Serra alum Sean Watkins making surprising strides from college to the Cape

As a true freshman, Watkins was the only two-way player on the LMU roster. And he had an impact both sides of the ball. Not only did he hit .266 while tying for the team lead with six home runs, he also emerged as one of LMU's best pitchers, posting a 4-1 record while tying for the team lead with a 1.89 ERA.

“We asked a lot of Sean because he’s a very talented kid,” LMU manager Jason Gill said. “He’s got the best bat speed on our team and has one of the better arms.”

Watkins was a surprise on the mound at LMU — even to himself — after being assigned to the bullpen to start the year. He earned the nod as the Lions’ opening-day right fielder, then was promoted to the starting rotation entering into West Coast Conference play.

Allowing just 41 hits through 57 innings, he did struggle with his control, issuing 23 walks against 49 strikeouts. The command has been a work in progress though, as Watkins refines his secondary pitches to compliment his hard-and-heavy 90-mph heater.

“Throughout high school I was really just a gunslinger,” Watkins said. “I could throw the fastball hard and then I had a good slider. I didn’t have that great of command. So, the whole purpose of my freshman year was working … so I can command the strike zone from both sides of the plate.”

Even more surprise followed, as Watkins earned a roster spot for the Orleans Firebirds of the prestigious Cape Cod League — as a pitcher. The 5-10 right-hander made his first start of the summer Tuesday with three innings of work against the Falmouth Commodores.

Landing in the Cape is even more prestigious for Watkins than most. Manager Kelly Nicholson has coached a handful of freshmen in his 11 years at the helm of the Firebirds. Currently, however, Watkins is the only freshman on the Orleans roster.

“We don’t have a lot of freshmen up here,” Nicholson said. “They usually go to another league, and come up here as sophomores.”

The Firebirds — who entered into play Friday with the league’s best record at 18-7 — own a depth of position players. So Nicholson, who teaches at Loyola High School, 15 miles away from LMU, asked Watkins to work primarily as a pitcher for the summer season.

“He’s a legit two-way guy, but right now we just have a lot of hitters,” Nicholson said.

Through seven outings for the Firebirds, Watkins has yielded just one earned run to notch a 1.03 ERA. He has seen some ups and downs with his control, allowing six walks through 8 2/3 innings. And while Nicholson said he plans to utilize Watkins mainly as a late-inning reliever, the righty gave a solid performance in his starting-pitching debut, working three innings on a limited pitch count to take a no-decision in the Firebirds’ 11-2 win.

“He’s super, super competitive our there,” Nicholson said. “He loves to compete and he takes it as a challenge, and he’s a bulldog out there.”

Watkins is staying in the swing as a two-way player by working with Benny Craig, the hitting coach at Orleans, on a daily basis. And Watkins has plenty of experience with the two-way drill.

At Serra, he earned an All-West Catholic Athletic League honorable mention as a utility player in his debut varsity season of 2013. The following year, as a senior, he was hindered by arm fatigue, but finished the year strong to etch a 2.88 ERA despite posting a 0-3 record; while at the plate, he hit .375 while garnering All-WCAL second-team honors as a shortstop.

“He’s just a great athlete all the way around,” Serra manager Craig Gianinno said. “The thing that was challenging in the short-term at Serra, but exciting in the long-term for college, was that he also played basketball. So he rolled in late into baseball.”

Gianinno said Watkins’ resume as a multi-sport high school athlete helped him as college recruit. But there was also a drawback, according to Gill, who said Watkins’ erratic control is rooted in his dedication as a two-way player.

“If he was a full-time pitcher, those walk numbers would have dropped quite a bit,” Gill said. “We asked a lot of him.”

Watkins was busy on both sides of the ball down the stretch of LMU’s playoff run. The Lions closed the regular season with a three-game series at University of San Francisco. LMU needed to sweep to qualify for the West Coast Conference Championship Tournament.

Watkins — a San Bruno native, he moved to Pacifica his senior year at Serra—- had a hearty homecoming. Through LMU’s first two wins at USF, he was 4 for 8 with a home run and four RBIs. The Lions swept with a win in the finale. Watkins pitched five innings to take a no-decision, then scored the go-ahead run in a 12-7 extra-inning win.

LMU advanced to the WCC Championship Tournament. Through three games, the Lions rolled to two straight wins, downing University of San Diego 21-3 in the May 21 opener. The following day, they triumphed over Pepperdine 4-2 with Watkins generating three legs of the cycle, including his sixth homer of the year.

In what would be their season finale, however. LMU fell to Pepperdine in the tourney championship game 4-2, with Watkins lasting just three innings on the mound to take his only loss of the year.

“He shows flashes of being great, it’s just a matter of him being consistent,” Gill said.

Through his freshman campaign at LMU, Watkins refined his four-pitch repertoire with LMU pitching coach Dan Ricabal. Watkins features a fastball with a slider, changeup and a curveball, that has admittedly been a work in progress.

“It’s good stuff,” Nicholson said. “It’s 90 (mph) with a good slider.”

And he has shown flashes of brilliance with the curveball, according to Gill.

“At times it’s a top-end Division-I breaking ball,” Gill said. “It’s sharp and it’s late.”

When Watkins got word near the end of his freshman year he’d be joining the Firebirds, he knew it was solely as a pitcher. But he is still taking daily reps as a hitter to continue his two-way duty at LMU. He has taken four at-bats for the Firebirds, but has yet to log a hit.

“We’ll see what the future holds for me,” Watkins said. “But personally I like hitting because I like to swing the bat. But no matter what they tell me to do in the near future, professionally, then I will do it.”