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'Confident' Brett Graber keeping Redhawks' OVC title hopes alive
Friday, May 20, 2022
Southeast Missouri State junior Brett Graber rounds third en route to scoring against Southern Illinois earlier this season at Capaha Field.
Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com
If the Southeast Missouri State baseball team clinches its second straight Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship this week, it will need a superb performance by both SIU Edwardsville in its three-game series against Belmont, and the same from junior outfielder Brett Graber.
The latter is pretty much a given, but the former is an unknown.
The Redhawks (33-17, 15-6 OVC) will travel to Charleston, Ill. for a series against Eastern Illinois (30-18, 10-11) that will be played Friday (a doubleheader begins at 11 a.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.).
SEMO trails Belmont (35-17, 16-5) in the OVC standings by one game, as the Bruins visit SIU Edwardsville (24-24, 11-10) for a series on Thursday through Saturday.
The Redhawks took two of three games against the Bruins recently to hold the tiebreaker.
If the play of Graber has any impact on how SEMO finishes this spring, Redhawk followers should feel pretty comfortable.
The junior outfielder has been tremendous this season after spending a season transitioning from junior college baseball to NCAA Division I last spring.
“Confidence,” veteran Redhawks coach Andy Sawyers said of the difference in Graber this spring. “He was not confident a year ago. He was nervous and didn’t trust his ability, his athleticism.”
Everyone “trusts” Graber this spring.
The Sacramento native has tallied multiple hits in 21 games this season, including five of the past seven games.
In a recent series at No. 3-ranked Oklahoma State, Graber went 4-for-12.
With the OVC race hanging in the balance last weekend in a series against UT Martin, Graber laced a double off the outfield wall in the ninth inning to drive in the game-winning run in a 7-6 victory.
Without that hit, the Redhawks’ title hopes would most assuredly be on life-support.
“He didn’t carry himself confidently,” Sawyers continued in his assessment. “He didn’t play confidently.
“(Now) He believes in himself.”
Graber was limited to just three starts in 17 games last year, as he played center field behind Danny Wright. However, he did show offensive potential by hitting .368.
That prowess has continued this spring. He is batting .341, which is second on the Redhawks, and has started all 50 games.
He is third on the team with 63 hits, tied with Andrew Keck for a team-high 15 doubles and Jevon Mason with a team-best three triples, and has even shown some power with eight home runs.
“It’s funny,” Sawyers said, “I went to California to recruit him, and I thought he was Danny Wright. He looks like him, and has the same body, height, and weight. He has the same wiry athleticism and surprising strength.
Both he and Danny don’t look like power hitters, but they can hit it out of the ballpark. They both run well.”
Sawyers said moving over 2,000 miles from home and competing at the highest level of college baseball both had an impact on Graber’s development since he has been in Cape Girardeau.
“He was new to Division I,” Sawyers explained, “He’s in a new part of the country, a new school, and coming from California. He wasn’t confident in himself, but he is certainly playing like he thinks he belongs.”