Posted: May 27, 2015 | Written by: Edith Noriega
Left handed pitcher Austin Sodders, the youngest and the last to carry on the name has since lived up to the potential of his name since joining the Riverside City College baseball team.
His father, Michael Wayne Sodders member of the Arizona State University Hall of Fame was a star third baseman in the 1981 national championship team.
After his team won the 1981 College World Series he was selected as Baseball America Player of the Year and selected by the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the 1981 amateur draft with the 11th overall pick.
His older brother, Michael Sodders was a preseason All-American in 2010 for New Mexico State.
Lead the Western Athletic Conference with a .422 batting average on a injured knee and drafted in the 31st round by the Los Angeles Angels in 2010.
And then there was the youngest of the Sodders.
During his high school career at Canyon Springs he went 7-2 with a 0.96 earned run average holding batters with his fastball and curveball to a .134 average.
He led the Cougars with a .447 average, .484 on-base percentage and a .624 slugging percentage.
The real test was about to come. During his first year on the Tigers team he played a high of 18 games with a 3-1 pitching record and a .250 batting average.
Although he didn’t have as much pitching opportunities during his first year on the team he flourish as an offensive player.
This season however was a whole different ballpark where he showed the true meaning of the Sodders’ name.
During the season opener Sodders shocked us, pitching a complete game only allowing one run in the ninth inning and five hits.
Things only went up from there after that.
He went on to win the next six games in a row tossing his second complete game of the season March 5 allowing one run and seven hits.
“There’s always a different feel to each game you have to make in-game adjustments a lot of the time,” Sodders said. “Usually before starts I do some breathing patterns and visualize that’s usually my pregame routine.”
He then managed to pitch two eight-shutout innings March 21 allowing just three hits and March 27 scattering 10 hits on two runs.
“I’m just focused on the here and now, instead of being distracted with other things,” Sodders said.
So what’s next for the young Sodders?
The sophomore currently has some universities in mind to transfer University of California Riverside, San Diego State and Cal Poly Pomona.
