Former Campbell County pitcher has 3-0 record on the mound in college baseball summer league

By Evan Merrill
NKyTribune contributor

In his first season of college baseball this spring, Alex Franzen pitched a total of 38 innings as a reliever for the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers. He wanted to be a starter, like he was at Campbell County High School, but he was content with his role in the bullpen for the Panthers, who won their first-ever conference title.

“If we’re going to be successful, I will never say a word,” Franzen said. “The whole coming together as a team at the end of the year, there’s not a whole lot I wouldn’t do for that.”

This summer, Franzen has the opportunity to be a starting pitcher once again for the Cincinnati Steam, a team that competes in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League that’s certified by the NCAA and is partially funded by Major League Baseball.

The wood-bat league is a proving ground for major league prospects and several former Steam players have made it to the big show, including Josh Harrison of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Travis Shaw of the Milwaukee Brewers.

“College summer ball with the Steam gives guys the chance to get extra reps in the summer, get exposure from pro scouts,” said Steam coach Jimmy Brenneman. “The Great Lakes over time has been pretty heavily recruited by professional scouts.”

Against the league’s high-caliber talent, Franzen is off to a 3-0 start with a 2.81 ERA. For a right-hander who’s not overpowering with his fastball, he manages to use his off-speed breaking balls to keep hitters guessing.

“He locates (pitches) really well,” coach Jimmy Brenneman said. “He kind of has a bulldog mentality. He’s not scared to go after guys. He definitely has the edge of a guy that throws mid 90s. He doesn’t have that, but he believes he does, which helps him big-time.”

There are players from nine states and Canada on the 2017 Steam roster. The team plays its home games at Western Hills High School in Cincinnati. After the regular season ends on July 30, the top teams in three divisions will advance to the playoffs. The Steam is currently in first place in the Southern Division with a 19-12 record.

Franzen had his eye on joining the Steam for some time. He sets goals to achieve each year and this just happened to be one he had in mind.

“Prior to college,” he said, “it was honestly a goal of mine to say, ‘Hey, I want to earn a spot on the Steam,’ because they were good last year, they were nationally ranked. It’s one of those things like, I want to be on that team.”

It’s unusual for a Division II baseball player in the league to make an impact on the mound like Franzen has done. That’s why the coach is so impressed with the newcomer.

“He’s a guy that, if he has a good college career, I don’t see why a professional team wouldn’t take a chance on him.” Brenneman said.

Franzen was a catcher on the Campbell County High School baseball team before the coaching staff converted him into a pitcher. He was a relief pitcher his junior year and gave up the winning run in a playoff game that ended the Camels’ season.

“It was one of those things like, I don’t ever want to let a teammate down like that again,” Franzen said about that game. “That feeling’s still eerie with me now – that I had some kind of impact with us not winning a game that meant so much to those guys.”

Franzen used the heart-breaking loss as a motivator. He worked on his pitching and became the ace of the Campbell County staff as a senior, posting a 12-3 record.

Franzen led the Camels to the best season in school history in 2016. They won the 10th Region championship and made it to the state tournament final. After a couple of dazzling pitching performances in the state tournament, the senior right-hander started  drawing attention from college coaches.

“First round of state, I was so nervous with the situation it was flustering,” Franzen said. “After the first round, I was fine, but I had to get through the first few innings to really settle in. The whole college (recruiters) thing being there is just something I had to say to myself, ‘Don’t think about it,’ even though that’s easier said than done.”