Sport THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KA
Tennis team sees defeat Jayhawks end their season with a 4-0 loss to Sooners. TENNIS I 9A
FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
KU signee tops Rivals' list Josh Selby is the top-ranked prep player MEN'S BASKETBALL | 9A
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
PAGE 10A
Senior pitcher Sarah Vertelka throws a pitch against Wichita State Wednesday night. Vertelka, who chose Kansas over Long Beach State and Nevada, is tied for the team lead with 63 strikeouts and ranks second on the te
Weston White/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Vertelka anchors KU's staff
Jayhawk pitchers look up to the senior from California
BY ZACH GETZ
zgetz@kansan.com
"I would keep bugging my dad to play catch and go to the field," Vertelka said.
Senior pitcher Sarah Vertelka started playing ball when she was 5. Vertelka could barely pick up a bat, but she grabbed hold of the game and never let it go.
The California native committed to Kansas despite interest from schools like Long Beach State and Nevada. She said she fell in love with Lawrence and hasn't regretted her decision at all.
"The whole college town thing
got me because all the schools I got recruited to didn't have this atmosphere at all." Verteka said, "Besides the beaches, there's nothing you can't do here that you can do in California."
"I love playing in the Big 12 and its great competition," Vertelka said. "Every series is tough."
She said she also came to Kansas to get a chance to play in the Big 12 Conference, one of the toughest softball leagues in the country.
Now with just six more games in the regular season, Vertelka is about to wrap up her college softball career.
The most experienced pitcher on a young team. Vertelka said she wanted to lead by example this season. She is tied for the team lead with 63 strikeouts and ranks second with six victories.
Freshman pitcher and outfielder Alex Jones said Verklefa
4 SARAH VERTELKA
PITCHER
Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
**Nickname:** Telka
**Major:** Exercise science
**Favorite T.V. shows:** Grey's
Anatomy and That 70s Show
**Favorite song on IPod:**
Anything country
**The person with the most**
influence on my life: My
mom
experience has always drawn Jones to her.
"I look up to Vertelka as someone I can turn to ask questions because she has been through it all!" Jones said. "I just want to be able to follow in her footsteps."
Jones said she could always rely on Vertelka for advice
"I would go up to her and be like 'Tell, I had a bad game, how do I bounce back from that?" Jones said. "She will be like 'You know, we play so many games in a season, you can't think about that one game and move on to the next one."
when she needed it.
With all the youth, at times Kansas has had to rely on Vertelka to help get the team though, coach Megan Smith said.
"Sarah had to bear the burden a lot of the times pitching in the circle, and had to go out there and pitch through some tough times," Smith said. "We've had some instances where she was the only pitcher we had available, and she had to go out there in gut out performances when she shouldn't have had to"
Vertelka's approach to practice has been a great example for the younger players, Smith said.
"She doesn't dilly-dally, she
For a preview of this weekend's series at Drake see PAGE 7A
doesn't joke around in her work outs, and stays focused in her work outs," Smith said. "I think the other pitchers see that."
Vertelka said she hasn't thought much about the end of her career. There's time for that once it's done.
"When I think about it, it's really sad, but it hasn't hit me at all yet," Vertelka said. "I feel like senior weekend and going into the Big 12 Tournament it'll be emotional, but right now it's like any other day."
Edited by Taylor Bern
BASEBALL
Pitchers look to rebound against Oklahoma St.
BY BEN WARD
bward@kansan.com
twitter.com/bm_dub
As Kansas' Friday starter, junior T.J. Walz is typically looked upon to begin a weekend series with a strong, tone-setting effort.
But because layhawk pitching
But because has been shelled for 20-plus runs in consecutive blowout losses, Walz will need a similarly sharp performance albeit in a different role.
Oklahoma State may be in last place in the conference, but the Cowboys still boast a potent offense which will provide a big challenge to Kansas' pitching staff.
W he n Kansas (25-17- 1, 6-8-1) heads to Stillwater
Mike Gunroe/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Junior outfielder Jimmy Waters makes a diving catch Tuesday against Wichita State. The Jayhawks lost the game to the Shockers 22-7.
The Cowboys are second in the conference with a .316 batting average, and also are towards the top in extra-base hits and runs scored.
