June 8, 2004
By MATT NESTOR of the Tribune's staff
Published in the Columbia Daily Tribune on Friday, April 23, 2004
Forget for a moment that Cody Ehlers was intentionally walked, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position in Missouri's loss against Southwest Missouri State on Tuesday night. Bears Coach Keith Guttin had two hours to rethink his decision. But Guttin never wavered and, once the rain delay was over, ordered his pitcher to put Ehlers on first.
After struggling early last season, senior Cody Ehlers has become Missouri's most consistent hitter. The first baseman leads the Tigers in hits, home runs and RBI. The telling moment was when SMS offered the intentional pass to Ehlers in a tie game in the sixth inning. The Bears seemed to have no problem treating Ehlers as if he were Missouri's answer to Barry Bonds. "I hadn't really felt that since I was in Little League," Ehlers said. "It was kind of a weird feeling. ... They just picked out that one player they didn't want to have beat them, and I just happened to be that guy. "
Of course, Ehlers did the most damage to the Bears in a 5-4 10-inning victory April 14 in Springfield. In Ehlers' final three at-bats in that game, he hit an RBI double in the sixth, doubled to lead off the ninth and scored as Missouri took a lead, then hit the winning home run with two outs in the 10th. Truly a Bonds-esque performance.
The Tigers begin a three-game series tonight against Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, in what could prove a pivotal series in the Big 12 standings. Missouri (4-8) is in eighth but just three games behind Nebraska in fourth. The Aggies dropped to 7-8 in the conference after losing two of three at home against league-leading Oklahoma. Texas A&M is third in Big 12 play with a .293 average and is scoring six runs per game.
If Missouri is going to score runs, Ehlers is certain to be in the middle of it.
Ehlers, who rarely expresses much jubilation or disappointment, fell out of character and pressed a little too much while struggling early in his junior year with baseball's amateur draft looming. He re-emerged in time for conference play and continued his momentum with a strong wood-bat season over the summer. He feels the experience helped him stay level-headed this year.
"Last year, even though I didn't have as good a year as I know I'm capable of, it was a good learning experience for me," Ehlers said. "You have to stay even-keeled as much as you can throughout the whole year.
"When" hits are "not falling, you can't think about it. ... I did that a lot last year. It totally destroys you as a hitter, because confidence is your main thing."
The senior first baseman from Stillwater, Okla., has been the most consistent hitter in the Tigers' lineup this season.
That might be because Ehlers has the most consistent swing in the lineup.
Ehlers, who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 184 pounds, doesn't cut as imposing a figure as fellow seniors Ryan Rallo (6-0, 196) and Lee Laskowski (5-11, 210). But his swing helps him more than make up for his relative lack of size.
"Bat speed. He has such a great swing," Jamieson said. "He does two things very well. One is he puts the barrel on the ball with a great deal of frequency. The other thing is he has such a level swing that he's able to hit different types of pitching with movement. The more your swing is up or down, you've gotta be perfect when you make contact with the ball.
"Cody's got such a nice, level swing that the ball can be slow or fast or doing this or this, and he's still going to make pretty solid contact.
"He's made some swings at some pitches that you just shake your head at sometimes, fastballs up out of the zone. He's got such a short swing. A couple of them, I remember, he hit for home runs."
Ehlers leads Missouri with a .369 average, 12 home runs and 46 RBI. He's also tops in hits, doubles, runs and slugging percentage and had a 15-game hitting streak earlier this season. He's also been perfect at first base, with no errors in 375 chances. That's an important fact for the Tigers' young infielders - freshman shortstop Gary Arndt and sophomore second baseman Zane Taylor. Ehlers' ability to pick throws out of the dirt eases the pressure on the fielders, which eases the pressur on the pitchers.
Ehlers doesn't waste a lot of energy in the dugout being a rah-rah type of teammate. He often looks surly as he concentrates on the opposing pitcher and prepares for his upcoming at-bat.
"He's not getting caught up in all that other stuff that's going on," Jamieson explained. "He's trying to study or get better educated so he can give a better performance his next time up.
"He's what you'd like a senior to be. He's experienced, he's making good decisions and then, of course, he's performing because of the experience that he's had."