WSU’s Cougar Diamond Classic a happy reunion for Stemp, Hancock, Gonzales

Pretty much didn’t matter what happened Tuesday evening. It was going to be awfully hard to steal the smiles off the faces of Jarod Gonzales and J.J. Hancock in their return to the Tri-Cities.

Trek Stemp? Well, his pained grimace kind of looked like a smile.

The three former Kennewick High School baseball stars were back on home dirt for Washington State’s annual Diamond Classic game at Gesa Stadium in Pasco. Stemp and Hancock play for the “host” Cougars, while Gonzales is a member of Gonzaga’s perpetually traveling baseball show.

“I came here when I was a little kid, so to get to play here is a surreal moment. It brings back memories,” Hancock said before revealing he might have been away a little too long.

“It’s hotter than I remember,” he said with a laugh.

Hancock, a sophomore catcher/outfielder, and Stemp, a junior second baseman, have enjoyed a little down time back home. The Cougs arrived in the Tri-Cities on Monday and held a clinic for youth players.

Stemp, who suffered what the team is calling a “lower-body injury” from a bad-luck foul ball over the weekend, is on the shelf for at least a couple of weeks. It’s a hiccup in what has been a phenomenal return to the WSU lineup after redshirting last spring.

Entering Tuesday night, Stemp was fourth in the Pac-12 in hitting at .355, and he led the conference with 12 stolen bases in 14 attempts.

Unlike his former teammates, Gonzales didn’t get the benefit of an extended visit with friends and family, or even a good home-cooked meal. The Zags’ bus arrived at the park about 2 1/2 hours before game time, and it was slated to leave right after the game so the team could catch a 7:30 a.m. flight to San Diego on Wednesday for its next West Coast Conference series.

Gonzaga has played just 10 home games this season — that means 35 on the road. Gonzales said all those games away from home are a big reason why the Zags are having one of their best seasons ever.

“It’s fine,” he said with his trademark smile. “School’s hard, but that’s about it. And you get to bond with the team.”

Gonzales, a junior, redshirted last season after two stellar years at Walla Walla Community College. He is hitting .255 this season mostly as a designated hitter, with 13 starts in 23 games played. However, he hasn’t been on the field in about a month, partly because he cooled off a bit, but also because everyone else on the team has been so hot.

Gonzaga is hitting .294 as a team. Nine players are batting over .270, including five over .300.

“It’s not always about playing time,” Gonzales said. “I started out with some playing time, and then I cooled off. But again, the team’s winning, so it doesn’t matter.”

Hancock has had his own obstacle to overcome — namely, the thumb on his left (glove) hand. He broke it five days before the season started. He was trying to steal a base in practice, and it was Stemp who applied the tag on the play. But sliding headfirst into second, Hancock got his thumb caught up on the bag, and it stayed behind as the rest of him plowed ahead.

“I was laying there, and I started making some noise,” Hancock said. “And Trek thought I was arguing that I was safe.”

He had surgery, got the brace off in late March and went right back to work on the field. Making contact at the plate without pain came quickly, he said.

Not so much behind the plate.

“The very first (pitch) hit my thumb,” Hancock said, “and I was like, ‘No.’ ”

It has been mostly outfield work and DHing the rest of the spring. He is hitting .273 in 10 games, including five starts.

Hancock said he is playing without pain and expects to get back to work behind the plate for next season.

Tuesday night in front of the hometown crowd, he got the start in right field. And suddenly he remembered some of those nerves he felt playing at Gesa during last year’s Diamond Classic.

“This is my first outfield start since high school,” he said.

There would be no playing time for Stemp this week. But that didn’t keep him from enjoying another visit to Gesa Stadium and being in the same park with Gonzales.

“It’s always fun to play here,” Stemp said. “My friends, everybody comes out to watch.

“I’m having a lot of fun this year. It’s amazing being with Marty (Lees) and the new staff.”

Lees is WSU’s rookie head coach. Though the Cougars are at the tail end of a 17-29 season, Stemp sees big improvements under the new regime.

Stemp said his redshirt season last spring was about taking a break from baseball.

“I didn’t know what I want to do,” he said, “so I went to the police academy.”

He said people ask if he feels as though he lost out on a season or wasted time.

Nah.

“I realized when I’m done playing baseball what I want to do,” said Stemp, who immediately changed his major to criminal justice.

But he also regained his love for baseball. First up was a meeting with his teammates to see if they would take him back.

They did. Great decision.

As one of the top hitters in the Pac-12, Stemp has seen his draft stock come back into play.

“I might get drafted somewhere, but I really wanted to come back (to WSU),” he said, adding that he is really excited to coach the Kennewick Bandits AA American Legion team this summer.

He said he looks forward to imparting some of the lessons he has learned over the years, and he already has a winning take on hitting.

“The most important thing for a hitter is to know what kind of hitter he is,” Stemp said. “I’m not a power hitter; I’m a singles hitter. I’m a leadoff hitter. My job is to get on base.”

If you can do it with some good friends in the park — even in the other dugout — more’s the better.

“I wouldn’t mind at all,” Stemp said of returning to WSU. “Spend one more year hanging out and getting hits. That’s how I explain baseball: hanging out for nine innings and getting hits.”

There it goes, that grimace turning into a grin. Just like his old Kennewick teammates.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 9:23 PM with the headline "WSU’s Cougar Diamond Classic a happy reunion for Stemp, Hancock, Gonzales."