Cole Green’s coaches at Texas made him a closer early last spring because they believed he could handle pressure.

It wasn’t long before Green, a freshman, was made acutely aware of how serious they were. In a May 17 game at No. 9-ranked and archrival Texas A&M, Green was summoned with one out in the seventh inning of a 3-3 game.
Green came through with 22/3 scoreless innings for the win, not to mention a burnt-orange badge of courage for keeping his cool in front of 6,800 hostile fans.

“I think that’s always been kind of my gift, to do better in pressure situations,” Green said. “It gives me adrenaline and energy and I think I use it fairly well. There’s no more pressure than throwing at A&M with the Aggies fans yelling at you, calling your name out. Once you’ve been through enough of that, you learn how to handle it.“

Green’s strong first season of college baseball launched him into what has been a dominating summer for the La Crosse Loggers. The right-hander from Coppell, Texas is 5-0 with a 1.34 ERA. He’s struck out 47 batters with 12 walks in 47 innings and opponents are batting .167 against him.

“He’s so competitive,” Loggers pitching coach Derek Tate said. “You can see it at times when an inning starts to build on him, he gets more competitive and fired up and he’s got that thing in him that says, ‘Here it is, you do something with it.’ Not everybody has that. It’s what’s separating him from everybody else right now.”

Green goes to the mound with more than just a fiery demeanor. He’s also got a 93 to 94 mph fastball and sharp slider that hitters must deal with, plus a changeup that is a work in progress.

“His fastball is a very effective pitch, it dominates guys, and his breaking ball is as good as there is in college baseball,” Tate said. “Those two pitches alone are big-time pitches.”

Green was considered one of the top pitching prospects in the state of Texas before his senior year of high school. He looked at Baylor, Oklahoma, LSU and Arizona State before everything clicked when he visited Texas.

Pro scouts knew about Green, of course, and a high draft slot might have sent him in a different direction. But Green hurt his throwing elbow after the first start of his senior year and didn’t pitch for nine weeks.

“The draft got thrown out the window then,” Green said. “But I’m really glad I went to college and am getting to experience that first.”

Green was healthy by the time he reported to campus for fall practice. There was no easing back into things.

“We started right from day one,” Green said. “It was every single day, playing intrasquad games, and I was pitching almost every day. I learned how to pitch to college batters throughout that fall, and once we got to spring, they had helped me prepare for it.”

Green pitched as Texas’ No. 3 starter early in the season, then moved to the bullpen. He finished the year 3-7 with a 5.28 ERA and three saves. His 24 appearances were second on the team to another freshman, Stayton Thomas, a Loggers teammate.

“I had a big role, I closed a lot, I blew some games and I won some games,” Green said. “I definitely learned a lot, especially from my mistakes. That has helped me here and will help me in the future.”

Green is using the summer to develop as a starter. He’s 2-0 with a 1.31 ERA since joining the rotation in mid-July.

“I think I have a very good shot of being in the weekend rotation next year; that’s why my coaches had me start out here,” Green said. “It’s an opportunity for me to see what it’s like to work week to week instead of day by day and to learn how to pitch in the later innings by working quicker through batters and keeping the ball down; getting quick outs rather than showing all three of my pitches to get a batter out.”

Tate, a former pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays system, said if Green stays on track, he’ll be a pro pitcher in two years when his draft eligibility returns.

“He’s got to continue to get stronger and learn how to go eight or nine innings, and I think he’ll figure that out,” Tate said. “But when he’s a junior at Texas and starting in big games, people will see it.”

Said Green: “Anything can happen in those two years. I’m going to get an opportunity to be seen, and it’s whether I perform at the right time and do what I need to do. I’m just happy to be here now and playing.”

Joel Badzinski can be reached at (608) 791-8402 or joel.badzinski@lee.net

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