"When you get good starting pitching, it carries over to every other aspect of the game."
But after the way that Kansas'
RITCH PRICE Coach
for a three game series against Oklahoma State, Walz will have to play the role of 'stopper', and end the stretch of lopsided defeats.
pitching staff was pounded by Texas Tech and Wichita State, the Jayhawks are looking to rebound in Stillwater.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
"We were pretty embarrassed by our performance,
"He needs to walk out, set the tone and stop the bleeding," coach Ritch Price said.
Adding to the overworked staff is the rash of injuries Kansas has faced at that position, including injuries to sophomore Lee Ridenhour and recently, junior closer Brett Bochy.
but we've got to move past it and keep battling," junior reliever Wally Marceli said.
Coach Price said that the Jayhawks undoubtedly miss both Ridenhour and Bochy, but have made due without them and will continue to.
Many of Kansas' pitchers have been forced to throw extensive innings lately, but they still aren't willing to make excuses for their ineffectiveness in recent games.
"We can tell people have been tired, but that's our game," senior pitcher Cameron Selik said. "It's part of the grind we go through."
"You can't live on would have, should have, could have" he said.
Price said regardless of the injuries and adverse situations thrown at this Kansas team, he's proud of how his club has responded to it.
"They haven't let any of that stuff affect how they play." Price said.
"That's not the team we are"
Selik said.
But the results on the field still have to match up with that confident and gritty mentality. And it begins with pitching, which has been largely ineffective of late.
"When you get good starting pitching, it carries over to every other aspect of the game," coach Price said.
Edited by Cory Bunting
So once again, Walz will take the mound on Friday, where his teammates hope he will deliver an outing that provides the rest of
"When he brings that energy back into the dugout it pumps us up even more," Marcel said. "Our whole club loves it."
the lajhawk pitchers with added confidence.
COMMENTARY
BY TIM DWYER
Josh Selby became the number one overall recruit in the country Thursday, according to Rivals.com's latest rankings.
Predictably, Kansas basketball fans were stoked. My roommates called and texted me and each other. The Twitterverse blew up with "Yay, Selby!" tweets. There wasn't a parade, but I'm sure someone considered organizing a barhop down Mass. Street in Selby's honor.
But this doesn't really change anything. Selby's still 6-foot-2, 180-some pounds and can jump out of the freaking gym. He's still got NBA range and the ability to be a lockdown defender. None of this is new. He had all this when he was rated No. 4 overall.
1
Tough to keep top recruit
One thing of note, though. While there has been unquestioned success at the college level for Rivals' top recruits, it has largely been on the individual level, and it has been notably brief. Exactly zero of the four No. 1's since 2006 have won a national title - Greg Oden came the closest in advancing to the title game.
There is good reason to be excited, though. Rivals' rankings are pretty widely considered the best indicators of future college success, and this means Selby will forever be in the Jayhawk history books as the most highly touted recruit of at least the Bill Self-era.
Granted, it is a nice moment for Kansas fans to break up John Calipari's run of No. 1 overall recruits. Brandon Knight, who fell from the top spot to sixth in the rankings, would have been Coach Cal's second in a row – and he already has a commitment from next year's No. 1 and No. 2 players, Mike Gilchrist and Marquis Teague.
Exactly zero of the four No. 1's since 2006 have stayed beyond the requisite one year in college.
Not to mention, when you look at the success of Rivals' past No.1 rated recruits, though, there is a whole lot of talent.
Mullens is the only top-rated recruit in Rivals.com's history (since 2003) who didn't forgo college for the NBA Draft or wasn't named a first team All-American in their freshman year of college.
It's been four years since high school stars had to make their way to the college game for at least one year. In that span, two top-rated recruits have won freshman of the year. One was Michael Beasley, whom Kansas fans remember all too well. The other was John Wall, who by all accounts was a once-in-a-decade kind of recruit. Greg Oden was tops in 2006 and lost out to Kevin Durant. B.J. Mullens was the highest-rated in 2008 and was a disappointment at Ohio State, while Memphis' Tyreke Evans won the award.
Kansas fans didn't exactly take Xavier Henry's departure lightly and he basically put out a press release saying he was only going to stay for one year before he showed up on campus. What happens if Selby does the same?
Edited by Kelly Gibson