NC State’s Drew Lanphere rises to moment with depleted catching depth
NC State’s catching depth has been tested this week. Junior Jacob Cozart, the Wolfpack’s top option behind the plate, rested Friday’s season opener against Towson “nursing a groin”, while freshman Alex Sosa is “on the mend” after a bout with mononucleosis.
That left redshirt freshman Drew Lanphere as the Pack’s only option to catch against the Tigers. He caught the entire midweek win over Queens on Wednesday, which appeared to give him confidence against Towson. Oh, and his two homers against the Royals earlier in the week did not hurt either.
Lanphere was able to leave his mark at the plate for the second straight game with a walk-off single to left field to help No. 14 NC State edge Towson 6-5 in the first of a four-game series this weekend Friday afternoon at Doak Field.
The Wendell, N.C., native’s two-game hot hitting has propelled himself into the spotlight of a deep catching room. He has gone 5-for-9 with two walks, six RBI and two home runs in the last two games to help fill a void for the Pack.
Though he is playing well as of late, Lanphere is not trying to change anything in his approach to the game.
“It feels good, hopefully I can just keep it going,” Lanphere said Friday afternoon. “I try to keep the same routine every day. … Try to do everything the same I can.”
While Lanphere ended the game with his base knock, Cozart was on deck as a pinch hitter, if needed to end the game in the ninth. But the young catcher was able to avoid NC State needing to use its slugging backstop in the series opener.
“Just proud of Drew Lanphere,” NC State coach Elliott Avent said after the walk-off win. “That guy has worked so hard. Nobody works harder than Drew Lanphere, and you can see how it’s paid off on both sides of the plate and behind the plate.”
Cozart has not caught a game since the Pack’s 10-8 win at Hawaii on Feb. 25, but he was the team’s designated hitter in the midweek victory. Sosa, similarly, has not played behind the plate since the Pack’s 9-6 loss to VCU on Feb. 17 as he battles the illness.
Avent said he did not use Cozart and Lanphere together since the Pack’s catching depth is not at 100%. He wanted to avoid a situation where one ended up exiting a game early to leave the Wolfpack with just one healthy backstop. Cozart is expected to catch one of the Pack’s two games against the Tigers on Saturday, however.
Lanphere, meanwhile, has been the steady force to allow NC State to withstand its highly-touted catchers being absent from the lineup. He ventured to think the Wolfpack’s trio may be the best in Division I.
“We probably have the best catching group in the country, I’d say,” Lanphere said. “Everybody hits very well, we support each other, we want everyone to do well. Really good group.”
Avent, who has coached MLB catchers Patrick Bailey and Andrew Knizner during his time at NC State, has prided himself on having elite talent behind the plate.
And this season, it appears that stable has what he is looking for.
“We’ve had good catching here our entire career here that I’ve been here,” Avent said. “Good pitching wins a lot of games, but you have to have a good catcher. You can’t win without a good catcher and we’re fortunate to have three good ones.”
