Rob Coe among the top gunslingers from his catching post

I blogged earlier this season that Rob Coe is among the top catchers in NCAA Division III baseball. The statistics are a good barometer of my statement.

The senior out of Appleton has been a workhorse behind the plate starting all 42 games this season.

Penciled in at No. 3 in the batting order all season, Coe is hitting .351 including 12 doubles, 3 home runs and 44 RBI just three less than team leader Jeff Donovan’s 47 RBI.
He leads the team with 5 sacrifice flies and finished the regular season 7 for 7 stealing bases.

It is Rob’s defensive abilities that jump out at you.

The WIAC possesses some excellent catchers however when looking at a catcher defensively Rob Coe tops the list.

“I seem to gotten better every year,” Coe told voiceseyeonbaseball.blogspot.com. “I’ve had a good season throwing runners out and throwing behind runners to pick them off.”

Coe is the very best in gunning down would-be base stealers. Opponents have only attempted 23 stolen base attempts this season and only ten of those attempts were successful.

On top of that, opponents were just 10 of 21 on stolen base attempts last year. Coe also has lead WIAC catchers in “picking off” base runners the past two seasons.

The Warhawks’ senior catcher takes great pride in his throwing ability.

“Whenever we get in a bind I always am surveying the field to see what I can do to help us get out of an inning,” Coe said. “I’ve really been working on my pick-off move, my arm is strong and I have a sign with Jeff (Donovan) and we’ll have a pick-off play on. It feels good when we pull it off.”

How strong is Rob Coe’s arm? Pitching for the first time in his career Coe routinely tops the 90 mph mark in his closer’s role.

The seniors on this year’s Warhawk baseball team all agree that this year’s team has what it takes to winning NCAA tournament games and make a run at another title.

“Everyone on our team needs to be able to hit and our pitchers need to throw strikes,” Coe said. “We’ve been playing much better defense and have been making plays. We have to take it just one game at a time.”

Cliché or not, that is what it will take for John Vodenlich’s club to get to the next level on the road to Appleton in 2011.