As University of Nebraska baseball head coach Will Bolt sat in the stands at Camden Yards for the Orioles-Braves game on June 12, he could feel his heart rate and blood pressure rising.
While Bolt is usually calm and collected during Huskers games, he could not avoid the nervousness that comes with watching two of his former pitchers — Baltimore’s Cade Povich and Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach — battle it out.
“It was a pretty surreal moment seeing those two guys out there on the same mound and competing against each other and pitching really, really well. That was a lot of fun,” Bolt said on Glenn Clark Radio June 13. “I openly rooted for both of them.”
The Orioles won the game, 4-2, due in large part to Povich’s performance. In his second major league appearance, the 6-foot-3, 185-pound lefty threw six innings, allowing five hits and zero runs while striking out six batters.
The showing marked a major improvement from Povich’s debut, during which he allowed six earned runs in 5.1 innings while striking out just two batters. Additionally, Povich did not walk a single batter against the Braves after he walked four in his debut.
Bolt admitted he was not always sure Povich was cut out for the big leagues.
“I want to say he was 5-foot-10 when he graduated high school, and he was skinny and didn’t throw hard,” Bolt said.
Due to his lack of physical traits, Povich spent his freshman year at South Mountain Community College (Arizona) in 2019, going 10-1 with a 1.52 ERA. That caught the eye of Bolt, who served as an assistant coach for Texas A&M at the time.
“I would’ve been ready to potentially offer him at Texas A&M,” Bolt said. “However, I ended up getting the job at Nebraska in June [2019], and he was the first phone call that we made.”
Povich visited Nebraska shortly after. Once he received an official offer, he needed some time to think about all the offers he had received. However, it only took Povich two hours to decide he wanted to be a Husker, Bolt said.
Povich only threw 87 to 88 mph in his first fall at Nebraska, yet Bolt knew he had the potential to be great after seeing his mechanics and getting to know him as a person.
Povich had a solid sophomore season in 2020, leading the team in innings pitched (21.1) and finishing second on the team in ERA (5.06) during the COVID-shortened campaign. But it was Povich’s junior year that made Bolt say, “This guy’s going to pitch in the big leagues for 10 years.”
In 2021, Povich — now listed at 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds — earned a first-team All-Big Ten nod after he posted a 3.11 ERA and 88 strikeouts through 15 starts and 81 innings. His year reached its pinnacle in the last weekend of the regular season against Michigan, though. In front of more than 5,000 fans — one of the biggest crowds of the year — Povich started the game with an immaculate inning, striking out all three batters on nine pitches.
“He wanted the moment,” Bolt said. “He embraced the crowd, the adrenaline, all of it against a really good Michigan team. That was an aha moment for sure.”
While the lights of Camden Yards are much brighter than those in Lincoln, Povich is built for big moments.
“Everybody’s got talent in the big leagues,” Bolt said. “Who can trust and believe in their stuff? Who can have the mound presence when things aren’t going your way? Who can get out of jams? There’s inevitably going to be those jams during the game, and he navigated a couple of those [against the Braves].”
For more from Bolt, listen to the full interview here:
See Also:
• Stan ‘The Fan’ Charles: Do The 2024 Orioles Have Their Version Of Mike Boddicker?
• Brad Brach: Orioles LHP Cade Povich Is ‘Going To Be A Capable Major League Pitcher’
• Orioles Pitching Prospect Cade Povich: ‘Awesome’ To Be Part Of Organization’s Growth
• Pipeline Primer: Orioles Prospect Cade Povich
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox