{"id":24704,"date":"2015-06-25T14:54:46","date_gmt":"2015-06-25T18:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=24704"},"modified":"2015-07-13T16:26:07","modified_gmt":"2015-07-13T20:26:07","slug":"making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Royals baseball history: trio named to All-State team"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Three\u2019s company, and when it comes to Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s all-state baseball selections, it\u2019s also historic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A scrappy sophomore with a reliable bat was a key piece of that puzzle.<\/p>\n

Outfielder Joe Hall<\/a> \u2013 a 5-foot-9, 170-pound Rustburg High School graduate \u2013 led the Old Dominion Athletic Conference in hitting at .423 (47-for-111) and was one of three Royals named to the College Division all-state team<\/a> by Virginia\u2019s sports information directors late last week.<\/p>\n

Senior shortstop Justin Rodriguez<\/a> joined Hall on the first team, and senior relief pitcher Austin Marzullo<\/a> made the second team. Players on non-Division I teams were eligible.<\/p>\n

EMU had never had three VaSID all-state selections in the same season before.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not surprised all three of these guys were named all-state after the years they had for us,\u201d third-year EMU coach Ben Spotts<\/a> said. \u201cI think each of them had different paths to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in terms of Hall\u2019s path\u2026<\/p>\n

‘A role guy’ to much more<\/h3>\n

\u201cTo go from the start of his year this year as sort of a role guy, to a guy you couldn\u2019t get out of the lineup to all-state first-team, it\u2019s a big surprise,\u201d Spotts said.<\/p>\n

Hall was a part of Spotts\u2019 first recruiting class and impressed people with how quickly he was able to contribute. After being brought in as a raw athlete, Hall hit .318 in 19 games (10 starts) as a freshman. Then, he surprised himself on March 3<\/span><\/span> in his first start in right field, throwing out two Mount Union runners \u2013 one at second base and one at home plate \u2013 during the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational in Winter Haven, Fla.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I knew I had the arm for it, but at that time I didn\u2019t know where it would go,\u201d Hall recalled. \u201cI honestly didn\u2019t know where it would go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spotts envisioned Hall as a backup shortstop entering this year and expected him to become a key player as a junior and senior. However, one look at Hall\u2019s speed during an impromptu relay race last winter was all Spotts needed to speed up the process of getting Hall onto the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always had the tools. It was just a matter if it could translate over,\u201d Spotts said. \u201cHe never played outfield. We made him an outfielder. \u2026 It just became a matter where we couldn\u2019t wait another year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting Hall into the lineup paid immediate dividends as the All-ODAC first-team outfielder averaged 1.52 hits per game and finished with a .492 on-base percentage this spring. Spotts credited Hall\u2019s competitiveness and simplified approach at the plate for his strong batting average.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis bat certainly gets him recognition, but if you watch him, [he\u2019s got a big arm in the outfield],\u201d Spotts said. \u201cHeck, we put him on the mound because he competes so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a closer, Hall didn\u2019t allow a run in seven innings of work with eight strikeouts, giving up just two hits (both singles) and four walks. But clearly it was his speed that initially separated Hall, who Spotts lauded for his ability to drag bunt, push bunt and hit the ball the other way.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when he was a freshman, I was facing him in the fall and he got an infield single off me,\u201d Marzullo said of Hall, who batted second behind fellow sophomore Griffin Stanley. \u201cThe way he hustles around the bases and just how hard he plays in the field, it was obvious he was going to make an impact on the program. \u2026 He plays harder than anyone I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spotts said it\u2019s still uncertain whether Hall will inherit Rodriguez\u2019s role at shortstop \u2013 a place where Rodriguez \u201cgave us calmness\u201d for three years \u2013 or continue to man the outfield. Hall, for one, wasn\u2019t too concerned where he\u2019d play next season, whether it is outfield, shortstop or third base.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel like where I play in the field will affect my hitting any,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Marzullo tough to replace<\/h3>\n

As for Marzullo, a durable right-hander who led the Royals with 15 appearances? Finding a replacement to match his role might not be as easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be searching for someone,\u201d Spotts said. \u201cIt was good to know if our starter gave us five or six innings, we could turn it over to Austin. We\u2019re certainly going to miss him because I\u2019ve always said your pitching sets the tone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-5 Marzullo (2-2, 2.76 ERA) was a first-team All-ODAC selection who had four saves in 32 2\/3 innings for EMU after being initially disappointed that he wouldn\u2019t be in the starting rotation. After struggling with command issues as a spot starter and reliever in past seasons, Marzullo said he changed his mentality on the mound.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing, I just had more confidence in my pitches, to be able to throw them across the plate at any time and trust that they will work,\u201d Marzullo said. \u201cIt was also a focus pitch-by-pitch rather than results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marzullo went 1-0 with two saves over EMU\u2019s final six conference games.<\/p>\n

Program on the rise<\/h3>\n

Rodriguez and Marzullo are two of nine graduating seniors for the Royals, including former Riverheads High School standout Kyle Armstrong [see editor’s note] and former Stonewall Jackson star Ryan Henschel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to see how it ended for those guys, guys that finished on a high note and got our program to where it hasn\u2019t been in a long time,\u201d Spotts said.<\/p>\n

The Royals (16-18 overall, 10-10 in the ODAC) tied a program record for conference wins and snapped a 12-year playoff drought by securing a spot in the six-team ODAC tournament this spring.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Daily News Record, June 23, 2015
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: Kyle Armstrong, listed in the original article as a graduating senior, has one more season of eligibility.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three\u2019s company, and when it comes to Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s all-state baseball selections, it\u2019s also historic. A scrappy sophomore with a reliable bat was a key piece of that puzzle. ... read more about Making Royals baseball history: trio named to All-State team<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4516,5176],"tags":[14128,14401,15332,14130,14755,14126],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-24704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","category-baseball","tag-austin-marzullo","tag-ben-spotts","tag-joe-hall","tag-justin-rodriguez","tag-kyle-armstrong","tag-ryan-henschel"],"yoast_head":"\nMaking Royals baseball history: trio named to All-State team - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making Royals baseball history: trio named to All-State team - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Three\u2019s company, and when it comes to Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s all-state baseball selections, it\u2019s also historic. A scrappy sophomore with a reliable bat was a key piece of that puzzle.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-25T18:54:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-13T20:26:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/06\/all_state_baseball_base_web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/\",\"name\":\"Making Royals baseball history: trio named to All-State team - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/06\/all_state_baseball_base_web.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-25T18:54:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-13T20:26:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/06\/all_state_baseball_base_web.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/06\/all_state_baseball_base_web.jpg\",\"width\":610,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Making Royals baseball history: trio named to All-State team\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Making Royals baseball history: trio named to All-State team - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Making Royals baseball history: trio named to All-State team - EMU News","og_description":"Three\u2019s company, and when it comes to Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s all-state baseball selections, it\u2019s also historic. A scrappy sophomore with a reliable bat was a key piece of that puzzle.","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2015-06-25T18:54:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-07-13T20:26:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":610,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/06\/all_state_baseball_base_web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/","name":"Making Royals baseball history: trio named to All-State team - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/06\/all_state_baseball_base_web.jpg","datePublished":"2015-06-25T18:54:46+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-13T20:26:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/06\/all_state_baseball_base_web.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/06\/all_state_baseball_base_web.jpg","width":610,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/making-royals-baseball-history-trio-named-to-all-state-team\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Making Royals baseball history: trio named to All-State team"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245","name":"admin","sameAs":["http:\/\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24704"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24718,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24704\/revisions\/24718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24704"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=24704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}