Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Traditions
 Riepe Receives His RecognitionHe has been a stalwart in the Deacon baseball lineup for three years.
By Jay Reddick Andrew Riepe hasn't always been a catcher. This may surprise those fans who marvel at his natural ability behind the plate. It may even surprise the pitchers he works with, considering that he always seems to call the right pitch in any situation. But it's true. Riepe has only been a full-time catcher for six seasons, or since his junior year of high school. Before that, he was a shortstop, and even though the two positions require much different skills physically, Riepe took well to both of them. "I always just wanted to play," Riepe said. "I enjoyed shortstop my first two years of high school, but I had caught in summer leagues and really enjoyed it, so it wasn't much of a transition." Riepe hasn't needed to switch positions to get on the field for Wake Forest. He's been a stalwart in the Deacon lineup for three years now, and finally got the recognition many felt he deserved when he was named MVP of the 1999 ACC baseball tournament. Even if those outside the program haven't noticed it as much before now, his skills as a catcher have been not only appreciated by the team over the past four years, but utilized as much as possible. In fact, his iron man tendencies almost bring to mind another converted shortstop, Cal Ripken Jr. Of 528 2/3 defensive innings the Deacons played this season heading into the NCAA Super Regional, Riepe had been behind the plate for 523 2/3 of them, or all but five innings on the season. He has missed five games in three years, an unheard-of workload for a catcher. "I think it's become a point of pride for me," Riepe said. "I want to be out there, I want to be playing every day. Some days are tougher than others, but it's something that I think I'm pretty proud of." Riepe's athletic maturation can be pinpointed at around the time he became a full-time catcher. He first swung a bat at the age of 4 or 5, playing tee-ball, and grew up playing sports with his brothers, Dave (now 24) and Doug (17). "We were always into sports, whether it was tee-ball, Wiffle ball, football, basketball or baseball," Riepe said. Like many college athletes, he was a multi-sport star at the high school level, for Immaculate High School in Danbury, Conn. Even if he had never played baseball, he would have gotten six athletic letters - three each in football and basketball - but avoiding baseball was never a possibility. "It was always there, and I always wanted to play," Riepe said. You won't find many seasons much better than Riepe's junior and senior years at Immaculate on any level. As team captain, he batted over .500 both years, and as a senior, led his team to the conference championship. And before long, he had come down south to Wake Forest. "I looked forward to the chance to come down here and play in the ACC, and I just liked the school and the program," Riepe said. He's found no reason to doubt his decision. He's one of the most popular players among his teammates (the ribbing he gets in the locker room proves it) and his career .311 batting average and 27 home runs hold their own with most offensive players. But again, it's the way Riepe handles pitchers that draws the most praise. Since 1981, Wake Forest pitchers have had a team ERA under 5.00 only six times - three of those years were Riepe's three years as a full-time starter. Riepe will tell you as much as anybody that much of the credit for that belongs to the pitchers themselves, but his steady presence certainly has an effect. "I think it's just a learning process," Riepe said. "I've called most of the pitches over the past three years, and as I've matured and gotten smarter, I've gotten better. "We do a pretty good job of getting scouting reports, so I just follow those." Riepe's ACC Tournament MVP trophy is at least partially a testament to his prowess behind the plate. Sure, Riepe batted .474 with four RBIs, including one game-winner, but the media's vote in Durham also had a lot to do with the fact that the pitching staff allowed less than seven hits a game over the five-game series, and Riepe caught every Wake Forest pitch that was thrown. Riepe relished the MVP award, but not as much as the chance to be in the middle of another victory pile in the middle of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park field. "The award was pretty gratifying, but not as much as winning the whole thing," Riepe said. "What I did helped the team, I know, and I played well." |
