By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Tate Jones is home for the summer, but he’s not taking a break from baseball.
The college pitcher from Burlington will be playing for the hometown Burlington Sock Puppets in the Appalachian League.
“It was definitely how I hoped it would work out,” he said of the assignment with the collegiate summer league team.
Jones, a graduate of Alamance-Burlington Early College and ex-Williams player, finished his freshman season with East Tennessee State during the weekend.
He hopes it’s a busy summer on the mound for the Sock Puppets. He said he has been developing his curveball.
“I’m trying to get as much work as I possibly can against college hitters,” Jones said. “I want to throw as much as possible and see what I can find.”
Jones had a limited bullpen role for East Tennessee State, but he said there was plenty achieved.
“During the season, it was more about learning the life of college baseball,” he said.
Jones made 10 relief appearances for the Buccaneers, suffering one loss (against Virginia Tech) and holding a 9.45 earned run average with four strikeouts and four walks. His stints included back-to-back outings for a combined 1 2/3 scoreless innings in mid-March against Georgia and defending NCAA champion Tennessee.
With East Tennessee State producing one of its best seasons in history, it wasn’t easy for a freshman to break in. Last month, the Buccaneers won the Southern Conference Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina.
East Tennessee State’s season ended with Saturday’s loss to Wright State in an NCAA regional in Nashville, Tennessee. The Buccaneers’ 41-17 record reflected the second-most wins in program history.
“That was a really cool experience,” Jones said. “It was a good season. We won a lot of games.”
So while the core of the Sock Puppets team arrived by the weekend, some players such as Jones from schools in postseason play will trickle in.
The Sock Puppets begin the season with a three-game series Thursday through Saturday vs. the Bluefield Ridge Runners at Burlington Athletic Stadium. Then Monday and Tuesday, for Jones it’s back to Johnson City, Tennessee – the home of East Tennessee State – as the Sock Puppets have a two-game set against the Johnson City Doughboys.
The Sock Puppets’ initial roster includes 24 Division I players, including 10 from power conference teams.
The Burlington roster also includes former Orange pitcher Ryan Hench, who’s in the North Carolina program and pitched for the Sock Puppets last summer – and the only player who Jones was previously familiar with. Duke pitchers Jack Feehery and Jack Hedrick and outfielder Zach Johnson and North Carolina A&T pitcher Mekai Griffin also are on the team.
