After losing 2 grad transfers, Arkansas adds JUCO catcher
College Students, get a year of HawgBeat coverage for just $11.95. Request details via email from your school account (.edu) to nchavanelle@yahoo.com.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe for free for 30 days w/code HAWGS30
NEW USERS | RETURNING USERS
Driving back home to Florida from Texas with his mom this weekend, Charlie Welch wasn’t sure what to think when a call from Nate Thompson popped up on his phone.
The junior college catcher had been in contact with Arkansas’ hitting coach and recruiting coordinator off and on this summer, but it didn’t look like the Razorbacks would have a spot for him after bringing in two graduate transfers and unexpectedly getting Casey Opitz back for another season.
Welch was set on playing at San Jacinto - a perennial power at the JUCO level - in 2021 until he answered the phone and Thompson let him know they were losing their second graduate transfer, A.J. Lewis, to the pros. Arkansas finally had a spot for him.
“It’s always been my dream to attend Arkansas and play baseball there,” Welch said. “It’s the best in the country, hands down. It really didn’t take long (to decide). I knew right away that’s where I wanted to be. I just needed to talk it over with my parents.”
The 6-foot, 205-pound catcher made it official Sunday, announcing his commitment to Arkansas via Instagram. It will hopefully cap what’s been a long journey to the SEC and a program he’s had his eye on for several years.
In what has become common in college baseball recruiting, Welch originally committed to South Carolina early on in his high school career. However, the Gamecocks made a coaching change following his junior year and he reopened his recruitment.
Having visited Fayetteville for a camp, Welch hoped to land at Arkansas coming out of Jefferson High in Tampa, Fla., but he ended up on the other side of the country at Pepperdine.
“I fell in love with (Arkansas) in my late high school years,” Welch said. “I started talking to Arkansas a little bit, I really wanted to go there out of high school, but it didn’t work out. Now I have the opportunity to and I’m really excited for it.”
Ranked the 52nd overall catcher in the Class of 2018 by Perfect Game, Welch started his collegiate career with a bang. In his first at bat with the Waves, he launched a grand slam against CSU-Bakersfield.
Welch also had a solid 4-for-7 showing in a couple of games against Vanderbilt early in the season, but he didn’t sustain it throughout his freshman year. Appearing in 26 games with 24 starts, he ended up slashing .211/.290/.284 with the lone home run and 10 RBIs.
“I think it really helped me grow and mature pretty quick,” Welch said. “I was really far from home, had to do everything on my own for the first time in my life. I loved it, I loved the people, I loved the school, I just don’t think the baseball was there, so I felt it would be better for me to be in a junior college setting to really grow and develop, and I think that paid off.”
After the season, Welch transferred closer to home, landing at St. Johns River State C.C. in the Jacksonville area. Before the season was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, he was hitting .304 and flashed some power with five doubles and four home runs.
That production caught the attention of Thompson, who reached out to his junior college coach and got the ball rolling. Thompson and Welch talked on the phone 20-25 times throughout the summer and the Razorbacks watched from afar as he hit .340 with four home runs in 15 games for the Texarkana Twins of the Texas Collegiate League.
“I think my first couple years I spent in college were really a learning process for me, trying to figure out what’s going to work for me at this higher level,” Welch said. “Honestly, I’ve been constantly working on it, working on it, working on it and I guess it all came together for me this summer. I knew I’ve always had the talent, I just haven’t quite put the numbers up yet, but I got it down this summer.”
With seemingly no spot open for the upcoming season, though, Welch was going to use his extra year of eligibility to play one more year of junior college ball - this time at San Jacinto, a program that consistently competes for championships and produces major Division I prospects and MLB Draft picks.
When Lewis unexpectedly signed with the Colorado Rockies as an undrafted free agent, Thompson gave him the aforementioned call. At Arkansas, he’ll join a position that has seen quite a bit transition this offseason.
Even in a shortened five-round MLB Draft, Opitz was projected to get selected and begin his professional career. In anticipation of that, the Razorbacks added Lewis and Robert Emery as graduate transfers. Both of them have signed professionally since Opitz went undrafted.
Class of 2021 commitment Dylan Leach also reclassified and will skip his senior season at Carthage, Texas, to join the team this year. Arkansas had a pair of freshman catchers last season, but Dominic Tamez opted to transfer.
That leaves Cason Tollett and Leach as Welch’s competition to be Opitz’s backup in 2021 and the potential starter of the future.
“I understand that he’s really earned that starting role because he’s been there since he was a freshman and he’s really performed,” Welch said. “I know I can hit, so if I hit, hopefully they’ll find some time for me there and you can’t catch 56 games a year.
“Any time I get behind the plate, that’d be great. I’m just there to learn and grow and if next year the opportunity presents itself to have that starting role, then I’m going to make the best of it.”