Not a lot went right for Emporia State last weekend at the MIAA tournament, but if there was a bright spot, it had to be the play of catcher Mike Sharp.
Sharp didn’t come out of nowhere. After all, he was a first-team All-MIAA selection this season. But it appeared that Nebraska-Omaha and Central Missouri might not have read their scouting reports.
Both tried to steal on Sharp, and both had little success. Sharp threw out three of the four attempted base stealers, and the one who made it to second beat Sharp’s perfect throw by a split-second.
“He can throw,” ESU coach Bob Fornelli said. “As good a arm as he has, he gets rid of the ball so fast that’s what makes him successful behind the plate.”
Fornelli knew what he was getting with Sharp defensively when he arrived on campus this season. Sharp transferred from Alabama, where the coach informed him after his junior season that he could not guarantee him a lot of playing time his senior season.
Fornelli was quick on the dial to get a hold of Sharp. Sharp’s brother Billy Sharp was an All-MIAA center fielder for ESU, and Fornelli had tried to recruit Sharp out of Kansas City Community College two years ago.
Sharp wanted to come to a program that was going to win, and he knew that’s what he would get at Emporia State.
“I wanted to play my senior year,” he said. “This is my last year, so I decided to come here.”
Again, Fornelli knew he was getting a great defensive catcher. Sharp won the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and Region VI Gold Glove Award as a sophomore. He also was a solid hitter at KCCC, hitting .385 with 10 homers and 52 RBIs as a sophomore.
His numbers dipped last season at Alabama to .288 with one homer and eight RBIs in 29 games played and 19 starts. Given an opportunity to start at ESU, Fornelli knew Sharp’s numbers would improve, but he couldn’t have predicted by how much.
Sharp has been one of the top hitters in the MIAA. He’s second in the league with 13 homers, second with a .682 slugging percentage, fifth with 53 RBIs, seventh in total bases with 122 and eighth with 16 doubles.
Not bad for guy who considers himself a defensive catcher, and the hitting, well, “that’s just a plus in my book.”
“There’s a big difference between facing SEC guys and MIAA guys — not that it’s bad,” Fornelli said. “He’s going to be able to hit those 80-87 guys, where there he probably didn’t see less than 90-92 a lot. He came in and he’s done a great job for us offensively and defensively as well.”
Sharp has also done a good job with the ESU pitching staff, but his job becomes even more important this week with a staff that has been struggling.
Colby Killian, who will start today against Angelo State in the opener of the NCAA South Central Regional in Warrensburg, Mo., said Sharp is the best catcher he’s ever had.
“He calls what I want about 95 percent of the time,” Killian said. “If I’m struggling, he’s there to pick me up and he’ll come out and talk to me, calm me down, tell me a joke, just get me to laugh a little bit and loosen up.”
Sharp could also help Killian with his bat, and he might want to take some advice from big bro.
In Emporia State’s last meeting with Angelo State on Feb. 11, 2007, Billy Sharp was the offensive star for the Hornets, going 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Billy Sharp also played on the last ESU team to make the World Series in 2006.
Duplicating that would make little brother’s senior season complete.
“It’s been a great time my senior year,” Sharp said. “It’s exceeded all my expectations.”