The RoundHouse | 3/24/2018 11:11:00 AM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
The Cape Cod League is such a summer dream for baseball they made a movie about the experience (or the Hollywood version of the experience). The best collegians pitch and hit and their time in the Cape often foreshadows an increase in confidence, performance and future earnings.
 
"Summer Catch" wasn't a good movie – eight percent fresh on rottentomatoes.com – but it did capture the status of the Cape.
 
For Wichita State pitcher Codi Heuer, the best move turned out to be turning down a July spot in the Cape to stay in Wichita and lift weights.
 
"It wasn't easy," Heuer said. "Where I am now – I wouldn't be there if I had would have went up there to the Cape. I'm happy with my decision."
 
It's not the typical summer. It worked, as Friday's performance in Wichita State's 11-1 win over Furman showed. Heuer, a junior from Windsor, Colo., struck out a career-high 11 batters and allowed one run on one hit and three walks in six innings.
 
Most of the pitching staff put down their gloves for the summer. Shocker coaches wanted them to rest their arms and get stronger and more athletic before returning for fall practices.  
 
"I put a lot of work in, getting stronger, instead of going out and playing summer ball," Heuer said. "I tried to get bigger, stronger. . .  develop my body so I could worry about going out and competing instead of worrying about things like delivery."
 
Pitching coach Mike Steele is fully aware of the prestige of the Cape Cod League. He saw passing on that opportunity as a long-term play for Heuer.
 
"My feeling was he wasn't ready to go there," Steele said. "It was more important to get him to put the work in on his body."
 
Heuer's rise started late season when he worked his way into the weekend starting rotation. When injuries hit – again – the Shockers needed Heuer and moved from the bullpen into the No. 2 role. He sharpened his slider and changeup and finished the regular season with six strong innings in a win at Indiana State. His start in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament lasted only an inning, but Heuer showed his potential for 2018.
 
Reaching that started with weights and conditioning last summer.
 
"He got a chance to have a break and he got a chance to process what happened at the end of last year," Steele said. "Plus, he got to put a bunch of sweat equity into his body and feel strong and be strong. It wasn't the most exciting summer, but they put the work in. It was 14 weeks of five-day-a-week lifting."
 
Heuer's started every series opener for the Shockers (15-4) this season and is 4-0 with a 3.18 earned run average. On Friday, he fell behind too often early in the game. His slider often bailed him out, locking up some hitters or inducing others to swing at balls out of the strike zone.
 
"He really knows how to pitch now," catcher Gunnar Troutwine said. "He's always thrown hard and his (velocity) has jumped a little bit. He's really didn't have much of an out pitch. His slider was just sort of a little spinner. He's really found the right grip that works for him and it's a good slider and good out pitch."
 
Heuer struck out the side in the third and added two more in the fourth and fifth innings. He topped his previous strikeout high (this season at McNeese State) by three. He gave up a walk and a run-scoring double with one out in the sixth. A groundball and strikeout ended the threat.
 
In the first two innings, Heuer walked two and gave up a line-drive out to first base. Last season, Steele isn't sure Heuer survives that adversity.
 
"No chance, not even close," Steele said. "Last year, it was just trying to throw the ball in the zone. For him to post up on Friday night and then have to make in-game adjustments in the middle of the battle is a pretty advanced thing."
 
He needed to sync up his delivery, in Steele's words, early in the game and did so without working too fast or throwing too hard.
 
"He did a good job of not over-correcting," Steele said. "He's really maturing. He's able to make some pitches, go to an off-speed pitch when he has to."
 
On Saturday, the Shockers send freshman Liam Eddy to the mound against the Paladins (13-9). Eddy joins Heuer to give the Shockers rare stability in the rotation in recent seasons. The bullpen is also improved, adding Friday's three scoreless to innings to its total for 17 1/3 straight without allowing a run against Creighton, Oklahoma and Furman.
 
"We've got some strength in the bullpen," Shockers coach Todd Butler said. "We have arms. We're really looking for guys to keep improving and growing and guys are."
 
When Butler talked about the upcoming season in early February, he started with "It's all about pitching." Nineteen games in, he appears to be correct.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.