Riedie’s rockin’

The Louisiana State University baseball team faced a decision about Shane Riedie’s summer plans. The Tigers could take the freshman hurler with them for its post-season run, or Riedie could be sent packing to Hannibal to join his summer-league squad, the Cavemen.
Sending Riedie to the Cavemen meant regular innings as a starter for the 19-year-old. Staying with the Tigers would have put Riedie in the bullpen where work would have been scarce. The decision was made: Riedie would join the Cavemen.
 “Instead of having him sitting in the bullpen and not getting the work, they figured it was probably better for him to come here,” Hannibal manager Jay Hemond said. “You see that a lot in the Majors. When you have a quality pitcher, do you want him pitching out of the bullpen spotty, or do you want him starting down in AAA where he is getting his innings in and building up his arm? I think that’s how they looked at it.”
The move turned out pretty well for both clubs. LSU, with its loaded roster, went on to win the College World Series and the Cavemen found an ace pitcher to lead the staff during its inaugural season.
Riedie started the second game of the season June 5 and picked up the loss against the DuPage Dragons. He hasn’t loss since then. In his next four starts, the 6-foot-4-inch   Riedie is 4-0. His ERA is hovering in the low two’s. The string of success couldn’t have been expected by the Cavemen.
 “We did expect it, actually,” Hemond said. “From all the reports we were getting from the LSU coaches, we knew he was a special pitcher. He’s got a power arm and he’s got that height – he really gets good leverage.”
To listen to Riedie tell it, his run this year is pretty simple: he throws strikes.
 “It’s just pounding the zone,” Riedie said. “Keeping my team in the game and letting the other guys get themselves out.”
Riedie relies on three pitches to dispatch batters: a fastball, a curveball and a changeup. Riedie calls his fastball, which he can get up to the plate in the low 90s, his best pitch, followed by his curve. Right now, all three pitches are working.
 “He’s got a good breaking ball and he can throw all his pitches for strikes,” Hemond said. “He’s got a good idea of what he’s going to do out there. He’s got some knowledge about pitching so he knows when to throw certain pitches.”
While his fastball already has some speed, one of things the Cavemen are working on this summer is trying to make it faster.
A pitcher derives power not just from his arms, but from the push of his legs on the mound. Besides that, the team just wants Riedie to pitch.
 “It’s just getting the innings and experience for someone like him,” Hemond said. “He’s already got the quality stuff, so sometimes it’s just getting the extra innings in so then he knows what to do in certain situations.”
Catcher Brett Frantini has caught Riedie several times this year. From behind the plate, Frantini likes what he sees. He said Riedie hits his spots and his balls have good movement to keep the hitters off balance.
 “As a catcher, I have a lot of confidence in him to give us a good chance to win every time,” Frantini said.
When working with Riedie, sometimes the toughest job for Frantini is thinking of something witty to say to lighten the situation up.
 “He’s pretty easy to get along with,” Frantini said. “Me and him have clicked from the beginning – we’re pretty good together. If he gets in a jam or I think he needs a breather, I’ll just go out and sometimes I won’t even say anything or I’ll say a joke – just something to get him to relax.”
With Riedie’s success, the Cavemen have a stopper in the rotation – a pitcher who won’t let a losing streak get too long. While he won’t call him the ace, Hemond does admit he’s glad Riedie is pitching for his team.
 “It’s always nice to have that big horse you can go to,” Hemond said.
Watching his college team rack up win after win was tough for Riedie, but he said the team was too loaded for a freshman to crack the squad. Still, he would have liked to have been celebrating with LSU in Omaha, Neb.
“The team was great and there was only one freshman pitcher who went – and he was an All-American closer,” Riedie said. “It’s kind of tough to be on a team like that. … It would have been nice to be a part of that dog pile.”
Since he couldn’t be in Omaha, Riedie has made the most of his time in Hannibal. He is pitching well and his confidence couldn’t be higher.
“I feel great on the mound just going out there and getting wins,” Riedie said.