Baseball: Changeup helping NSU hurler

Jordan Egan has developed a changeup this summer, and it has led to a huge change in his pitching stats.

Relying primarily on fastballs and curveballs, Egan went 3-3 with a 4.78 ERA as a sophomore at Norfolk State last season.

That ERA is deceptively high – take out one awful outing, and it sinks to 3.87. Still, Egan knew he needed to learn another pitch when he headed to Edenton, N.C., in late May to play in the Coastal Plain League.

“The change is the best pitch in baseball,” said Egan, a First Colonial High School graduate. “But it’s the hardest to pick up.”

Egan went to work with Steamers manager Dirk Kinney and assistant Rob Vessell, gaining a feel for the change through long tossing and gradually building the confidence to use it on the mound.

The results were immediate. The Coastal Plain League is one of the top collegiate summer leagues, but Egan didn’t allow a run in his first three relief appearances. He struck out seven and allowed two hits in five innings.

“When I came in here, I knew it’d be tough competition,” Egan said. “So I had to make sure I had my ‘A’ game.”

On July 11, Egan made his first and only start of the summer. He allowed one run in seven innings, striking out seven against a powerful Peninsula Pilots lineup.

It was that day Egan realized his change was good enough to get out any hitter.

“I was shocked how many swings and misses I was getting,” he said.

A week later, Egan pitched a perfect inning to earn the win in the league All-Star Game. He finished the regular season 4-1 with a 1.95 ERA, a major reason the Steamers earned the top seed for the league playoffs, which began Thursday night.

Edenton beat eighth-seeded Peninsula 10-8 in 10 innings Thursday night in the best-of-three first round.

Egan’s rise is no shock to Norfolk State coach Claudell Clark. Egan went 1-2 with an 8.34 ERA as a freshman, and Clark said the right-hander showed improvement as he gained experience.

“People don’t realize how many innings it takes for a young pitcher to develop,” Clark said.

Egan prefers starting to relieving, and Clark said he expects him to start next season. The coach is buoyed by the fact that Egan has another pitch to throw.

“Through four or five innings, you can get away with one or two pitches,” Clark said. “But when good hitters see you the third time, you need something else to get them out.”

Kinney said he has been taking calls from major league scouts who want to know more about Egan. And the coach offers a caveat about Egan’s change – but one that offers great promise.

“It’s still a pitch in development,” Kinney said. “But he’ll at least throw it now and trust it.”