For two former Lincoln Land Community College baseball standouts, the path into professional baseball has been met with a contrast in experience.
For Ryan Aper, a 2013 LLCC graduate now in the Miami Marlins organization, pro baseball, so far, has not gone the way hoped.
“(It was) not the season I wanted to have,” he said.
Aper, who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft by Miami, was sent down to the Gulf Coast League Marlins, following a disappointing 17 games with the Batavia Muckdogs, a Short-Season Single-A minor league affiliate of the Miami Marlins.
He hit .122 with one home run, six RBIs and 23 strikeouts with the Muckdogs.
“Before sent down was an eye-opener for me,” he said. “I was mentally not where I needed to be and physically not where I needed to be. I wasn’t good enough at the time to be playing in the league I was playing in.”
The 6-foot-3-inch outfielder played 31 games with the GCL Marlins to finish the season with some — though not as many as he would have liked he would have liked — improvements from his previous team.
He hit .150 and had one home run with six RBIs and stole four bases with the Marlins.
”It’s a whole different ballgame. … It’s kind of getting used to everything, the faster pace and harder throwing and everything else,” said Aper, a 2011 graduate of Lincoln Community High School. “This is a business, so if I’m not going to do the job as good as I can … they’re going to demote me.”
Meanwhile, fortunes are turning out better for Devin Moore, a 2011 graduate of LLCC, who is currently a relief pitcher in the Chicago White Sox organization.
“In college, the competition is pretty good, so it’s (baseball with the pros) not a ton different,” said Moore, who was selected in the 27th round of the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft by the Chicago.
“It’s interesting to get to play with like a lot of Dominican (Republic) kids and kids outside of the states.”
Moore, who went on to pitch at Indiana State University after Lincoln Land, pitched 20 2/3 innings with a 7.40 earned run average and 19 strikeouts from the bullpen in his first season in the pros with the Bristol (Va.) Pirates, an advanced rookie league affiliate of the White Sox.
He started 11 games and pitched 80 2/3 innings in his senior season at Indiana State.
“I started (the season) off really well,” the 22-year-old Moore said. “At the end (of the season), I started to be not as strong on the mound. … I just lost my rhythm on the mound.”
Ron Riggle, the head coach of Lincoln Land Community College’s baseball team, still remembers both Aper and Moore.
“When they came here, they were both extremely talented,” he said. “They really worked hard in the time that they were here to improve. “
Riggle was astonish by Moore’s size, hard-throwing, ability to locate the strike zone and command in his two-year stint as a Logger.
“Those things all put together make him a very viable professional profit,” Riggle said.
LLCC’s baseball coach sees Aper as a “five-tool guy,” who can hit for contact and power, run, and has a great throwing arm.
“He can do all the things you need to do,” he said.
However, Riggle says Aper and Moore need to make some slight improvements if they want to play in the big leagues.
“Obviously, as you continue to climb the ladder, the game gets harder and harder, because you’re playing against better and better people,” he said. “Consistency really reaches the benchmark for them at this spot. … The more consistent they can be, the better they’ll be.”
Aper is motivated by his hardworking family to improve his hitting and gain weight for the upcoming season.
One of the assignments the team has given him for this offseason is to gain 10 pounds — from 180 pounds to 190.
“My goal next season is just to do better in every aspect of baseball from what I was last year,” he said. “I’ve been working out a lot and hitting a lot. … I have been eating everything in sight.”
The former outfielder for the Loggers has several videos on the Internet practicing in the batting cages.
“I like watching my swing. … If I see something I need to work on, it’s a lot easier to fix it then having somebody tell me,” said. “Video analysis is a major, major part of playing (base) ball.”
Blake Helm, a 2006 graduate of Lincoln Land who is an outfielder for an independent league team, pitches to Aper in the videos.
“It’s good to have another set of eyes,” Aper said. “If I’m not really feeling something, he can see it.”
Aper is determined to one day have his name engraved in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. alongside such names as Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Nolan Ryan, and to win a World Series Championship.
It’s just a dream come true just being able to have that label as a professional baseball player and getting to play baseball everyday. … You can’t ask for anything else.” – Ryan Aper on playing baseball professionally.
“I’m trying to earn people’s respect and play the game the right way,” Aper said. “It’s just a dream come true just being able to have that label as a professional baseball player and getting to play baseball everyday. … You can’t ask for anything else.”
Aper hit.462 with 17 home runs, 55 RBIs, and stole 52 bases in his last season with the Loggers, which won him the 2013 NJCAA Region 24 Player of the Year Award. He is the second player to win that award in Lincoln Land’s program history.
Justin Knoedler, who played baseball professionally for over 10 years, won the award in 2000.
Moore is confident about this upcoming season, as he spent the offseason strengthening his arm and his 6-foot-3-inch body.
“The goal would probably be to move up to little A or high A,” said Moore, who enjoyed the Pirates’ ‘clubbie’ last season. He said his team last year had a guy (called a ‘clubbie’) who helped prepare the Pirates’ uniforms and warm food, which was uncommon for his league. Some of his meals included burgers, cold cut sandwiches, or sloppy Joes. “As long as you keep moving up, then you’re not going to get released (by the team).”
Moore feels he needs to improve the location of his changeup the most.
“My changeup was the last pitch I developed, “ he said. “It’s not like a natural motion … the way you hold it.”
He also throws a fastball and a slider.
Moore had a 9-4 record with a 2.49 earned run average and 76 strikeouts in his sophomore season at LLCC. He still has vivid memories of Lincoln Land’s loss in Regionals that year.
As a senior at Indiana State, he finished 5-4 with a 2.90 earned run average and 63 strikeouts.
“(I want to be known) as a faith-player that plays for Hod his family and is grateful for every fan he had along the way.”
He wants college athletes who dream to play professionally to stay motivated and driven.
“You’ve goto believe in yourself, and you’ll finally crack it.”
Ryan Wilson can be reached at [email protected] or 217-786-2311. This was published in the April 30 edition of The Lamp.