Fri, Jul 18 2008
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Published May 19, 2008 11:37 pm - From out of a funk, Brock’s stock rising By Mike Kays Phoenix Sports Editor
The cure for the baseball “slump flu” — those extended periods of sub-par play — varies. Sometimes it’s just a key hit or defensive stop, maybe a collection of it in a game or two. On other occasions, you just snap out of it. Substantively, that might not help a little leaguer out there who’s going through the same thing, but just ask Connors State shortstop Brock Feldmann. The cure can be as simple as getting up to a new day. Feldmann can’t recall just exactly how his doldrums ended. He’s not even sure it’s a slump, but maybe more appropriately a funk that lasted through the fall practice season. “My head wasn’t in the game,” he said. “I was just doing things I don’t usually do.” A three-year starter and standout at Mustang High School who graduated in 2007, Feldman was expected to be the Cowboys’ shortstop but shared time during the fall with freshman Victor Aracena. Even up through the first month of the season, he was still floundering, with inconsistent defense and a batting average, Connors coach Perry Keith recalled, that was in the mid to low .200s. “I don’t know if it was any one thing but I know he was always playing uptight,” Keith said. “When bad things happen it has a tendency to cause that and you have to mentally fight it off, to stay focused and relaxed. He wasn’t doing that. “It probably had as much to do with me as him. Not putting him in the lineup every day I think he felt like he had to go 5-for-5 every time out to make an impression. Actually, I had more of a belief in him than he did during some of those down times and he just didn’t think I did. Every freshman’s different in how they handle the adjustment of playing here. When he finally relaxed, he got into a groove.” Feldmann’s currently hitting .326 and in the last two weeks, he’s been key to Connors’ offense. He was one of three Cowboys on the all-Region II tournament team, playing exceptional defense and going 4-for-5 in the opening game of the tournament against Arkansas-Fort Smith in a 14-4 victory. Connors beat UAFS in the championship game. Then, on Saturday against Delgado (La.) in the South Central District championship, Feldmann ripped an inside pitch over the left field fence for a grand slam that put Connors up 11-2 on the way to a 15-8 victory. It was only his second home run of the season, the last coming in early April against Seminole State. That win qualified the Cowboys for their fourth trip to the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., where they’ll face defending champion Chipola, Fla., at 4 p.m. CDT Saturday. “I’m more a spray hitter but every once in a while I get lucky,” he said. “I was looking for the inside pitch the whole time and that’s what he served up and I went with it. “I can’t pinpoint where everything turned around for me, but I will say that the Region II tournament was a great confidence booster. Everything worked well for me — defense, offense, everything.” Keith also is complimentary of his leadership skills. 
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