FEATURE 7
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TURNED ACE
After an elbow injury changed his plans, senior Cameron Selik is now thriving as a Jayhawk
By Max Rothman
mr@kansan.com
The bright lights of the big leagues were once tanqible for a young Cameron Selik.
He successfully converted from a backup catcher to a relief pitcher. In 2008, he signed his letter of intent to UNLV, which granted him a scholarship. The path to stardom was paved.
Then he blew out his right elbow, and seemingly his future. Selik underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after.
"They pulled out of the scholarship and I was stuck with nothing. Junior college guy, unproven, coming off injury. No one's really going to give you that chance — until I met coach Price."
Kansas coach Ritch Price was in the Las Vegas area recruiting high school kids when he stumbled upon Selik the tumbleweed. The two met up so that Price could check out the arm of UNLV's leftovers.
"Knowing he was there, I probably went a little too hard." Selik chuckled to himself.
It took just one bullpen session for Price to make up his mind. 11 months removed from surgery, Selik was a Jayhawk.
Born like this
Selik was born to be a ball player.
"The first word out of my mouth was'ball'" Selik said.
At age 5, the San Diego native began playing baseball with his father, a former junior college pitcher.
"I fell in love with it as soon as I started playing. It's what's always been there for me," Selik said.
In little league, Selik was Goliath, towering over toothpick teammates.
"That's when the offensive prowess got put into play; Selik said of his little league days.
But Selik's eventual pinpoint precision was still undeveloped. His wild throwing on the mound nearly snapped opposing toothpicks that dared to step into the batter's box.
"They didn't let me pitch at all because apparently I threw too hard and had no idea where the ball was going." Selik said.
"I always got yelled at because I was playing too close," Selik said. "When the big hitters were up, I still wouldn't move."
Without pitching, Selik groomed into a pillar at the corners—a first and third baseman.
When high school rolled around, Selik said that his work ethic off the diamond was good enough to get him to junior college, but nothing more.
He enrolled at Grossmont College in El Cajon, Calif., but was unsure of how he would fit in with
the baseball team.
"I was afraid I was going to get cut," Selik said of his first day there.
Initially, he considered trying out for the team as a backup catcher (an old friend and long-time teammate was already in place as starter). But his coach, Randy Abshier, didn't want to waste Selik's arm on the bench. Selik threw a bullpen session for Abshier with surprising accuracy.
Then in the last scrimmage game of the season and the second game of a doubleheader against Point Loma Nazarene, Abshier handed Selik the ball. Due to Grossmont's shaky defense, Selek's lone inning read as follows: zero hits, one unearned run, two errors by teammates and four strikeouts.
Abshier told him to leave his catcher's gear at home. Selik was a pitcher now.
A New Trade
Selik made the team that year as the last of nine players on the pitching staff. Still unproven, he wasn't used until a blowout in the twelfth game of the season.
"Everyone says that the first time my name was called, I was shaking and tried to hang up my jacket and could barely do it," Selik said.
In two innings, Selik struck out five batters and established his role as the go-to guy in the bullpen for the rest of the season.
"I loved coming out of the pen in tight situations" Selik said.
The next season, Selk was again an ace, but this time as a starting pitcher. With little starting experience, he said that he struggled to manage his arm and body for the long haul of a game. Going from one or two innings to six or seven was no easy transition. But the talent was always there.
"You can tell by the way he pitches that he's got a lot of swagger to him" junior pitcher Wally Marciel said.
Selik also struggled coping with playing just once every five games. He said that he closed games on days that he wasn't starting.
"That probably contributed to me getting hurt," Selik said. "But that's always the guy I was. I'd do anything to help the team win."
Selik grew up playing with Stephen Strasburg, the stud pitcher for the Washington Nationals and
In a midseason game, Selik got roughed up in a 45-pitch, two-inning clunker and Grossmont had worn out all of its relief pitchers. But the team had a date with a heated rival two days later. Of course Selik offered his services. The result — a complete game three hitter on two days rest.
A Different Place
last year's No. 1 draft pick.
Strasburg currently lights up radar guns with triple-digit heat and embarrasses hitters with an 86-mph curveball-slider hybrid. But Selik used to catch Strasburg, and he wasn't impressed.
"Nothing really clicked for him until he got to college." Selik said. "When he was in high school when we grew up together, he was just another one of the guys. He didn't have a great work ethic and was out of shape until he got to college."
At San Diego State, Strasburg's starts were the only times that anyone would show up for the games. No Strasburg, no crowd.
"On the West Coast, it's all about pro sports. It's the Padres. It's the Angels. It's pro football teams."
Selik needed a place that could match his passion for the game and thankfully found Lawrence.
"I honestly believe that some people would rather watch our team than the Royals."Selik said. "It's a better atmosphere for the game and what brought me out here."
The Flame-throwing Mentor
Now in his senior year and second season as a Jayhawk, Selik is learning to not just jump, but to execute his fastball, slider, curveball and change-up.
"It's another year removed from the injury," pitching coach Ryan Graves said. "He has more trust and all of his strength back."
Having been there and back, he also serves as a mentor for younger players.
"I had Tommy John as well and I was asking him questions," Marceli said. "I was timid about throwing my slider, but he told me to keep throwing it"
In nine games started this season, Selik is 5-3. Batters are hitting just. 256 against him and he has struck out 48 to just 17 walks. It would be safe to say that he has grown past the days of the wild little leaguer who wasn't allowed on the mound.
"You never have to worry about firing him up to pitch,"Graves said.
One more crack at the Show
After hitting 95 mph on the radar gun against Baylor on March 27 (despite it being one of his worst games of the season), a scout from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim gave Selik a call.
He recently received letters from the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays.
"Over the last month, he's really opened some eyes," Graves said. "The fact that he's been a reliever and a starter, he's a pretty versatile guy."
It may have been by a different path than originally planned, but the bright lights of the big leagues are starting to illuminate once more.
The tumbleweed turned into an ace. Now he's got another chance.
SAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE WAVE APRIL 21,2010