee Brewer
prospect Bobby Bramhall.
Despite being a smart catcher with an outstanding
arm who Graham declares has, “all the tools to be one
of the best in the country”, the Johnny Bench Award
watch listed Zornes is far more than just a apt target behind
the plate. He in an invaluable part of the offense who swings
a powerful bat that led the Owls in homeruns this season with
twelve. Zornes was batting .307 into the CWS with ten doubles
and a triple to have a .530 slugging percentage, good for
second place on the team.
PREVIOUS SPOTLIGHT PLAYERS
|
