Juco coach: Ex-Husker ready for the big leagues

MARK DAVIS/THE WORLD-HERALD

Logan Ehlers, who pitched one season for Nebraska before transferring to Howard College, will have to choose between the majors and Division I baseball next season. He had committed to play next season at Texas Tech.

Published Sunday June 3, 2012

BASEBALL

Juco coach: Ex-Husker ready for the big leagues

LINCOLN ? Left-handed pitcher Logan Ehlers, the one-time Husker and former Nebraska City standout, is ready for professional baseball, his junior college coach says.

Ehlers spent the spring at Howard College in Big Spring, Texas, where he developed a change-up, lost more than 30 pounds and rededicated himself to the game's finer details. He was the pitcher of the year in his conference and could be a junior college All-American.

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LOGAN EHLERS

Record: 12-1
ERA: 1.17
104 strikeouts in 84 1/3 innings

After what Howard coach Britt Smith saw from the matured, team-first talent in 2012, he's convinced that the sky's the limit for Ehlers.

?He has nothing left to prove in college, that's what I told him,? Smith said. ?He's ready to go out and play pro ball. But it's out of his hands now. He has to make sure he has a back-up plan in case things don't work out.?

Ehlers signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Texas Tech, where he'd have two years of eligibility remaining. But the results of this week's MLB draft will certainly shape Ehlers' next move.

He was selected by Toronto in the eighth round of the 2010 draft, but turned down a reported six-figure signing bonus to join the Nebraska baseball team.

Then the NCAA suspended Ehlers for 60 percent of his freshman year for using an adviser to help negotiate a deal. He eventually emerged as the Huskers' Friday starter, but needed shoulder surgery and decided to transfer after an offseason coaching change.

It has worked out well for the former two-time Nebraska Gatorade player of the year.

Ehlers was 12-1 this year, finishing with a 1.17 ERA and recording 104 strikeouts in 8413 innings. Ehlers declined an interview request this weekend, choosing to hold his comments until after the draft ? which begins with round one Monday night, continues through the 15th round Tuesday and ends Wednesday with the final 25 rounds.

But Smith can confirm that Ehlers has grown considerably in a few months.

?I can't go by what happened in the past,? Smith said. ?He was a model citizen for us. He was a great teammate. On time for everything we did. He went to class and took care of his grades. He just busted his tail.?

Smith said Ehlers weighed 268 pounds when he arrived on campus last winter. Ehlers played at around 230.

Ehlers is still perfecting that change-up, but in games where he trusted the pitch, Smith said ?he was virtually unhittable.?

Ehlers pitched on fewer than five days rest just once, settling into a routine and embracing the between-start responsibilities ? like day-after work Saturdays, bullpen session Tuesdays and long toss on days that his teammates had off.

The effort that Ehlers displayed outside of games might be the most telling signal to Smith. Ehlers may not have fully understood that before. Now that he does, Smith says watch out.

?Where he really got better was his work ethic ? what he does in between starts to make sure he's ready,? Smith said. ?We did a lot of arm care, core strength to get his arm back in shape.

?He really bought in to getting better. He really worked.?

Contact the writer:

402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com

twitter.com/JonNyatawa

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