College update: Teegarden garners preseason acclaim
The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.
Sarah Teegarden (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, 2013) Wake Forest soccer senior: Before she played at Flintridge Sacred Heart and went on to garner multiple All-Area, All-CIF and All-Mission League honors, plenty was expected of Teegarden.
And, when she entered Wake Forest as a four-star recruit as ranked by TopDrawerSoccer.com and the 54th best national prospect, there was even more expected.
Since then, Teegarden, a midfielder, has performed excellently, started every game for Wake Forest, earned 2013 Atlantic Coast Conference All-Freshman Team honors and now enters her senior season as an All-ACC preseason selection.
Announced Thursday, Teegarden was the only Wake Forest player voted to the 11-woman team.
Set to be a team captain for a second straight season, Teegarden has started all 57 games in her career and had two goals and two assists last year. She has six goals and four assists for her career.
Wake Forest went 5-12-2, 2-8 in conference last season and was projected in the coaches’ poll to finish ninth in the 14-team conference this season. The Demon Deacons will play an exhibition Thursday at James Madison and then host an exhibition on Aug. 13 against Coastal Carolina before opening up the season in the Wake Forest Invitational. Their first match will be Aug. 19 against San Diego.
Kevin Baker (St. Francis High, 2015) Cowlitz Black Bears pitcher: With the twilight of the summer upon him and the Black Bears, Baker has emerged as the team’s top starting pitcher, having made nine appearances with a staff-high eight starts.
Baker’s last appearance was a bit of a rough one as he took the loss against Walla Walla in a 10-1 defeat. He went five innings, allowing eight runs (six earned), nine hits and striking out seven.
--
Grant Gordon, grant.gordon@latimes.com
Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon
For the most part, though, Baker, who plays at the University of Portland, has been sturdy throughout the summer with a 2-3 record, a 4.00 earned-run average and 41 strikeouts to 22 walks in 42 2/3 innings.
His start to the summer was exceptional. He got the win against Kitsap on June 5, when he threw five innings, allowing one run, five hits, four walks and striking out three in an 8-4 victory.
In his second start June 12 against Walla Walla, he got the victory. He tossed seven innings of four-hit, scoreless ball in which he struck out seven and walked just one in a 6-0 win.
Heading into the final series of the summer against the Corvallis Knights, which began on Friday, the Bears were 22-29 and in fourth place in the West Coast League.
Joey Steele (St. Francis High, 2014) Wisconsin Woodchucks: Steele struggled in his time with the Woodchucks of the Northwoods League.
He made nine appearances from June 1 through July 9.
All told, he went 0-3 with nine appearances and three starts with 16 innings logged. He struck out 10, walked five and tallied an 11.81 ERA.
Upon graduating from St. Francis, Steele attended the IMG Academy in Florida before heading to the University of San Francisco.
