May 6, 2009

By Bill Hass
theACC.com

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Some say that the most difficult skill to master in sports is hitting a moving baseball.

Of course, just hitting the ball doesn’t guarantee anything. You can produce a lot of weak grounders and lazy flies by getting your bat on the ball. Hitting the ball safely is the second part of the equation. Among other things, it takes reflexes, hand-eye coordination, knowing what you want to do at the plate, confidence and a lot of practice. And more practice. And even more practice.

Jeff Schaus, Clemson’s left fielder, is one of those players willing to put in the work it takes to be a good hitter.

“He’s one of those guys who has that hitting ability inside himself,” said Tigers coach Jack Leggett, “and he just keeps on working. He’s a good-looking hitter with a good approach at the plate.”

In his sophomore season, Schaus is hitting .331 with nine home runs, 10 doubles and 34 runs batted in. Perhaps his most remarkable statistic is only 15 strikeouts in 181 at-bats. By comparison, he has drawn 30 walks, and that 2-to-1 ratio of walks to strikeouts is unusually good.

He has done his best hitting in ACC games, compiling a .373 mark with five homers and 19 RBIs. ACC pitchers have struck him out only nine times in 110 at-bats.

Schaus, a left-handed hitter, said he developed his good eye at Barron Collier High School in Naples, Fla.

“I was pretty skinny, about 160 or 170 pounds, and didn’t hit for much power,” he said. “I led off and one of my goals was to make things happen. I always just try to put the barrel on the ball and try not to strike out too much. That’s my goal every time I go up there. If you’re thinking that, most likely it will happen.”

Once he got to Clemson, Schaus began to “grow into my body a little bit.” With that came some increased power. Of course, adjusting to college pitching took some doing, but in the second half of the 2008 season he became one of the Tigers’ best hitters. He finished with a .315 average, three homers, 31 RBIs and an on-base percentage of .415, which led the team. He struck out only 28 times.

“I can’t really point my finger at one specific thing,” Schaus said. “I think I got comfortable with where I was and my role on the team. I started swinging the bat and not thinking about ‘what if this happens, what if that happens.’

“If you’re swinging the bat with confidence, you’re going to get some hits here and there, and that started to happen.”

That confidence carried over to this season. Schaus knew he could have a good year no matter where he hit in the lineup. And that has been pretty much everywhere, from leadoff to second, third and fifth. His high on-base percentage of .435 is a plus wherever he hits. Recently he has settled in to the No. 3 spot, which assures he will bat in the first inning.

“He’s a tough out with a good eye and he doesn’t strike out much,” Leggett said. “He puts the ball in play against a variety of different types of pitchers. He’s pretty much on task as far as his strike zone, he knows what his strengths and weaknesses are pretty well, he’s got great discipline at the plate.

“We’ve moved him around to find the right spot where we’re most successful and he’s a big part of that. He can bunt a little if you need a sacrifice and for the most part he puts the ball in play and keeps the inning rolling. He’s got some power with the ability to drive the ball in the gaps and pick up some RBIs, so I think (No. 3) is a good spot for him right now.”

Schaus said he doesn’t mind moving around in the order as long as he can help the lineup click. Hitting third means he has to be disciplined but also aggressive.

“I know I have Ben (Paulsen) and Kyle (Parker) right behind me, so I may get some good pitches to hit,” he said. “You don’t want to be over-aggressive, but put a good swing on it and hopefully things will work out.”

His 6-foot-2 frame now carries about 195 pounds, which has helped his power numbers. Against Coastal Carolina, he won the game with a walk-off home run that also happened to be a grand slam.

“Home runs can really help change the momentum of games,” Schaus said. “I’m just trying to hit balls hard. I’ve made some adjustments from last year and things are starting to go out of the park where last year I might have hit one off the fence. It’s really just putting good swings on them and if they go out, they go out.

“I’ve always known I’ve had that power in me; it’s just that you have to have the right approach and right swing. In hitter’s counts you’ve got to be aggressive, look for certain spots and when you get your pitch, you can’t miss it.

“There are some great pitchers in our conference, I take it as a challenge, an opportunity to see how I measure up compared to the best pitchers in the country. You see a lot of stuff from different pitchers on different teams and you’ve got to adjust. You can’t let them fool you more than once.”

Schaus is part of a Clemson lineup dotted with freshmen and sophomores. It took some time for things to start coming together and, Leggett said, for the past month the Tigers have been playing good baseball. They’re 16-11 in the ACC and 32-16 overall, ranked No. 19 in the country in two polls and No. 20 in another.

Pitching and defense have been solid all season, so the hitting is the key. Leggett said the team is finding its rhythm swinging the bats.

“We’re maturing, coming along, getting to that point where we’re developing a lot of confidence, and you need that,” Leggett said. “Now’s the time to do it.”

Clemson has six non-conference games and one ACC series left, next week against NC State. Those will be followed by the ACC Championship in Durham May 20-24 and, if the Tigers keep playing well, a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Schaus said his goal is to help the Tigers maintain their confidence and continue momentum for a post-season run.

“We’ve still got nine important games that we’re trying to win and hopefully we’ll get on a run, go to the ACC Tournament and play our best ball and see where that takes us,” Schaus said.

“We’ve started to gel now, a lot of pieces are coming together, some guys are coming back from injuries and we’ve got some depth in some areas. If we play our game the way we can and play confidently, we’ll be fine.”

Bill Hass is a long-time observer of ACC sports. His career at the Greensboro News & Record spanned 36 years, from 1969 until his retirement in March, 2006. He is now writing "Bill Hass on the ACC" for theACC.com. His weekly columns will keep fans plugged in to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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