Blake Trenbeath has gone from ACE bandages to ace pitcher, injured two-sport role player to No. 1 starter.
It's a transformation that has the Concordia baseball team on the verge of the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons. A sweep in the Cobbers' season-ending doubleheader against Hamline on Saturday at Jake Christiansen Athletic Complex will vault Concordia into the postseason.
"The pressure is there," said Trenbeath, who is scheduled to pitch on three day's rest. "But we need these two games. It's just like any other day. I'm not worried about the rest thing. My arm feels good."
The team leader with six wins and a 1.86 ERA this year, Trenbeath has led a late-season charge that pushed the Cobbers up the standings and into playoff contention.
Facing elimination, Concordia has won five consecutive games to remain alive in the chase for the fourth and final postseason spot.
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Two years ago, Trenbeath's contribution might have been impossible.
The 6-foot-2 senior right-hander - also a receiver on the Cobbers football team during his first two years at school - had a painfully sore throwing shoulder as a sophomore due to a few bad gridiron collisions.
"My shoulder was kind of mangled," he said.
The injury forced Trenbeath to sit out his entire second season in baseball.
Although he knew the injury would heal with rest and he would return to the diamond, Trenbeath said it was difficult to watch his team from the stands.
A former Cavalier (N.D.) High School standout, Trenbeath tossed only 11/2 innings in his first two years at Concordia.
When he came back as a junior, the shoulder was fully healed.
But Trenbeath's timing was off.
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"He struggled with the strike zone," Cobbers coach Bucky Burgau said. "When he got his command back he took off."
Trenbeath credits Burgau and assistant coach Derek Dormanen, a former Cobber standout and a member of the Northern League's Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, for his resurgence.
"I was probably a little rusty," Trenbeath said. "Luckily, Derek was there to help me through it."
Trenbeath entered this season as the Cobbers' top arm.
He hasn't disappointed.
One of Trenbeath's losses came in relief and the other was a midseason start against St. Thomas.
"He's a great competitor," Burgau said. "The kid definitely likes to win."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Heath Hotzler at (701) 241-5562
