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BOYS™BUCK
witn seven returning experienced position players and
a handful of proven junior college transfers joining the
squad, the Cornhusker pitching staff, which returns just
four letterwinners, appears to pose a question mark.
Along with Komine, three other true freshmen will be
looked upon to play key roles on the mound this spring.
“Basically, when we recruited these freshman pitchers,
we told them that they were going to get an opportunity to
pitch,” Van Horn said. “We hope that by midseason that
they have mentally developed to where they’re not intimi
dated.
“Velocity-wise, they have more talent than the older
kids we had last year did. They just lack game experience.
We just have to have a couple of them really step up.”
If Komine ’s attitude is any indication, the freshmen
will be ready when their number is called.
"We’re a young pitching staff, but I think we have the
heart to be up there with the older guys,” Komine said. “1
know the coaches are depending on us to come in and get
the big outs.”
A Honolulu native, Komine joined the Huskers in the
fall after spending the summer pitching against college
players in the Alaskan League.
His experience there, he said, helped him adjust to the
level of play before arriving in Lincoln.
It showed.
Komine owned a 16:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in rail
scrimmages, impressing Nebraska coaches with both his
velocity and control.
“He just has tremendous arm action and great mechan
ics,” Van Horn said. “Basically, he's got a whip. He can
throw in and out. When he’s on, he's on.”
But even Van Horn admits that it’s rare to see a player
that small with so much pop in his fastball.
“He comes at you,” Van Horn said. “He’s just confi
dent. He just makes up for not being 6-foot-2 with control.
You just have to come see it to believe it.”
Evidently, Komine has put some meat on his bones
since coming to Nebraska. While Van Horn said the right
hander came to Lincoln weighing around 140 pounds,
Komine recently tipped the scales at 159.
Height-wise, however, 5-8 might be pushing it about
half an inch - but being small is something Komine has
dealt with his whole life.
“It kind of makes me want to work harder and show
everybody that I can do it even though I’m small,” Komine
said. “They give me crap, but I just start laughing when
they say stuff. That motivates me.”
Please see KOMINE on 15
Matt Miller/DN
NU SENIOR STARTING PITCHER JAY SIRIANNI kicks back while a teammate stretches him at the beginning of practice Wednesday. The
Huskers open their season Feb. 5 at the Showdown in the Desert in Phoenix.
‘Freak of nature’
leads young NU
pitching squad
By David Wilson
Staff writer
Say you dunked a fully clothed Shane Komine in a tank
of water. The 5-foot-8 true freshman pitcher would proba
bly still have a tough time weighing in at over 165 pounds.
But tease him about his size all you want - that won’t
take anything off his 92-mile-an-hour fastball. If anything,
it will just add fuel to his fire.
“We kind of describe him as a freak of nature,” senior
left-hander Jay Sirianni said during practice at Buck
Beltzer Stadium. “The guy’s 5-8 and he throws it 90 miles
per hour. He weighs 150 soaking wet. But the guy has a
great arm. He’s blessed, I guess you could say. He throws
five pitches for strikes on both sides of the plate.”
Komine’s heater, and con- _ ^ ,
trol, will likely earn him an ■ Troy Piatkowski
opening-weekend start when might join the NU
the Nebraska baseball team baseball team in
begins its season Feb. 5-7 at the spring. Refer to
the Showdown in the Desert Page 15.
in Phoenix, Nebraska Coach
Dave Van Horn said.