Before former Washington State baseball coach Donnie Marbut was fired, he left a couple of players with a unique opportunity to better the program and themselves.

Toward the end of the 2015 season, now-junior closer Ian Hamilton, sophomore relief pitcher Colby Nealy and sophomore catcher Brennon Kaleiwahea walked into the locker room and found summer league contracts waiting for them.

None of the three had previously played in college summer leagues, and all had the chance to get a head start in preparation for the 2016 season. Nealy and Kaleiwahea both spent the summer with the Strasburg Express in Strasburg, Virginia, while Hamilton spent two months in Wareham, Massachusetts playing for the Gatemen.

The only stipulations in the contract were that all three had to pay for their own plane tickets and they each lived with host families. Other than those two aspects, the players had the responsibility of making the most of their time on the field.

Hamilton develops a third pitch

Hamilton spent his sophomore season doing pretty much the same thing he did his during his freshman campaign – coming out of the bullpen and becoming one of the top closers in the Pac-12. Under new head coach Marty Lees the plan for him is to become a starting pitcher, which means he’ll need more than just a fastball to get hitters out.

With the assistance of Gatemen Head Coach Cooper Farris and pitching coach Jim Lawler, Hamilton spent a majority of his two months in Massachusetts developing a changeup. The process was much more of a challenge than Hamilton had expected.

“It was a curveball, then it was a changeup, and now it’s a better changeup,” Hamilton said. “The pitching coach there (Jim Lawler) helped me make an effort to get it by just playing catch before games. He said ‘even if you’re not comfortable with it just keep throwing it in games so you’ll see what it’s doing and eventually you’ll get comfortable with it.’”

Hamilton pitched in 12 games, starting four, and finished the summer with a 0.89 ERA in 40.1 innings. A lot of his success was based off getting first pitch strikes and being able to throw his fastball, changeup and third off-speed pitch on both sides of the plate for strikes.

The other key to Hamilton’s success was being relentless in his pursuit to get better every day. The coaches could see from Day 1 how much he valued the opportunity to play and grow, on and off the field.

“His bulldog mentality,” Ferris said on what made Hamilton great. “He beat me to the park and that never has happened to me before. He really attacks hitters, his fast ball is 96 mph and it’s got some late life on it, too. He can throw his fastball to both sides of the plate and that’s helped him develop his off-speed stuff this summer. The best part for Ian is he can throw all three pitches for strikes.”

Hamilton was named Co-MVP for the West Team in the Cape Cod League All-Star Game. He pitched a scoreless fifth inning, striking out two and not allowing a hit.

Consistency essential for Nealy’s growth

Nealy, similar to Hamilton, has the goal of becoming a starting pitcher for Lees in 2016. Lack of consistency, both in throwing strikes and having complete outings, prevented him from doing so in 2015.

As a result, the 6-feet, 4-inch right-hander came into Strasburg with one simple mindset: become a consistent pitcher in every facet of the game.

“I feel like I did pretty well, but I also feel I have a lot of room to improve on the summer,” Nealy said Tuesday on his summer performance. “The main goal I went in with was to be converted into a starter.

“Last spring I was a little inconsistent. I’d throw a lot of balls and guys wouldn’t chase them because I wouldn’t land them for strikes,” Nealy continued. “So over the summer I feel I did a really good job of finally starting to land my off-speed pitches for strikes early in the count and make it easier for guys to chase them later in the count because they’ve seen them for strikes.”

Nealy started seven games for the Express, finishing with a 3-1 record and 5.16 ERA in 45.1 innings. He finished fourth on the pitching staff with 29 strike outs – a stat Nealy’s line doesn’t typically boast.

Better known for his pitch-to-contact style, Nealy said he gained command of his pitches and knowledge of how to be more consistent during his time with the Express.

“Last year I started off good, but then I had shaky parts toward the middle of the season,” he said reflecting on his weakness in 2015. “Then I picked it up toward the end of the season. This year I want to focus on being consistent throughout the whole season, not having those rough patches and dipping to low in the depth chart.”

The opportunity to play for Strasburg allowed Nealy to become more acquainted with Brennon Kaleiwahea, who is in the running to become the Cougars starting catcher in 2016.

“It was good getting to know B.K. (Brennon Kaleiwahea) a lot more. Being able to pitch to him and get some chemistry with him because he has a good chance to catch for us this spring.”

Kaleiwahea gaining his game legs

Last season P.J. Jones, a senior, was the Cougars No. 1 catcher, and as a result the then-freshmen Kaleiwahea was not able to get much playing time. With Jones now graduated, Kaleiwahea will have that chance this season, and his two months with the Express gave him an opportunity to get used to playing on a regular basis.

“Overall I feel I got better,” Kaleiwahea said. “I started off well, then probably halfway through the season I started to cool off. Then when the playoffs came around I did pretty well in playoffs. I think I finished really well and I felt comfortable when I left.”

Kaleiwahea played in 18 of the Express’ 42 games and caught all seven of Nealy’s starts. While he would have liked to play in more games – and improve his .246 batting average – the experience allowed him to better understand his Cougar teammate.

“He’s really competitive,” he said with a light-hearted laugh. “I think he has a good presence on the mound. He pitches to contact a lot, so he gets a lot of weak contact. He’s not going out there to strike a lot of guys out, he’s going for weak contact which he did a lot over the summer.”