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FSU's Drew leads Freshman All America team
By Blair Lovern
Take away the jogging suit and spaceship crash and you’ve got a nice comparison to the Six Million Dollar Man. Austin had blowout in damper three; Drew had a blowout at third base. But doctors made Drew’s foot better, faster, stronger. They stuck a pin inside it. It took about eight weeks of recovery and rehab after he broke his left foot Feb. 1 running out a triple against Hawaii. At the end of the year–still with the pin–he tied the team for second in stolen bases (13). When healthy, the younger brother of J.D. and Tim Drew (who in 1997 became the only brothers to be selected in the first round of the same draft) is one of the fastest Seminoles. Last fall he recorded the best 30- and 60-yard dashes and vertical jump on the team. He should be back at full speed once he has the pin removed later this summer. Drew can also flat-out hit. He led the Seminoles in batting (.402), was one behind team leader Ryan Barthelemy’s 17 home runs and had 54 RBIs in 204 at-bats. "He’s really gotten it done," ’Noles coach Mike Martin said. "He’s not been intimidated by any situation he’s faced. There have been a lot of outstanding players come in here and make contributions, but not to the extent that he has. Stephen has certainly come up and produced with the game on the line. He’s a difference-maker." It was a strong year for freshmen. First baseman Vincent Sinisi and righthander Philip Humber at Rice, or outfielder/first baseman Darryl Lawhorn at East Carolina would have been solid Freshman of the Year choices in many years. Notre Dame had what was regarded as the nation’s best recruiting class coming into the season, and unfortunately for Drew and the Seminoles, the Fighting Irish freshmen beat them in the super-regional at Tallahassee, with righthanders Grant Johnson and Chris Neisel leading the way. Still, Drew’s leadership and performance to help push Florida State to a No. 1 ranking at the close of the regular season pushed him to the front of the class as Baseball America’s Freshman of the Year. The Seminoles won their last 15 regular season games in the Atlantic Coast Conference, swept through the ACC tournament and took a 25-game winning streak into the super-regional. "It’s a great honor to be named Freshman of the Year and I appreciate it, but I would trade any of that to still be playing right now," he said. "Obviously we are very disappointed the way the season ended. I think everybody will work even harder in the offseason and in the fall so we can hopefully get to Omaha next year. We do lose some great players like Ryan Barthelemy, but we have some really talented guys coming back." Drew chose to follow J.D. and play at Florida State rather than playing professionally out of Lowndes County High in Hahira, Ga. The Pirates drafted Stephen in the 11th round of the 2001 draft, but it was hard to turn down a chance to start for the Seminoles. "Some challenges you’re going to have to face someday, so it might as well be now," he said. "Right now, I’m having fun here and we’re trying to win a College World Series. When you come to Florida State as a freshman, people actually look up to you because of your brother’s name. It’s fun, but it’s also time to get after it." Stephen said his older brothers taught him how to play the game, as well as toughened him up. "J.D. taught me how to hit lefthanded," he said. "Tim was the one always throwing to us and you didn’t get anything right down the middle. He’d come after us." Florida State assistant coach Chip Baker also helped motivate Stephen, as he tried with J.D. when he was there. Apparently, standard equipment in Drew lockers is a light switch. After Stephen made his first collegiate error in a tight game with Miami to give the Hurricanes the lead in the 13th inning, he caught Baker’s eye during his next at-bat. "Is the switch on?" Baker shouted. Drew got a kick out of that, then turned on an inside fastball and ended the game 9-7 on a three-run homer. Martin has said he’s never had a player as good with the glove as Drew. And with what this freshman did with a bionic foot, it’s downright scary to think of what else he’ll be able to do if he breaks anything else during his career. The coach noted J.D. became the first Division I player to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in a season, in 1997. He pegs Stephen, with better speed and nearly as much power, for a 20-50 campaign in the future. "I try not to get nervous or tense. I go out there and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played," Drew said. "And after that, you leave it all on the field and then come back the next day and play again. I like being competitive. I don’t back down from anybody. I don’t care who it is or what it is. That’s just my nature."
Second Team All-America
Statistics heading into College World Series. |
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