Heitzman goes 3-4 in first year of pro baseball

NEW ULM -- New Ulm's Aaron Heitzman said that his first year in professional baseball was one "that went pretty well. I thought that I played with the competition and I didn't get out-matched."

The former lefthanded pitcher for New Ulm High School who was drafted by the Houston Astros, recorded a 3-4 record with a 3.05 ERA for the Tri-City Valley Cats of the New York-Penn League.

In 23 games, Heitzman pitched 59 innings and allowed 58 hits and 25 runs, 20 of them earned. He struck out 34 and walked 22.

His team ended in last place with a 27-45 record.

And like ever player who has ever been drafted by a professional team, there were times when Heitzman questioned himself.

But like each player who is living a dream, the southpaw knew that he was there for a reason.

"There were times during the year that I wondered whether or not I could pitch at this level," he said. "(But) I worked through that. Those feelings were really more towards the beginning of the year."

Heitzman worked hard -- he began the season as a middle inning reliever and ended the year as a starting pitcher.

"I started the last month of the season and as a starter, I went 1-1 with one no-decision," he said.

As the season progressed, Heitzman knew that he would have to make adjustments coming from college baseball to professional baseball.

"But most of those adjustments were mental than anything else," he said. "I sat down with a couple of guys on our team and in particular a player on our team named Mark Hamilton. He has been in the organization for a couple of years and he really helped me out a lot. He told me that I signed a professional baseball contract and you will have a few years to prove yourself, so don't try to make a name for yourself in one outing. Just do out there and work hard every day and work on the little things each day. And that was the big thing that I noticed. You are at the field each day at 2 p.m. (for a 7 p.m. game) You have a lot more time to work on things -- and your focus is completely on baseball -- it is not on school. You need to improve each day."

One of the things that Heitzman worked hard on was his landing foot.

"I was told that when I landed (with my right foot) I was pretty closed-up which was cutting my pitches off to the inside part of the plate. And I worked a lot on staying back. I was rushing my pitches quite a bit"

He also worked in improving his change-up and developing a slider.

His hard work paid off with those starts at the end of the season, one being a six inning shutout.

But while Heitzman improved, his team, by Heitzman' s own admission, did not.

'We were terrible (27-45). We had no offense. We had one hitter who hit over .300 and he only had 60 at-bats. We also made a lot of errors on defense. We did not have a real good team."

But he added that professional baseball at the minor league level "is not a team. It is more of an individual effort. I really don't know if people cared if we lost or not -- as long as they had a good game."

Heitzman was told by pitching coach Bill Balou that he "liked what he saw out of me this year. He thought that (next year) I would be a spot-starter. I am not the kind of pitcher who is going to go out and over-power hitters. I will have to hit my spots and change speeds which I knew. But he also said that I would probably start off next season in the bull-pen again."

He wants to make a long-season 'A' team next season either in Kentucky or Michigan.

This off-season, Heitzman will work on his leg strength ("we don't start throwing until January when we get our program") and a lot of dry-work with a mirror. "You watch yourself in a mirror and see how you are landing -- how strong you are fundamentally and mechanically.

"The one thing that I learned this year -- and it is a mental thing -- is to keep poised and not give into the hitter through your emotions. I saw guys who would give up some runs and lose their mound presence. You need to be mature on the mound."

Heitzman will also finish up his degree in Mechanical Engineering this winter at Minnesota State, Mankato.

HASSY AT FAIRMONT: Ray Hassy, who coached several years ago at New Ulm High School, is the new boys basketball coach at Fairmont High School.

NEW ULMITES AT MINNESOTA WEST: Three former New Ulm High School football players -- Micah Neidecker, Shane Lindmeyer and Willy Thorson -- are seeing playing time for the Minnesota West college football team.

Micah Neidecker has carried the ball 24 times for 66 yards and two receptions for 12 yards while Lindmeyer is second on the team with 12 unassisted tackles and 18 assisted tackles. Five of his tackles have resulted in yardage losses for opponents. He also has two sacks.

... Former Cathedral football player Billy Schreiber is playing on the special teams for for St. Thomas ... Former Eagles Danny Kitzberger and Steve Henle are at UMD and St. John's respectively. Kitzberger is red-shirting.