Brannan Is Satisfying Miami’s Need for Speed

Opportunities often come to those who can throw baseballs with great speed. Ryan Brannan has recently learned how wide the doors can open.

Brannan persuaded Miami to pay for his education on the strength of only a few pitching performances. And despite an admittedly mediocre sophomore season, Brannan has heard he might be selected early in major league baseball’s amateur draft next season.

In the meantime, Brannan will try to help the ninth-ranked Hurricanes return to the College World Series. Miami closes the regular season with a three-game series against Long Beach State that ends Saturday.

“They love you if you throw hard,” Brannan said. “I’ve got a really good fastball and it’s helped me a lot.”

Indeed, a good-to-great fastball has its value.

The payoff for Brannan began the summer before his senior season at Huntington Beach High. A converted outfielder, Brannan impressed college recruiters and major league scouts at the Area Code Games.

The horde of talent evaluators took notice when Brannan’s fastball registered 93 m.p.h. on their radar guns. All of a sudden, Brannan no longer was only another high school pitcher.

“I kind of came out of nowhere,” Brannan said. “Before my junior year, no colleges were interested. Then, after the Area Code Games, it got overwhelming.”

At least 35 schools began recruiting Brannan, 6 feet 3 and 210 pounds. The number of schools grew considerably after his senior season at Huntington Beach.

He had a 5-4 record--but that was deceiving. Huntington Beach didn’t have one of its better teams that season. In only 69 innings, Brannan struck out 99. He also had a 1.80 earned-run average.

Numbers, though, don’t matter much to the decision makers. They look for skill and potential and Brannan had lots of both.

He chose Miami because he thought it would be the best place to develop. So far, so good.

“I fell in love [with Miami] when I went there on a recruiting trip,” Brannan said. “Baseball is so big there. I’ve met a lot of good people and I’ve learned a lot baseball-wise.”

As a freshman, Brannan was primarily a reliever. He was 2-0 with a 4.80 ERA.

He began this season in the starting rotation but returned to the bullpen after several bad performances. His confidence shaken, Brannan started to miss home.

“It’s kind of tough when you have a bad outing and you can’t go home to your parents,” Brannan said. “Also, I’m real close with my little brother [ Chris].”

Ryan, 20, and Chris, 10, speak to each other constantly, which helped Ryan overcome the rocky moments.

“We always talk after his [youth-baseball] games and my games,” Ryan said. “It’s like we’re best friends, even though he’s so much younger than me.”

Brannan rebounded from his midseason slump and is again among the Hurricanes’ top pitchers. He is 2-1 with a 5.06 ERA.

If Brannan has a good junior season, he has been led to believe big money might follow.

“I have the arm and I have the size,” he said. “That’s what they look for.”

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Talented Trojan: Outfielder Walter Dawkins has enjoyed a good career at USC, and his senior season is his best yet.

Dawkins (La Quinta High) is batting .333 with seven home runs and 48 RBIs for the fourth-ranked Trojans. Don’t be surprised if Dawkins, who also has 14 doubles and 12 stolen bases, is selected first-team all-conference.

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Leadoff man: Jonathan Petke gets things started for Cal.

Petke (Capistrano Valley High) is batting .314 with 39 runs and 37 runs batted in. Petke, a junior outfielder, has a team-high 15 doubles and 19 stolen bases in 26 attempts, which ties him for the team lead.

One of the Pacific 10 Conference’s better outfielders, Petke was chosen the conference player of the week (May 1-7). He batted .500 (10 for 20) as the Bears won five games that week.

Keeping Track is a regular column in The Times following the progress of former Orange County athletes competing elsewhere.