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Michael Meintel has been working toward the opportunity he's about to receive this afternoon for quite sometime.
From the time he was old enough to pick up a baseball, Meintel has been honing his pitching skills. Whether it was in Mustang, Bronco, Pony or during his high school days at Shadyside High, Meintel has been a dominant force on the pitching mound.
Meintel experienced the fruits of his labor last spring when he signed his National Letter of Intent to join the Wright State University baseball team after a lengthy recruiting process in which several Division I schools were in the mix.
Well, with a semester of classes and pre-season drills in the rear-view mirror, Meintel is about to experience something that that will be slighly different than anything he's seen on any level of baseball.
The 2007 Shadyside High graduate -- who twice earned first-team all-Ohio accolades on the diamond -- will get the ball today from Wright State skipper Rob Cooper to make his collegiate debut as the starting pitcher against the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Meintel had worked through much of the fall and pre-season camps in the set-up role, which he was recruited for, but was taken aside by Cooper Sunday and informed he'd be making the move to the rotation.
"I was set on being a reliever," Meintel said during a phone interview. "Coach just mentioned something to me about it was a possibility to go into the starting role, but until last Sunday that was the only time he mentioned it to me."
Being informed of the change a week prior allowed Meintel to begin the mental preparation for being a starting pitcher as compared to working from the pen. And there's a difference.
"It's completely different," Meintel said. "You just have to pitch differently. The mentality is to still get outs, so in that way I am in the same."
The biggest adjustment for Meintel is going to be able to mix pitches against Southeast Conference hitters compared to just mowing people down in the Ohio Valley like he did for the past four years with straight heat.
"At this level, it's as much about velocity," Meintel offered. "It's about hitting your spots and keeping the ball down."
At the prep level, Meintel had a plethora of pitches at his disposal, but he basically only needed the fastball, which proved to be basically unhittable most every time out.
"You can't rely on the fastball like that at this level," Meintel confirmed. "You can put the number nine hitter at the plate at this level and they will drill a fastball. Outs are a lot harder to come by because you have to work so much harder."
If he working out of the pen, Meintel could rely on the fastball more to get three outs and then turn the game over to the stopper, but the starting pitcher is obviously expected to work possibly six-plus innings, which means the order could be turned over as many as three times.
"The coaches have me using primarily three pitches (aside from the fast ball)," Meintel explained. "I am using the curve, slider and change. It's three different speeds and movements to try to keep hitters off balance."
Meintel and the Raiders opened the three-game set against the Razorbacks on Friday with a 9-4 loss.
It appears that Meintel is penciled into the rotation for the long haul, but the savvy frosh knows it's a 'what have you done for me lately' mentality at this level.
"Right now it looks like I am in the rotation," Meintel offered. "But everything can change based on how well I pitch or how well someone else does. You could have a bad outing and someone else could be pitching really well, so it's pretty much that anything can change at anytime."
The Raiders will definitely be challenged and will log several frequent flyer miles before getting into Horizon Conference play. Road trips to Pullman, Wash., Louisville and The Citadel await the Raiders.
"Everything is so fast paced," Meintel explained. "We'll get back Sunday night after the game, have a day off and then head to Louisville and then we'll get back and fly to Washington."
Once they get into conference play, the Raiders are expected to fair extremely well, seeing they are picked to win the conference in most pre-season rankings.
"Our lineup is going to be really tough," Meintel said. "We have two position players on our team who are possibily going to get drafted. We've just got a lot of big bats in our lineup."
As for the pitching, Meintel admits it's a young staff, but there is a lot of depth.
"Our bullpen is really deep," Meintel said. "We've just got a solid team all the way around."
It didn't take long for Meintel to learn all about the demands of major college athletics.
"I have been practicing since September," Meintel said. "It's like a job because they are paying with your education to go out and play baseball, but I am definitely enjoying it."
Don't expect to see Meintel with a batting average anytime soon as the Wright State coaches haven't even allowed him to touch a bat during pre-season.
"The closest I have gotten to a bat is hitting Fungo to the infielders," Meintel joked.
As the practices and games mount, Meintel continues to plug away in the classroom, taking primarily the core courses.
A normal day for Meintel finds him in the weight room by 6 a.m., classes and then practice field and back to the dorms for homework.
"The classes are going pretty well," Meintel confirmed. "I am getting my general classes out of the way, and I probably won't declare a major until the end of my sophomore year."
ROMICK SHINES
At the University of Akron, former River High standout Ryne Romick began his junior campaign out of the bullpen and thwarted a West Virginia rally to help the Zips preserve a 5-1 win in Winston-Salem, N.C. Romick worked the ninth and the Mountaineers loaded the bases before he recorded a strikeout and a ground out to end the contest.
SETH'S SCOOPS
• CONGRATULATIONS to all of the local wrestlers who have etched their name into this weekend's state tournament program. As always, The Times Leader will be your home all week for the state wrestling tournament. The tournament preview with pictures of all of the state qualifiers in the immediate area will appear in Wednesday's edition along with full tournament coverage both in the paper and on www.timesleaderonline.com
• DOUBLEHADERS in the Eastern District are something that's had me fired up for several years. The only place it seems like a fan can go to catch a pair of hoops games is at St. John Arena in Steubenville. Why is that the case? Ohio University Eastern hosts the Division IV sectional and plays single games each night. I know, I know, this year they had a doubleheader, but that was due to weather. My real problems with the OUE sectional is with lack of preparation time. Take Bridgeport for example. The Bulldogs played their sectional opener Thursday and then less than 48 hours later, they were back at OUE to meet Shadyside in the sectional final.
No one can seem to answer why there can't be doubleheaders. Don't give me parking as a reason. I think it comes down to revenue. And from the looks of it, it doesn't seem to help. Each gymnasium I have been in throughout the tournament through Saturday night appears to have lackluster crowds. In talking to several directors, advance ticket sales aren't going well and I was at a girls' sectional game earlier in the tournament where a team brought -- no lie -- 16 fans. Something's wrong with this picture.
Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com