West’s Chapman wins 2014 Don Rabung CIC MVP Award As one of the hardest throwers in Alaska, West High pitcher Dalton Chapman intimidated most batters with just one pitch. His fastball has been clocked at 89 mph and he wasn’t afraid to show it off. Then the 6-foot-5 senior right-hander added a 12-to-6 curveball to his arsenal and he became almost unhittable. His strikeouts went up from 55 last year to 77 this year. “In counts where people assumed I’d throw a fastball, I’d mix it up and throw my curveball,” he told me. “I think that’s the reason why I struck out a lot of batters. I just kept them guessing.” There was no guessing when it comes to the best baseball player in the Cook Inlet Conference. Chapman was the unanimous choice for the 2014 Don Rabung CIC MVP Award in a vote by league coaches after they watched him dominate on the bump and in the box this high school season. The ace of the West staff went 4-0 with a 0.96 ERA, allowing just six hits and five earned runs in 36.2 innings. His strikeout-to-walk ratio was 7 to 1. He also had a save. Chapman was at his best in the first playoff game against Eagle River when he struck out a state-record 20 batters, breaking the previous record of 17 shared by South’s Max Karnos and Service’s Johnny Meszaros in 2013. Twenty Ks? That’s Roger Clemens territory. It’s easy to see when Chapman throws a sharp fastball followed by a knee-buckling breaking ball. He broke hearts, and bats. Chapman threw 7 one-hitters over the last two seasons. In the second playoff game against Eagle River this year he carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before all-star RJ Dirscherl broke it up with a single. “He broke it up in the seventh the last time we faced Eagle River,” Chapman said. Does it eat at him, not throwing a no-hitter? “That was definitely my biggest regret. I want that so bad,” Chapman said. “But you can’t always be thinking about a no-hitter. I got to realize that’s a tough thing to overcome. I care more about wins than I do no-hitters.” Chapman, who also played shortstop and first base, hit .486 with 15 RBIs, four triples and one double. His slugging percentage was .771. “I can hit,” he said. “But when I go down to Seattle I’m known as a pitcher and that’s all I’m going to be in college.” Chapman has already signed with Everett Community College – the reigning NWAACC champion. He will join the team this fall. To find out more about the Cook Inlet Conference all-league baseball team, go to alaskalegion. This story was written by Van Williams, a freelance writer in Anchorage and the ALB Media Director.
Posted on: Sat, 31 May 2014 00:56:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015