Milligan College Buffaloes

Summer break has been a valuable experience in building the baseball resume of Milligan College's Todd Caldwell.

The rising senior left-hander is the ace on the mound for the Tennessee Tornado of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League.

"He's been our best arm, if not the best arm in the league," said Tornado pitching coach Chris Gordon, who is also an assistant at Milligan. "He throws strikes, he throws pretty hard and his breaking ball has been a major weapon. He's averaging one strikeout an inning, and it's usually with his breaking ball."

Caldwell, the former Happy Valley three-sport star, is enjoying the atmosphere facing NCAA Division I players. He started his career at East Tennesee State before spending the past two seasons at NAIA Milligan.

This summer league uses wooden bats, just like the minor leagues.

"It's fun playing with a wooden bat a couple of months out of the year," Caldwell said on Tuesday afternoon. "Your feel like a professional. I definitely prefer the wooden bats to the aluminum bats.

"You don't give up little cheap hits. This is like the real aspect of the game, taking the metal out of a guy's hands. It really separates good hitters from great hitters."

Caldwell is in the starting rotation at Milligan, just like ETSU, only during the college season he is also called on to deliver in clutch situations at the plate. Now he is strictly on the mound.

"I think Todd has definitely benefited from being on a routine," Gordon said. "This is really good. He gets six days between starts, and is able to work on his mechanics and hone in on things.

"In college there was also hitting, so he's been able to work on this. Todd's worked on this. He does (batting practice) on his own time."

Caldwell won't mind returning to his former role his senior season, but for now this set-up suits him fine.

"Definitely my future is on the mound," Caldwell said. "I love to hit and I love to swing the bat, helping the team at Milligan. But I've never really been put in this type situation, except ETSU for a little while.

"I'm focusing on pitching and getting in the routine of pitching. I'm just concentrating on pitching."

The coach points out this is a huge benefit for Caldwell.

"He's able to focus on his mechanics, and get his stuff down," Gordon said. "In this league, you're throwing to good Division I hitters - hitters in a good league.

"He's going to get hit, but he comes out with his best stuff, learning to pitch and get them out."

Aside from helping his brother in a mowing business, Caldwell is on no vacation this summer. And he doesn't mind staying busy.

"I really didn't play last summer," Caldwell said. "I kind of regretted that. The coaches at Milligan thought it would be really good to be with the Tornado this summer.

It has helped me a lot. I'm really pleased that all those guys have given me the opportunity."

The southpaw insists there isn't a comparison about this level of play and where he has been. But battling guys from the rock-solid Atlantic Coast Conference doesn't hurt.

"It's not really like one thing like ETSU or Milligan, or better than that," Caldwell said. "It's just a really good league and a great opportunity. Everybody in the league, all of the coaches, just seem to care about the players.

"The competition is great facing guys from North Carolina, Virginia Tech and some bigger schools. I like that."

This is the 10th anniversary of the SCBL. Teams are from Johnson City, Asheville, Fort Mill (S.C.), Rock Hill (S.C.), Lake Norman (N.C.), Morganton (N.C.) and Clemson (S.C.) The regular season featured seven games, five days per week There were two doubleheaders weekly.

Johnson City won its division again, and is shooting for another championship. The tournament begins on Thursday at Milligan's Anglin Field, with the rest of it to be played at Johnson City's Cardinal Park.

"No doubt we were going with Todd," Gordon said. "We need to win the first game. On a gut feeling, Todd is the one we're most confident in and we're sending him out there.

"He's definitely been our ace. And it doesn't hurt to make the decision that we're playing a team with a lefty, who has dominated as well."

Caldwell is relishing the whole scenario.

"Coach Gordon talked to me about that the other day," Caldwell said. "It's not one thing where I deserved to pitch or anything. It's the matchup thing.

"A lot of things go into it. I'm really excited they're giving me the opportunity to pitch the opener. I'd love to go out and win, help the team win the game and get the job done."